[Anniepoo]

Found a cord of maple on the local craigslist for $75. At that price figured it was worth it for firewood.

It's glorious tight grained stuff, and if I can prevent it cracking it'll make beautiful wood.

It was cut up into logs about 14-16" long, but not split, varies in diameter from 3" to 20". It has bark on.
It's been sitting outside like that for a year, under a tree, up next to a barn. It seems pretty dry.

I took a sample piece 3" dia , sawed a couple inches off and peeled the bark. There was one small crack in it.
Came back the next day, there's four radial cracks in the wood.

So, how should I treat this stuff so it doesn't crack?

[ger21]

Paint the ends with a few heavy coats of latex paint.
However. In log form, there's little you can do to keep it from spitting.
And larger diameters will take years to dry.
You're best option is to spilt or cut it into more managable sizes (2" thick or less), seal the ends, and stack it with stickers in between and let it sit for another year or two.