Kiln dried firewood??

[blackdoggy]

I have been looking here at kiln dried firewood, it seems like a good idea for faster drying and higher final sale prices. It looks very simple to build I mean it's basically just a tobacco bulk barn in theory and design. My question is how simple would it be to build or convert a reefer trailer or a old steel tobacco bulk barn? One company makes them with 40ft reefer high cube over seas containers with a few fans and a OWB to provide the heat for the unit which I would assume could also be also used to heat a garage in addition to the firewood. I am not looking at totally drying out the wood but just taking it from green just cut down to around 20 or 30% moisture. I am thinking instead of using baskets and just hand tossing the wood into them building eight foot tall sides on 4x4 pallets and stacking the wood in a manner which would allow good air flow through all of the wood.
Let me know if I am crazy or a genius I think this could work if done right.

http://www.firewoodkiln.com/firewood/Firewoodkiln.html

http://www.mountainfirewoodkilns.com/firewood_kiln.php

 

[RaisedByWolves]

If you have room for the container I say go for it!


Stacking the wood on 48" pallets, 8' high will give you a cord and if you paint the outside of the trailer black it should get plenty hot inside through the summer. you could wrap them in chicken wire for stability like they do for pallets of stone.



Theirs also solar powered vents for sheds that would draw air through for ventilation. or you could buy a panel and use radatior fans from the junk yard.



Oh, crap, now you got me thinking.....



.

 

[blackdoggy]

Thats the idea THINK!
This could be a very nice project for people here that have the means to do it. Heck if you sit down and think about it technically if you were to build the unit for 10-15K you should be able to recover that in (figuring $150 per pallet divided by 24 pallets in a 53 Ft trailer which equals $3,600 per dried load every seven days) roughly two months or so depending on sales and cost of labor, equipment, time, and materials. Not bad if your in a high sales region or able to ship the wood by tractor trailer to other points of sale heck while your at it you can toss in a ten pound bag of dried chips for fire starting with each cord.

 

[jnsn]

I met a guy that does this in Maine. He would pull the whole thing around on a trailer and set it up on site. He had a sea container plumbed with pex. He would cut and split the wood, then palletize and place in the container with a forklift. Then dry the wood by burning the slash he created in an owb. The wood was stored on the same pallets until sold. As stated in ands, he could produce new dry wood at any time. Damndest thing.

 

[STLfirewood]

A kiln is in my long term plans. I have to get the building to store it in first. I bought that. Now I have to concrete the floor for a place to put the wood once dried. I have a marketing plan for kiln dried wood. I am going to go to all the local apartment complexes. We have a bunch in St. Louis. I am going to show them how kiln dried wood doesn't have any bugs and isn't hard on flues ect. Then I am going to give them a price sheet that shows how much I sell it for and how the price isn't that much more then regular wood. Then I am going to show them their percentage of every sale I make. I think a lot of owners would mandate that their renters could only buy from me. That is one plan I have. I have a few others I can only follow them as mony allows

Scott

 

[newb]

Why not cut a door on both sides, then add rollers, wet wood in one side, dry wood out the other. Pete

 

[blackdoggy]

Why not cut a door on both sides, then add rollers, wet wood in one side, dry wood out the other. Pete

That is a good idea but not really feasible because you need to have in one end a fan and heat exchanger. STL your a real ass and you could be hit for price fixing doing that but it's a great idea and I hope it works for you.

 

[fugazi42]

If are considering selling kiln-dried hardwood for only $150 per cord you may be vastly underpricing yourself. There are wood guys here in Connecticut and Long Island that get over $700 per cord (delivered) for kiln-dried wood. The key is to market it properly. Granted, the market in your area might not me like that of Fairfield/Westchester County or the Hamptons, but I still think $150 per cord is way too cheap.

Josh

 

[Husky137]

Cripes , green wood goes for $150 a cord here. If you aren't getting $250-$300 a cord for KD, then don't bother.

 

[STLfirewood]

I get around $300 a cord for regular seasoned wood. I was thinking I could get around $400 for Kiln dried. There are some people getting that for regular seasoned wood. I was just using those numbers for my research. You can buy a kiln setup for 20-30k. Right know the 30% increase in price would net another $6k a year on average. I know I can grow by 25-30 cord a year. My problem is supply. After this building and the concrete floor then it will be kiln time. I guess I could use this kiln to dry lumber for people also. That might be a way to make a little money.

Scott

 

[blackdoggy]

$150 is just a base line number. STL it sounds as if you got your self one very good idea there. You could vastly increase your profits if you have a porta band saw there to cut slab wood and kiln dry it and resell it to furniture manufactures or people with a wood shop that are looking for "pretty" wood.