To Air Dry First Or Not To Air Dry First

[GF]

I have trying to figure out the best process to kiln dry red oak.  I have seen where people will air dry down to 20% and then kiln dry, or kiln dry right after cutting.  

I would like to find out which would be the best solution, and what one may run into by air drying first before kiln drying and vice versa. I will be using a solr kiln to dry with.

Thanks for any input.

[Larry]

Most of the time I air dry first to get as much wood through the kiln as I can.  I am assuming you are talking about 4/4 RO.  Rules change a little for thicker oak.

The advantages of going into the solar kiln green off the saw are;
Less labor if hand stacking.
Lumber remains bright and clean.
Risk of degrade is close to zero (at least in my solar kiln) for RO.
The disadvantage is that you will only get one or two loads done in a year.

The advantages of air drying first are;
More lumber can be dried in a year.
Easier to mix species or thickness without fear of degrade once it gets below 30%.
The disadvantage is that rain and hot dry winds can cause a lot of degrade unless steps are taken to prevent it.

Best solution would be to shed dry first.

[GF]

Yes Larry it was 4/4 forgot to mention that.

[Frank_Pender]

GF, out here we do not even come close to the number of species varieties you folks saw.   However, with the small vairiety of hardwoods we do have I let everying air dry for at least 60 and sometimes 90 plus days.  I use 1 x 1 Douglas Fir stickers 54" long.  I place 16" to18" apart.  I then take the unit of lumber and place it in a very darkened timber stand with a roof of tin or plywood to keep the rain off the the stack.  I have had very good luck with my drying methods over the last 5 or 6 years.