Just an idea......

[SbTVF]

I just find it amazing that we have to import kiln dried. Are there not any kiln dried suppliers in the UK where all the wood is cut processed and dried in this country. The mobile kiln sounds like a good idea, but what would they charge to dry?

Talking of which roughly how much does it cost to dry your logs per cubic meter?

 

 

 

About 3ppkwh for us in woodchip then the expense of the installation and how far you want to spread that out. Initially it's probably rather a lot but if you're doing 500 cube a year over 10 years say it's maybe £1-2 a cube.

 

Cheaper than putting up a shed to season it in!

 

 

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[william petts]

1 to 2 quid a cube sounds good to me. If u was to dry logs for someone how much would you charge? , ill ask another question, how much does it roughly cost to produce split firewood.

I have never worked this out but I reckon it's around £20 a cube as a rough figure.

[gdh]

I would say closer to £10 a cube without Rhi and including other costs for drying. Electric and the boiler itself can easily add a lot.

Haven't got the figures with me now but including everything - processor, labour, parts, loan interest, telehandler,diesel, tractor etc etc I think we're just under £25 for production on a fairly big scale.

[Steven P]

Reading this, I can see how it would be attractive, but got to be worthwhile.

 

A mobile kiln, how much would it cost to transport (including loading x 2 and unloading x 2) a container? £2 a mile? 50 mile journey will cost 50 x 2 x £2, about £200. Then add on wages and fuel if you were to operate the kiln for the customer, and their costs / wages to process the wood before and after, then any profits either of you want to make. In my mind this is a good idea but looks quite expensive for smaller amounts.

 

You could hire the mobile kiln out for say, a week, equipment hire type of thing if the customer has a good stock of wood to dry I guess - they poewr it and operate it.

 

If they bring the wood to you, if you got them to load a cage with wood you could consolidate several customers wood into one drying session, split the xost and get them to load / unload a cage to put into the kiln and that could work - could be good for domestic use who might have small supplies of wood to dry. That could work and be the cheaper option.

[ash_smith123]

I'm quite surprised the "don't use a kiln, let the wind do the job" brigade haven't turned up to this thread yet...

 

I really can't see this working. I don't know how your going to transport a kiln and boiler system for a start. If it's in 2 20ft containers maybe but I had 1 20ft container taken 15 miles for £150 a few weeks ago. Unload it and you've got to connect it. I wouldn't want to keep putting together the 2" matpress pipes all the time.

If your say 30 miles away Drying 30 at a time, before you've even started you've got £200+ haulage, nearly £7 per cube.

A day fitting the system together and getting everything upto temp. £200 another £7 a cube.

You won't be able to get RHI if it's mobile so fuel cost, 1 cubic metre per 8 hour day (I'm guessing your not going to work 24 hours loading the boiler?) 9 day drying so 9 cube used. Let's say £50 cost per day of fuel so £450 over the drying cycle. Another £15 per cubic metre.

That's £29. Electric isn't much over the week so total £30 per cube.

Add a day to cool down and disconnect, transport cost back another £14. £44 total. Plus if the person hiring it out has got to go back for any reason. Plus loading and unloading times.

And everyone's got to make a profit on top too.

If you want to go down the kiln route Either buy yourself a kiln or import it.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

I'm quite surprised the "don't use a kiln, let the wind do the job" brigade haven't turned up to this thread yet...

 

 

 

In a thread which is likely to be populated by dedicated and aspiring kiln users??

 

Where the logic, even amongst those die hards, has clearly demonstrated the lack of commercial viability unless suckling at the teat of RHI???

 

Can't see it being very receptive audience.....

 

But we're here, watching and shaking our collective heads in moral indignation!

 

(For the hard of thinking, and there must be a high proportion amongst the kiln fraternity, this is light-hearted, not serious!)

[Woodworks]

I would love to build a kiln and run it off branch loggings made from brash.

 

Build the boiler into the kiln and not have to use water as means of energy transfer as I think this is whats required for RHI but seems a waste to have boiler separated from the kiln and have lots heat wasted along the way. No idea if it could be done but maybe one day.

[SbTVF]

I'm quite surprised the "don't use a kiln, let the wind do the job" brigade haven't turned up to this thread yet...

 

I really can't see this working. I don't know how your going to transport a kiln and boiler system for a start. If it's in 2 20ft containers maybe but I had 1 20ft container taken 15 miles for £150 a few weeks ago. Unload it and you've got to connect it. I wouldn't want to keep putting together the 2" matpress pipes all the time.

If your say 30 miles away Drying 30 at a time, before you've even started you've got £200+ haulage, nearly £7 per cube.

A day fitting the system together and getting everything upto temp. £200 another £7 a cube.

You won't be able to get RHI if it's mobile so fuel cost, 1 cubic metre per 8 hour day (I'm guessing your not going to work 24 hours loading the boiler?) 9 day drying so 9 cube used. Let's say £50 cost per day of fuel so £450 over the drying cycle. Another £15 per cubic metre.

That's £29. Electric isn't much over the week so total £30 per cube.

Add a day to cool down and disconnect, transport cost back another £14. £44 total. Plus if the person hiring it out has got to go back for any reason. Plus loading and unloading times.

And everyone's got to make a profit on top too.

If you want to go down the kiln route Either buy yourself a kiln or import it.

 

 

 

The only way a mobile kiln works is if it's fully mounted on an artic trailer or hook loader lorry. If you have to dismantle and de-mount, the convenience soon stops.

 

The cost of buying the equipment would probably be far too much to make it worth it in reality let's be honest. Never mind what you'd have to charge and a big user of it would just put their own in, assuming they had space.

 

 

 

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[Rob D]

I'm quite surprised the "don't use a kiln, let the wind do the job" brigade haven't turned up to this thread yet...

 

 

Yep - I don't get this need for kiln drying. Just prep a year in advance. It seems to be a knee jerk reaction of 'oh the phones ringing off the hook with people wanting dry logs - how can I get some quick'

 

 

[Woodworks]

Yep - I don't get this need for kiln drying. Just prep a year in advance. It seems to be a knee jerk reaction of 'oh the phones ringing off the hook with people wanting dry logs - how can I get some quick'

 

 

 

I get it, space is precious. I only do a couple hundred cube a year but they take up a lot of area. I have crates dotted around the field and then around half our barn space filled with crates. Then there is the cord being bought in advance. It all adds up and our set up is tiny in comparison with some of the boys on here. At the moment the logs in crates in the field are getting wet due to driving rain and fog. I bring them into the barn but with 98% humidity they don't shake off that surface moisture very quickly.