Air Drying of Ponderosa Pine Lumber in Arizona

The climate of Arizona favors rapid air-drying to a relatively low moisture content. This experiment reports the time required to air-dry 4/4, 8/4 common, and 6/4 shop ponderosa pine to 10 percent MC. Included were two sticker thicknesses, four seasons, and two locations. A total of 79,000 board feet was dried. Drying defects were calculated in terms of 1953 lumber values. Results showed that 4/4 lumber could be dried to 10 percent MC in from 10 to 170 days; 8/4 in from 15 to 170 days; and 6/4 in from 36 to 200 days depending on season. Dollar losses per M from seasoning degrade were $2.82 for 4/4; $11.70 for 8/4; and $13.80 fcr 6/4. Additional dollar losses occurred from lack of pile roofs. Lumber planed at 10 percent MC suffered value losses of $9.64 per M compared to losses of only $0.80 when planed at 15 percent MC.

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