How do you air dry your wood down to 20% ??

[CallumA]

I know plenty who air dry their firewood in barns, but does anyone successfully air dry outdoors in stillages / potato boxes etc.  and still manage to keep them dry outside during the winter months?

Yes I keep my wood for my biomass in 1.2 x 1.6 x 1.2 deep boxes. Made them myself so the front opens up for access to wood and 50mm gaps between boards. I build in 3 rows of 500mm long wood and stack boxes 3 high and the top one has an old curtain side cover on top. This way I just lift the box of wood into biomass shed with tractor and loader. Using cut up slabs from milling at the moment and MC between 14>20% at the moment. Even with driving rain the wood stays dry

[arboriculturist]

1 minute ago, CallumA said:

1 hour ago, arboriculturist said:

I know plenty who air dry their firewood in barns, but does anyone successfully air dry outdoors in stillages / potato boxes etc.  and still manage to keep them dry outside during the winter months?

Yes I keep my wood for my biomass in 1.2 x 1.6 x 1.2 deep boxes. Made them myself so the front opens up for access to wood and 50mm gaps between boards. I build in 3 rows of 500mm long wood and stack boxes 3 high and the top one has an old curtain side cover on top. This way I just lift the box of wood into biomass shed with tractor and loader. Using cut up slabs from milling at the moment and MC between 14>20% at the moment. Even with driving rain the wood stays dry

Sound like a efficient system, and real low MC. ?

[CallumA]

Sound like a efficient system, and real low MC. [emoji106]

Top of a hill and loads of wind

[arboriculturist]

Nothing to beat a windy hill, provided you can keep dry and access during the winter.?

[xdcx]

Just started burning some pine that's been in the log store outside for just shy of a year and it's measuring 14-16%. The log store is as basic as you can imagine and lives behind a shed at about 180m above the snow line in the Highlands. So it's baltic cold 90% of the year but on the other hand it sure does get a hell of a lot of wind blowing through it.

 

Pine cut and stored will be fine for burning (<25%) in less than 6 weeks if it's decent stuff not being lying in the elements for ever before cutting it. Larch much the same and these are woods we predominately have up here so it's what we burn.

 

Got a massive load of Poplar which is fresh fell 4 weeks ago. Already chopped it all and building a new log store for it but we shall see how long that stuff takes to dry. I reckon I won't get that down to 20% even by next winter, that's for sure.

 

I'm with a lot of you guys in here thinking it's absolute pish this mentality of not wanting to burn softwoods. I have people in my own family bending over backwards trying to get birch, oak, elm and all I can say is I will burn pine/larch over that stuff any day of the week. I will chop, stack and dry pine/larch in a quarter of the time for heating my house any day of the week as well!

Edited February 25, 2020 by xdcx

[arboriculturist]

23 minutes ago, xdcx said:

Just started burning some pine that's been in the log store outside for just shy of a year and it's measuring 14-16%. The log store is as basic as you can imagine and lives behind a shed at about 180m above the snow line in the Highlands. So it's baltic cold 90% of the year but on the other hand it sure does get a hell of a lot of wind blowing through it.

 

Pine cut and stored will be fine for burning (<25%) in less than 6 weeks if it's decent stuff not being lying in the elements for ever before cutting it. Larch much the same and these are woods we predominately have up here so it's what we burn.

 

Got a massive load of Poplar which is fresh fell 4 weeks ago. Already chopped it all and building a new log store for it but we shall see how long that stuff takes to dry. I reckon I won't get that down to 20% even by next winter, that's for sure.

 

I'm with a lot of you guys in here thinking it's absolute pish this mentality of not wanting to burn softwoods. I have people in my own family bending over backwards trying to get birch, oak, elm and all I can say is I will burn pine/larch over that stuff any day of the week. I will chop, stack and dry pine/larch in a quarter of the time for heating my house any day of the week as well!

Here here! Totally agree. I have worked hard at promoting soft and sell a lot. Very interesting info. thanks ?

[nepia]

1 hour ago, arboriculturist said:

 however when the 'Log Police' descend things may take a turn for the worst.

 

 

If they descend.  LAs don't have the resources to police many such trading standards issues.  I'm not losing sleep over this.

[nepia]

2 hours ago, arboriculturist said:

The powers that be are on a mission to re-educate the public regarding 'ready to burn' firewood and a lot of resources will be expended in the media.

 

I hope you're right because the way to tackle this so-called problem of pollution is via education, not legislation.  Legislation shouldn't be needed if the education is done properly; the 'problem' would sort itself by the endusers' improved knowledge.

[nepia]

1 hour ago, xdcx said:

Got a massive load of Poplar which is fresh fell 4 weeks ago. Already chopped it all and building a new log store for it but we shall see how long that stuff takes to dry. I reckon I won't get that down to 20% even by next winter, that's for sure.

 

I'm with a lot of you guys in here thinking it's absolute pish this mentality of not wanting to burn softwoods. I have people in my own family bending over backwards trying to get birch, oak, elm and all I can say is I will burn pine/larch over that stuff any day of the week. I will chop, stack and dry pine/larch in a quarter of the time for heating my house any day of the week as well!

I don't see why the pop will take that long to dry; the wind will soon sort it.  I reckon you're in for a pleasant surprise.

 

And totally agree re softwood.  I'm in commuter Surrey and have burnt nothing but softwood at home for years; no way am I burning the valuable stuff here!  But it's not just the money; as you say the management of softwood makes it appealing.

[Big J]

Just checked my firewood in the house. 19-23%. That's ash that was split and stacked 13 months ago, left in stacks uncovered until mid summer and then brought into a completely sheltered but fully ventilated woodstore. The ash was also windblow to start with, which was offrooted and processed to length in October 2018, so it's had plenty of time to dry.

 

If my average moisture content is just over 20% (which it is) in perfect (domestic) drying conditions, I don't envy you guys trying to do it commercially.