Kiln dried logs and a globally warmer climate

[neiln]

Sat here trying to do nothing and trying to stop the kids getting hot and grumpy.  I had a thought and looked it up.  40C and 30-40 RHI weather, wood equilibrium moisture content is about 7-8%. Why do we need kiln dried logs again? 😂

 

Seriously though, how dry will my oak logs, seasoning since November/December 2020, be by October if this summer carries on?  I might have to try and find my cheap moisture meter.

[trigger_andy]

16 minutes ago, neiln said:

Sat here trying to do nothing and trying to stop the kids getting hot and grumpy.  I had a thought and looked it up.  40C and 30-40 RHI weather, wood equilibrium moisture content is about 7-8%. Why do we need kiln dried logs again? 😂

 

Seriously though, how dry will my oak logs, seasoning since November/December 2020, be by October if this summer carries on?  I might have to try and find my cheap moisture meter.

Get a cheap moisture meter regardless. 

 

How dry your logs will be will be determined by numerous factors including:

How dry they are kept.

Airflow.

How small they have been split.

 

 

You might get lucky and have them under 20%mc if you have a little stove and have cut the logs to 9"-10" in length and 3-4" chunks. I still think 2 years seasoning on such dense hardwood is best though. 

[Conor Wright]

Interesting. I could never see the reasoning behind it other than impatience driven by greed.

[dig-dug-dan]

27 minutes ago, neiln said:

Sat here trying to do nothing and trying to stop the kids getting hot and grumpy.  I had a thought and looked it up.  40C and 30-40 RHI weather, wood equilibrium moisture content is about 7-8%. Why do we need kiln dried logs again? 😂

 

Seriously though, how dry will my oak logs, seasoning since November/December 2020, be by October if this summer carries on?  I might have to try and find my cheap moisture meter.

We dont. We never have. Its idiots selling un seasoned logs, and householders  burning stuff dragged out of the canal that's the problem (both of which I have witnessed)

I store fresh cut wood outside for two years. Then I chop it into logs and store it in an air flow clamp for a further year. It comes in at around 15% , well below the standard.

I see no point in burning fossil fuels in a kiln to get it done in moisture content. Talk about releasing unneccasry carbon!

[Stubby]

You could get the down to " death valley " dry right now but , if it pisses down from September onward they will take up some moisture .  So , whatever , you godda burn what you got when you need to ...I agree . You don't need kiln dried . 20% moisture is 20% moisture no matter how you achieve it . In fact given the choice of either I would have air dried all day long .

Edited July 17, 2022 by Stubby

[trigger_andy]

4 minutes ago, Conor Wright said:

Interesting. I could never see the reasoning behind it other than impatience driven by greed.

I agree in principle but if you making the selling of logs your business model then you can hardly dedicate the huge amount of space needed to season logs for 2 years. You would need to kiln dry them to keep up with demand and also reduce the space required for storage. 

 

A local outfit uses the waste product from log processing to run his drying kiln. So in my opinion neither impatient , greedy nor wasteful. 

 

Im considering buying an insulated container to kiln dry logs along the same principles. Get 8-10 IBC's in there at a time. Burn all the Sawdust produced from my Milling and clogging up the logs as a way to heat the container and potentially Solar to run the Fans. 

[Conor Wright]

I see your point. It is a way of getting rid of waste wood. 

Still, it's not going to change my mind about it.

If you wernt in Scotland I'd suggest a solar kiln for your kind of volume!

Have toyed with the idea myself but I'm still using ibcs in a repurposed mushroom tunnel. For my needs it works well, just have to keep ahead of demand with the splitting which has been hard this year. I'm selling more logs this summer than I did any other year.

[neiln]

32 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

Get a cheap moisture meter regardless. 

 

How dry your logs will be will be determined by numerous factors including:

How dry they are kept.

Airflow.

How small they have been split.

 

 

You might get lucky and have them under 20%mc if you have a little stove and have cut the logs to 9"-10" in length and 3-4" chunks. I still think 2 years seasoning on such dense hardwood is best though. 

Try re reading my post Andy.  I have a meter and the oak will be 2 years seasoned!

[trigger_andy]

6 minutes ago, neiln said:

Try re reading my post Andy.  I have a meter and the oak will be 2 years seasoned!

Then why bother with the thread? 🙄

[neiln]

10 minutes ago, Conor Wright said:

I see your point. It is a way of getting rid of waste wood. 

Still, it's not going to change my mind about it.

If you wernt in Scotland I'd suggest a solar kiln for your kind of volume!

Have toyed with the idea myself but I'm still using ibcs in a repurposed mushroom tunnel. For my needs it works well, just have to keep ahead of demand with the splitting which has been hard this year. I'm selling more logs this summer than I did any other year.

Solar kiln will work in Scotland.  A few years ago I few guys on hearth.com made solar kilns and a fit up in Canada, or a very cold bit of birth America, was getting green hardwood logs down to 12% in 2-3 months.  He really perfected his set up.