Weighting lumber stacks

How much weight is necessary for stacked lumber, ready to be air-dried? June 5, 2001

Question
I am air drying some lumber before kiln drying it. I have it all stickered and stacked. Do I have to have weight on it while air drying? If so, how much?

Forum Responses
Yes, weight it whenever you can do so. The weight must be substantial if it is to do you any good. About 10 inches of concrete would be very effective, covering the entire pile. But I do not know anyone using that much weight.

Much of this info is covered in the new Air Drying Manual from the US Forest Products Lab.

Gene Wengert, forum technical advisor

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Any weight you put on there will help - more is better. Weight seems to especially help cherry boards, which have one sapwood face, as they seem very prone to cupping badly. I use most any available weight - scrap lumber, extra 4x4's, firewood, etc.