CRThomas
ArboristSite Guru
How much heat and air does it take to pull firewood down under 25 percent.
Drying firewood
- Thread starter CRThomas
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A lot. The rule of thumb I have seen is taht natural conditions will dry wood to the average humidity level of the climate it is in. Most species of wood will dry from green to what is considered 'dry' in one good season, some will take two.
Harry K
Harry K
There are people who manage drying lumber for huge mills (both air & kiln drying.) Often using a mix- air, then kiln. Of course, this will vary a lot between Finland & Alabama.
With luck a pro might provide tips or pointers to resources.
USFS may have info available too.
With luck a pro might provide tips or pointers to resources.
USFS may have info available too.
16%
well i have some honey locust that i cut down in june-july.i split it right away and stacked it up.in sept.i covered it for 1 month.put it all in the basement last month. every split i check was 12 to 16 %.all the ash and maple same thing.it was very wet here in ct all summer.so dry times must vary a lot. k
well i have some honey locust that i cut down in june-july.i split it right away and stacked it up.in sept.i covered it for 1 month.put it all in the basement last month. every split i check was 12 to 16 %.all the ash and maple same thing.it was very wet here in ct all summer.so dry times must vary a lot. k
Another thing that changes the dry time,,is how small you split the wood...
I agree with this. I looked into a kiln to increase my wood sales volume. For the money it cost to own and then operate on I could hire a crew to cut and split a mess of firewood to air dry and be multiple years ahead in sales.
Five dollar propane!!!!!! We have been at $1.65 for ag propane since June 1st!
mimilkman1
ArboristSite Guru
Also if you don't dry the corn down, it won't store. That is a whole different scenario altogether. Ethanol plants won't take wet corn, nor will any other recieving facility without drying it first.
I agree. The cost of fuel to dry the wood would drive you right out of the market where guys sell air dried wood. Either that or your margin of profit would go way down.
Harry K
Around $1.[sup]85[/sup] here... and the highest I ever remember it was like $2.[sup]40[/sup] a few years ago. But I've also noticed more than one "5-dollar propane" comment here on the board. At first I thought maybe the poster was just guessing, or inflating the price to support an argument. After seeing several references to $5.[sup]00[/sup] propane I finally did a bit of research... and came away quite surprised... several areas "out east" are indeed paying close to $5.[sup]00[/sup] , and $4.[sup]00[/sup] appears to be close to the average along the eastern seaboard. HOLY CRAP! Y'all are gettin' corn-holed out there.
I was unable to find pricing for the left coast... left of the Rocky's.
Yep we sure are getting it....I was checking the costs and it is almost even with fuel oil. Incredible how much it costs out here. If propane was $1.85 here I would be converting the oil eater in a second. Last fill of oil I paid $3.49
Need to save some cash to get either a OWB or wood furnace and install some ducting
At 3-5 dollars a gallon I'd be thinking seriously of converting to all electric... couldn't be more expensive (or at least not enough to matter) and a lot less hassle. Spend 800-1200 dollars on a large(ish) size portable generator and you're fully backed-up! I have a 5500/6500 watt portable (500-bucks) that easily powers my whole house (although I wouldn't run the cloths dryer and microwave at the same time)... with electric heat and hot water I'd be thinking something in the 7500/8500 watt range.
CRThomas
ArboristSite Guru
Out of firewood
I had 1500 tons of firewood dry to 15 to 16 percent it's not even December and we are out of dry wood. My little kiln can not keep up. It is only a 20 foot container. We either filling it or emptying it. I never plane on this. When people found out our wood was dry we got swamp. My partner is checking the kiln now. Got 2 people to show up in the morning to get 2 truck loads. I have oak, walnut, hickory. They call Ash the firewood for loving. It does make a perfect fire. Me and my wife only burn Ash start the fire about 6 to 7 o'clock it burns out between 9 and 10 o'clock we can go to bed with out worry of a fire. Later
I had 1500 tons of firewood dry to 15 to 16 percent it's not even December and we are out of dry wood. My little kiln can not keep up. It is only a 20 foot container. We either filling it or emptying it. I never plane on this. When people found out our wood was dry we got swamp. My partner is checking the kiln now. Got 2 people to show up in the morning to get 2 truck loads. I have oak, walnut, hickory. They call Ash the firewood for loving. It does make a perfect fire. Me and my wife only burn Ash start the fire about 6 to 7 o'clock it burns out between 9 and 10 o'clock we can go to bed with out worry of a fire. Later
woodguy105
ArboristSite Guru
opcorn:
Last edited:
woodguy105
ArboristSite Guru
:msp_thumbsup:
G
Genius.
Guest
I am glad our corn dryer runs off natural...
But, we need to dry our corn, regardless of cost of fuel. If we don't the corn will not store and will rot in a very short order. We feed all our corn so we need it to store all season. (Hog's don't like rotten corn)
No sense in arguing with, or trying to explain certain things to, non farm country "urban" dwellers, it just ain't worth it sometimes. And it ain't that they are dense, or stupid... they've just never "needed" to make the same sort of choices, or lived where there are no choices for certain things. But, to put it simply... just explain that it costs you less to dry the corn (no matter what the cost) than it does to loose the crop. But then, sometimes when you explain that their response will be, "Why don't you just leave it in the field longer, so it will dry before you harvest it?" :msp_rolleyes:
See what I mean?
Please read my post again and be open minded about my position.
I shiver when precious fuel is burned...to dry out fuel..which is to be burned. The time, money, blood, sweat, tears and energy required to raise a family and survive (note I did not say thrive) is already overwhelming enough without adding the extra step of drying out fuel or corn by burning fuel. Of course I realize why corn needs to be dried...preferably by a couple weeks of dry weather and wind.
We all do what needs to be done, and sometimes these extra steps, however inefficient, need to be done.
Doesn't mean I will be happy about it.
By the way, as for being a non-farm country, urban dweller, I am surrounded by 70,000 acres of farmland.
Fun Facts:
I have never worked on a farm.
My best friend is a farmer, and I have proudly worked with my hands since I was old enough to hold a torch.
Besides my Sunday shoes, I own one pair of Chippewa steel toed loggers. Size 12.
Am I hired?
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