Worst ever year for keeping logs dry

[difflock]

(i) Our Steyr Daimler Puch Van remains wonderfully dry.

(ii) That aside, I have noted puddles on the concrete floor in my 40' wide shed, well roofed but open sided, this morning for instance, purely due to atmospheric moisture condensing out on the cold/colder concrete, clear water in remarkable quantities in the various surface irregularities.

I am aware the timber will not be "as bad" but still!

Marcus

[pie eater pete]

Chin up chaps! I have a unused shed that will fit 3 possibly 4 IBCs in at a time,so as i only sell hardwood i may whack a stove in there and use softwood to keep it going??

[TreeswingerPerth]

We have had the same problems here , bin raining for months , I've never seen my logs so wet . Gonna have to look at more indoor solutions for the future.

[se7enthdevil]

im one of the lucky ones then. i only chop wood for myself but it's been dry enough in the thames valley to not get too soggy on the timber. the ground is definitely saturated but we have had nowhere near the amount of rain that some people have had though.

 

all our flooding came in the winter of 2013/2014 when it just kept on raining for 4-5 months and i ended up looking to see just how high we are on a map.

[Woodlover]

I know nothing about the buisness of drying logs in such quantitys but surely you guys can create heat in a room/tent/barn to help dry your logs ,either with logs or with shavings ,and any heat is good,right?Like a woodchip/shavings workshop stove? I have seen something on-line somewhere and you just load it up with your waste woodchippings/dust,must be a back boiler version out there? or even industrial scale?

The fire risks maybe too great but somehow heat from a burner could be used,piped in underfloor or even through the gaps in pallets,visquin water pipe is a cheap way?or even in radiators? obviously air flow from outside would need to be reduced, somehow it can be done to get the balance in ventilation and not loose all heat? maybe only use this system on the days there is no wind,and if waste is used as the fuel then its just a few grand to set up,going along the lines of what power a house hold log burner can produce and its costs... surely there is something out there thats basic and cheap that can help you guys?

[gdh]

A lot of people, including us, do dry using heat. The problem is that if the wood is wet it takes longer to dry and increases the risk of mould developing. Also to do large amounts you're looking at an investment of 20-50k so you need a friendly bank manager and have to justify any price increase to your customers.

[difflock]

Probably a largescale air-to-air heat exchanger, only running on days of high humidity, when, if I correctly understand the Physics, the moist air will contain more latent energy, with the positive aspect of removing most of the moisture from the incoming air, then dump the heat back into the dried air and circulate through the timber.

OR!

Rather "Dump" the heat a Stirling heat engine to generate the electric to drive the heat pump, topped up by biomass heat, technically 100% correct but a bit "hi-faluting" for most set-ups.

regards

marcus

[Pr04log]

My log barn flooded ton bags floating in 2 ft of water log job becoming more trouble than it's worth, going to have a long hard think just about had enough might find somewhere to tip straight from job,trouble is people want it for nothing.

[mendiplogs]

So fed up with rain, fog, drizzle and high humidity. Got logs that have been dry going mouldy in sheds and our crates are faring no better as the rain blows in horizontally under the covers leaving the lower half wet. Can't remember a winter where there was no respite from the wet. Last few years been able to sell logs cut and split in September before the end of the season but got no hope of that this year as they are just not drying at all. Rather wish we had gone down the kiln route but can't really see it makes sense on small scale outfits like ours.

 

Anyway enough of my moanings, how are others fairing?

 

Hi WOOD to add to the bad weather next 5 days 💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦mad thanks Jon

[Woodworks]

Think we should really count ourselves lucky Jon. Even though it's been miserable and wet for an age in the South west we have not had the quantities and flooding the the North west has had. Spring will be here soon and that is usually our sunniest parts of the year recently.

 

You can probably tell I am not as down as when I started this thread. Amazing what 36 hours without rain can do