I won the lottery!!!!

[Ryan Mazzocco]

....in a manner of speaking.

Our current job has a very large deck being built in the back. It's all cedar. I asked the contractor if we could work out a deal on the scraps and he said I could just have it. Today I picked up 17 drops of 6x6 cedar post all between 15" and 24". And there will be more for me to pick up next week.
I'm thinking about splitting it all, seeing what it yields, plane the good stuff and stacking it to dry.
any suggestions or recommendations on how thick I should split or how long to dry?

[Mario Proulx]

Split them in two directions and if the runout is reasonable(usually is with cedar), just stack it as it is. This way you'll be able to use it at whatever size you need for the task when the task presents itself. Should be perfectly usable in 6 months to a year.

[Mario Proulx]

If you're good at reading the grain, you can also rip(without splitting) some of them up and laminate neck and end blocks and set those aside to season.

[Chuck Tweedy]

Is the pith running through the center of these posts?

[Ryan Mazzocco]

Split them in two directions and if the runout is reasonable(usually is with cedar), just stack it as it is. This way you'll be able to use it at whatever size you need for the task when the task presents itself. Should be perfectly usable in 6 months to a year.

Thanks Mario. Very useful info, as always.

Is the pith running through the center of these posts?

In some yes, in some no, in some the pith isn't even in the post.
Most are 6x6" posts as I mentioned, but I didn't mention that a few are 6x12"

[Bryan Bear]

Wow, you should be able to find some good usable stuff in a 6 X12 post! Are you seeing any tops sets in there?

[Ryan Mazzocco]

Maybe. I was able to get 2 tops out of a single 6x6 post and used them on my first guitar. (yeah I used 2 tops on my first guitar because I dropped it when installing binding and busted it.) Had to go 3 piece to get it done. As cheap as tops are these days I'm not sure if I'm interested in going through all that again. I'll settle for being set for life on bracing.

[Mario Proulx]

Set for life on bracing, and neck and end blocks, is a good thing...!

[Clay Schaeffer]

"I'm thinking about splitting it all"

I wouldn't. I would split some of it, resaw some of it, and let some of it be as found. You may find some projects that it would be nice to have uncut stuff for.
I don't like cedar for braces - it's kind of splitty, but YMMV.