kiln dried firewood

[rb_in_va]

Anyone kiln dry their firewood? I was thinking of building a makeshift solar kiln out of salvage materials to "quick-dry" some firewood. Is this feasible?

 

[Dan Dill]

Nice idea, but do yo have trouble getting it to dry over a summer, or is this so you can process more for sell?

 

[TooTall999]

I've often thought about building a kiln type dryer using metal shipping containers and mounting wind driven ventilators on top with intake holes placed near the bottom of the walls.The inside temp gets pretty hot in these...and with the air flowing through you'd think firewood would cure pretty quickly.I figured on putting the wood in metal 4'x4' cage/baskets.

 

[MS-310]

Are little kiln here at work would be great for firewood, I did put an load of red oak in this summer, greener then grass. I dried it in about 2 weeks at 150 and at full vent. It doesnt madder how hard you dry it cuz your just burning it. But Got to think the electicty it takes to run the fans and the venter....They do it all over the place nothland kilns are making an firewood kiln.

Jack

 

[rb_in_va]

Nice idea, but do yo have trouble getting it to dry over a summer, or is this so you can process more for sell?

This would be a small unit for my personal firewood use, probably 4'X8'X16". I just bought the house in June so I didn't have time to get wood and split it so it would dry in time. Just looking to rig something up to speed up the process. Found someone that had a maple tree cut down and will give me the wood. She has a gum too but I will pass on that.

 

[scottr]

Solar firewood dryer

Roger do you remember this thread ? http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=34210

 

[rb_in_va]

Roger do you remember this thread ? http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=34210

Nope, thanks for the link though. That is similar to what I had in mind. I'll take pics if I build it.

The article mentioned using a storm door for the clear front. And I do happen to have an old storm door and some scrap plywood! Sweet deal!

 

[scottr]

Nope, thanks for the link though. That is similar to what I had in mind. I'll take pics if I build it.

The article mentioed using a storm door for the clear front. And I do happen to have an old storm door and some scrap plywood! Sweet deal!

Roger , if you have some old rusty corrugated roofing for the floor to absorb heat it helps . It also lets the air circulate below the wood .

 

[rb_in_va]

Roger , if you have some old rusty corrugated roofing for the floor to absorb heat it helps . It also lets the air circulate below the wood .

I'll keep a lookout for some.

 

[046]

http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn450.pdf

 

[rb_in_va]

http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn450.pdf

I looked at that study.It appears that the FS neglected to provide adequate ventilation for the temporary kiln setup. Plus it seems it would be faster by far to dry wood if you could get the temp up from 30 degrees F.