Looking at ways to dry firewood faster and cheaper

[haveawoody]

Wish I could take credit for the idea but I borrowed it myself

I used to dry a few cords a year with the pvc hoop house always about 1/2 the cure time of the exact same stacks outdoors.
Worked like a charm and very cheap to create used spring, summer and fall.
Winter it had to be taken down or crushed with snow loads.
Free wood pallets for floor and something to connect the pvc arches and plastic to.
Biggest expense is clear plastic but not to bad a cost a tsc, not uv treaded so only last a couple years though.

Now I have more stacks of firewood than I need to rush curing so one year it just didn't get built again.

If your every pushy for firewood to be cured quick and a system that goes up in a day at low cost pvc hoop house is the way to go.
With open ends even up here in Ontario Canada I never saw condensation form inside it.
In your location you would probably find it cures wood pretty quick and snow load wont be an issue LOL
So once you make one it can stay permanent.
Good tip if it's staying for extended lengths of time is rebar pounded into the ground to anchor it place, with heavy wind a hoop house makes a mighty fine kite.

 

[muddstopper]

If you wish to use a hoop house design, you might consider using automatic foundation vents, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...F6940&ef_id=U675jgAABCTaEatw:20140801235703:s that automaticly open when the temps reach 70*F and close at 40*F. This way, you get air flow at the bottom of the wood pile only when temps are on the rise. Vents mounted at the bottom and top of the hoop house should create convection air flow that removes moisture and speeds drying. Just an ideal I had, dont know how well it would work.

 

[CRThomas]

Hello,

I have a small scale firewood business going now and I have orders for about 70 cords this year so far. I know that it will be more next year because of a few different things that I do for my customers that the other guys don't and I have had my phone ringing already for next winter with new customers. I started doing bundles this spring and have sold about 300 bundles this summer already. My problem is I can only sell my wood within a 50 mile radius without USDA-DNR certification and a kiln to kill the bugs. I have a cement block building that is 12'x20' that i really don't use other than for storage of mainly junk so I am looking at converting into a kiln if i decide to go that route. Right now I season my wood outside under a lean to roof next to my shed, the lean to is 20'x120' with a concrete floor so i can store a good amount of 16" chunks in there and for now its working well but i'm seasoning my wood about 1 1/2 to 2 years to get it to 15-20%. I was doing some thinking over the past few weeks and thought if i enclosed the lean to and put a bunch of sliding doors on the side for easy access and a double door with adjustable louvers on the one end for loading and add two huge barn fans on the other end would that speed up the process and would it be worth the extra investment in the sheeting, fans and labor (I can get them cheap since the neighbor added on to his barn and bought new ones and would sell them to me). The fans are 48" belt driven fans 3 phase that spin at 750 RPM and create 32,500 CFM from what the tag says (If needed I could maybe bump that up by changing pulleys if the motor would handle it). I pile my wood all the same way and have about a foot between the rows so the fans would be blowing into the end grain of the wood. The reason I would have multiple access doors on the side is so I could remove the wood closest to the fan as I would anticipate it drying faster and then replace it with green wood. What does everyone think of this idea for my local (within 50 mile) customers verses kiln drying everything. One concern I have is how to maintain the humidity other than just not running the fans on humid days, it would be kind of the same concept of a grain bin with a fan. Maybe there is some sort of humidity control that would automatically kick the fans on and off when the humidity level reaches certain points. I'm not too concerned with the electricity usage as the fans are only 1 hp 3 phase and it says the amperage is 2.6 amps. I currently don't have 3 phase power but it's at the electric pole which is only about 75' from the building so I can't imagine it would cost a whole lot to get that hooked up. I look forward to everyone's thoughts on this idea and thank you very much in advance.

I almost forgot to mention the entire roof on my lean to is brand new transparent panels so i get a lot of sunlight and it is much warmer when you stand under it.

Thanks Again & Have a great day!

Jason

On your bundled firewood do you sell Ash if you do I can dry Ash to 15 percent in my kiln every 24 hour I run a slow fan and a little heat that is tree cut down one day and split and put in my kiln at noon the next day at noon it's ready. I have friend he sells bulk wood and he puts a little Ash in the middle for his customers and they love quick fire and it last.

 

[Poindexter]

I think we all agree that balancing temperature and air exchange is the key. I don't know that you can have too much airflow if the wood is hot enough for water to be evaporating. OTOH if I am moving air so fast the wood isn't heating up than I am not saving any time.

I did build the opposite once. I had a stack on pallets four feet wide, four feet tall and about 25 feet long. I covered the top and all four sides with a single sheet of clear plastic. I had a BUNCH of condensation on the inside walls after one sunny day, but not enough air flow to move the water out.

For now I cover on top and leave the sides open, but I had everything up and covered on May 15. I am pretty good now for personal use this winter, even after the wettest June and fourth wettest July on record.

I wonder if the OP could set the fans to kick on when the relative humidity in the shed hits 70% or so, and then kick back off when the RH inside the drying shed gets down to maybe 40% or so?

EDIT: Do get a written estimate on your 3 phase wiring before you commit. I got burned on that one pretty hard once upon a time.

 

[blades]

3 phase- cost $1100 to go from pole to shop, about70 ft. 15years ago.

 

[woodchuck357]

Search for a home made rotary three phase converter for plans to build one from a three phase motor if the cost of running the line is to high.
As long as the air moving over the wood has a lower moisture content than the surface of the wood has you can't have to much air movement.

