How long can a log stay before splitting

[Kitsu]

Well... today was great to start out, i took down a nice sugar maple, (okay, to me, nice is anything bigger than 8-10 inches diameter, i don't have a chainsaw at my disposal)

got 3 nice length sections, (5 foot, 8 foot, and 7 foot i cut them near where a tree had a large knot, hence the random sizes)

Later on, before i managed to get them up my "hill" it started to rain... hard. so i brought the trees into the nearest shelter, a tunnel, used mostly for drainage, found some tires, and raised them up about 3 or so feet off the ground to prevent them from getting soaked, and covered in god knows what lives in the drainage water

my question is, even though it is not directly on the ground, will it be able to last until tomorrow morning when i go to get it, it was cut at around 6 pm today

Another thing, since it IS sugar maple we are talking about, anything with more than 4 legs has a tendency to love it, and i was wondering what kind of damage they can do...

(i know posting this is pretty much futile, because it is not like i can go down there now, I am NOT killing myself for my hobby, after all, i need to be alive to do it )

(also if you guys really are interested i can show you a layout on how my property is set up, its very harsh on the body, but compared to other places, the trees love it)

[sailordad]

well i am not and expert,and ne vre having cut any sugar maple myself
but i have used other white woods that i have cut
i usually leave them in log form for 6 months to a year before i split them
but i also keep them in my garage out of the lelemnts and off the concrete

if your planning on etting them in the next day or so i would think they should be fine
but like i said,im not an expert so take my advise for what itrs worth.to most folks that would be diddly squat 

[Kitsu]

well i am not and expert,and ne vre having cut any sugar maple myself
but i have used other white woods that i have cut
i usually leave them in log form for 6 months to a year before i split them
but i also keep them in my garage out of the lelemnts and off the concrete

if your planning on etting them in the next day or so i would think they should be fine
but like i said,im not an expert so take my advise for what itrs worth.to most folks that would be diddly squat 

yeah, tomorrow first thing in the morning, i will be taking them up to my basement/ "makeshift workshop"
i'll leave em log form then, glue the ends still obviously and go hunt for more , i thought i could wait til spring to cut them.... i cant.

[sailordad]

the 5'er you might want to split first,that way the moisture has a way out,before sealing the ends
the longer ones you could leave whole and not seal the ends
it may check a little on the ends,but you have enough length to work with
i never seal the ends on my long logs when i leave the whole
i just split when ready,the end checks make for good starts on splitting,then cut the best section out when i want to make a bow

[Kitsu]

the 5'er you might want to split first,that way the moisture has a way out,before sealing the ends
the longer ones you could leave whole and not seal the ends
it may check a little on the ends,but you have enough length to work with
i never seal the ends on my long logs when i leave the whole
i just split when ready,the end checks make for good starts on splitting,then cut the best section out when i want to make a bow

alright, ill take the advice, i need to get stocked up, maybe make a few sapling bows while i wait, those logs  need a long time to dry, and i might rough a few bows out of the smaller one, while the rest are drying, just so i have something to do.

until tomorrow, im out,

Hawkeyes

[Pat B]

I would split the log(s) at least in half. In a month or so reduce them down to stave size and take one or two and reduce them to floor tiller stage so you will have something sooner to work on.
  Always seal the ends unless the staves are extra long. I do anyway. And always seal the back if you remove the bark.
  By keeping them in log form it takes the moisture a long time to come out and if any fungi gets in in the mean time all is for naught! Dry wood repels fungi and whitewoods are very susceptable to fungal attack if not handled properly.

[Pappy]

If it is a large log I split it right away,the smaller stuff I do about like Pat said,if you split the small one quick they will twist sometimes unless you that special percautions like clamping them to something straight. Plus they dry quicker split down.
   Pappy