Mini log kiln

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, Woodworks said:

I have considered something similar. My plan was to build it tall and have the stove under the wood and a vent at the top and bottom to allow convection to create a through draft. Still never tried it though.

It would make more sense to keep it horizontal and use an axial fan to blow over the wood, you'll want a few inches of insulation all round and a first in first out system as the wood nearest the stove will dry much quicker than that further away. Convection is a fairly weak effect.

 

IBCs on scaffold pole rails pushed in from one end and extracted from the front at right angles?

 

I'd think you'd need several IBCs in a tight tunnel

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, Squaredy said:

The point is the softwoods are so much easier (and therefore quicker and more economical) to dry.

I agree they do seem to dry fast and the chief thing against them is having to load the stove more frequently.

 

Most punters  won't burn them because they have been told they "creosote" the chimney; anything will deposit tar if it's wet AND/OR smouldering.

 

I only burned hardwoods for my first 35 years because I mostly worked hardwoods when I was contracting and after that I raided the wood dump of the company I worked for and only chose the better hardwoods.

 

This last three years I have taken all sorts from arb jobs I have been working on.

 

I was surprised how low the moisture content was of a 40 year old norway spruce butt I brought home in March 19. Winter felled it  was less than 50%mc wwb, I think this was because it was the bottom of the stem.

 

I have just dried a couple of pieces, one was in my wood store a couple of layers down and was 10% mc wwb, the other sat outside but not at the top of the heap, so only slightly damp from rain and was 22%, which is good but not as good as being under cover. Of course these figures will rise as the winter goes on.

 

As I mentioned in another thread I was surprised that a piece of sweet chestnut off the top of a shortwood stack of western red cedar was 47% mc wwb whereas an adjacent piece of WRC was 30%, both on the stack for a few years. I shall risk burning the WRC this season but not the s chestnut. A similar piece of WRC from inside the shed since September was down to 23%.

 

Since I have only had a wood burner with a glass door this last year I really do appreciate burning logs of <20% mc, I can maintain a good clean flame with minimal air and for the first time wood is heating the whole house.

[Rob_the_Sparky]

It is difficult to fight all the stuff on the web about softwood being crap to burn.  I don't know if it is true on an open fire but certainly not the case on a wood burner.  Good luck fighting against years of "knowledge" and keyboard experts wrt burning softwoods but certainly should be tried.  As I'm not fussy about the arising I burn so burn a lot of "rubbish" and have no issues.

[Squaredy]

Maybe a bit of pschychology. 

 

Price the Larch higher than the hardwood.  And then when a customer asks for hardwood, pause and  say something like, "OK if you can only afford the hardwood, I guess it is better than nothing."

[sandspider]

I'm currently burning quite a bit of leylandii, as I had a big one felled in my garden. I need to put three logs on where I would have put two hardwood logs on, but it burns well and dries quickly.

[neiln]

Lelandii is actually pretty good firewood, denser than most softwoods. 

 

I find virtually nothing spits or pops if properly dry, the very occasional pop in my stove is so rare it always gets my attention, so I'd think all woods should work fine on open fires.... if properly dry!

[Squaredy]

4 minutes ago, neiln said:

Lelandii is actually pretty good firewood, denser than most softwoods. 

 

I find virtually nothing spits or pops if properly dry, the very occasional pop in my stove is so rare it always gets my attention, so I'd think all woods should work fine on open fires.... if properly dry!

It is also pretty good timber - totally under-rated.  I admit it is usually knotty, but durability similar to UK grown Western Red Cedar.

[Silverhooker]

I terms of drying wood a mate has built a lean-to which is south facing using old double glazing he got when they  knocked the local cottage hospital down. He has sheeted one end with the stuff they use to let air into cattle sheds and polythene roll up door at the other end. It drys wood out great and cost almost nothing to build as most of the stuff he got out of skips. What some call a solar kiln.

[sandspider]

I dried my leylandii in a polytunnel. ~6 months in good weather with one door and all vents open seems to dry it fully, to 12% ish.

[openspaceman]

58 minutes ago, Silverhooker said:

lean-to which is south facing using old double glazing

This is what I did last year when I had the house windows and patio door replaced with double glazed units. Mine is just the doors for sides and one door for the top, open front and back and it works well, the only problem is 4m3 is not going to hold enough for a seasons burning so I shall double the size with some clear PVC corrugated sheeting.