 

[woodchuck357]

On your bundled firewood do you sell Ash if you do I can dry Ash to 15 percent in my kiln every 24 hour I run a slow fan and a little heat that is tree cut down one day and split and put in my kiln at noon the next day at noon it's ready. I have friend he sells bulk wood and he puts a little Ash in the middle for his customers and they love quick fire and it last.

The surface may be 15 percent but I doubt the inside is. With heat and vacuum ( the fastest way to dry wood ) a one inch ash board takes more than a week.

 

[zogger]

The surface may be 15 percent but I doubt the inside is. With heat and vacuum ( the fastest way to dry wood ) a one inch board takes more than a week.

Ash dries really quick.

 

[cantoo]

I usually split my ash so that I get as much barkfree pieces as I can. What this means is I split off the bark and leave the bigger center pieces as big pieces. The barkfee stuff usually goes in the basement right away and the bark pieces go into my wire mesh crates to dry the bark.

 

[CRThomas]

I stick and stack my wood for drying it helps speed up the process. But I only dry Ash that way. On average I only dry a rank every 24 hours if I look down the road and I for see might get busy I jump to 4 rank every other day. Heat air flow and a way to get the water out of your kiln. I heat with NG air flow 2 four foot fans if need to deh. My knotts go in my metal baskets or Dino bags being Ash out side its all dry in a month. Later

 

[CRThomas]

You have to take in the type wood you are drying was it cut with the leaves on or the sap down the type wood. Some hard dry fast than others hard wood dry slow.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

3 phase- cost $1100 to go from pole to shop, about70 ft. 15years ago.

And then how much per month "just to be hooked up"? Around here, it's close to 50 per month to be hooked to 3 phase, whether you use it or not.

Rotary converters aren't free to run either, there's a cost to convert it, as in, you use electricity to make 1P into 3P.

SR

 

[blades]

better way is a VFD ( Variable Frequency Drive), they are available 220 /1P in- output 220/3P~1P. By varying the frequency you control the speed of the motor, motor always has full torque. They do not suck up a ton of extra power like a rotary one does. One other style is a Static converter220/1p in- 220/3P out least expensive of the three. There is a loss of apx 33% hp with these.

 

[Torch68]

I get a catalog from FarmTek they are an ag house that carries hoop houses, fabrics, vents, etc., you may find something cheap to cobble together. I am sure their support team may offer up some suggestions as well.

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/home

 

[CRThomas]

If you going to be in the firewood business you have to spend a little money penny pitching will sooner or later catch up with you my wife and i have about $250.000.00 to $300.000.00 worth of equipment. if we get bigger will will buy more but we at our full amount with out hiring help and that never happen.

 

[Benjamin7548]

Hi. Drying fire wood is not like drying lumber, the humidity doesn't need controlled just reduced. You can use Hydraulic Equipment for this.

 

[blades]

Ben please explain how hydro would dry wood. We are not talking about splitting or transporting or cutting here, simply reducing the moisture content of the splits in a shorter time frame than Mother Nature on her own. Yes, hydro generates heat due to inefficiencies in the system but would be a very poor choice to try and re-purpose that by product as well as expensive. Actually the drying of fire wood is indeed very much like drying lumber , same principals apply difference being the 8% for limber vs 15-20% for firewood moisture content and of course we are not worried about warping, end splitting , or cracking.

 

[motoman3b]

http://www.menards.com/main/p-2374416-c-10153.htm

I use something similar to this to keep my firewood in, holds up to snow in the winter. Had it for about 10 years now for the $350 or so I paid for it it doesn't owe me anything! I did leave the back end open and the doors end open so it gets good ventilation

 

[1project2many]

My buddy bought some green split wood and stacked it in his green house thinking it would dry it quicker. What really happened is the humitity shot way up in his green house and water was dripping from the plastic. Wood actually molded in just a couple of wks.

Exactly. Heating the wood heats the moisture inside which means it wants to turn to vapor. But it has to be able to go somewhere. If it's retained in an enclosed space it won't "go away."

Ben please explain how hydro would dry wood. We are not talking about splitting or transporting or cutting here, simply reducing the moisture content of the splits in a shorter time frame than Mother Nature on her own.

Rather than invest in electric infrastructure to run fans along with associated monthly billing even when the fans aren't used, a hydraulically driven fan powered by a diesel engine/pump might be a better investment.


Wood naturally moves moisture along the grain so making sure the ends are exposed is important. As the ends dry, moisture will naturally wick from the center out. Stacking wood with the ends exposed gives two paths for moisture to wick out of the log. Causing airflow over the ends accelerates this process and convection can be used to move air vertically along and between rows of wood. A drying shed with a southern face / south sloped roof, dark walls, and an open floor can stand through snow load and provide moving air in four seasons. My two sheds actually work even after the sun sets as the logs, heated during the day, heat the cool air of the evening enough so you can feel air exiting the top of the shed. This continues for up to two hours after the sun sets. I've dried wet (not green) wood in three months with these sheds.

 

[STLfirewood]

Ben please explain how h. ydro would dry wood. We are not talking about splitting or transporting or cutting here, simply reducing the moisture content of the splits in a shorter time frame than Mother Nature on her own. Yes, hydro generates heat due to inefficiencies in the system but would be a very poor choice to try and re-purpose that by product as well as expensive. Actually the drying of fire wood is indeed very much like drying lumber , same principals apply difference being the 8% for limber vs 15-20% for firewood moisture content and of course we are not worried about warping, end splitting , or cracking.

The biggest difference is the temp. I dry firewood in my kiln at 195° . You don't dry lumber at those temps. I would love to dry at a higher temp but I use a boiler.