I’ve been lucky enough to have a neighbour who is dropping several large conifers & he’s let me have as much wood as I can store.
Question is, how quickly does conifer softwood dry out once cut, split & stacked?
I’m hoping it will be ready by Xmas..

Assuming you are going to stack it where it can get air flowing over it then not long. We got some wood delivered that was pretty damp and full of sap, took about 3 or 4 months to completely dry.

If you can stack it where it will get sunlight and wind on it, but with a cover to keep the rain off, it should be ready after the summer.

Have it in a slat sided log store so will have plenty of wind through it.
Splits rather easy doesn’t it? Only felled yesterday.

Contrary to slowoldgit, if it’s leylandii, I’d be tempted to leave it uncovered for a while, loosely stacked. It is quite sticky so a bit of rain and direct sun seems to clean them up a bit. Keep the rain off after a couple of months and they won’t be far off ready next winter.

Some of it is Leylandii, all conifer though. There is more to come, as my neighbour hasn’t cut the main trunks into manageable sized chunks yet.
I have an unused space at the side of my shed that is a little suntrap. May just fill it with the wood & let the summer do its work.

Just a roof over the top. Shove a pallet between the stack and your shed to maintain airflow.
Splitting it now will give more surface area for moisture to escape.
Stack the outside skin, but just sling the core in to maintain air space. We neatly stacked a big shed once and the stuff in the centre stayed wet, not worth the 2 extra trailer loads it fitted as we had to transfer far more to another shed to dry.

I’m lazy, it’ll definitely be slung in!

Another question from me – is leylandi something i could give away for free. I.e., does it burn ok?

Definitely burns, burnt it green before, 20 minutes after felling.
Anyone that isn’t snobbish and understands that all wood burns will take it.

I think you’ll easily find someone who would want it. I’m curing mine as its going in my home wood burner.
If I use it in my chiminea I’ll burn it any old time.

Think I have some, just about finished burning it after a couple of years of it knocking about as big logs – just out in the open. In the sun, get the wind about it and a bit of a rain cover – it’ll be fine after a summer.