Rapid dry firewood

[drmiller100]

Hi,

I want to cut/split 200 cords of wood in June, dry it in July/August/September, and sell it in December.

Space is limited somewhat, so imagine it will end up in a huge pile, no more then 10 feet tall.

How do I dry the bottom of the pile????

My thought was to dig some trenches under where teh pile is going to go. lay some perforated 4 inch pipe in hte trenches, and cover with round drain rock.

Stack the wood on top of the rocks using the skid steer bucket.

Then take a house furnace or other appropriate fan, and hook it to the various 4 inch pipes.

Hook a house thermostat on the AC circuit, and only turn the fan on when the temp is above 70.

Theory is the top of the pile will dry with the wind, and the bottom fo the pile will dry with the fan.

Thoughts?

 

[Jimfound]

I have paid for delivered wood in the past and my major complaint has been that the wood was not properly seasoned. I don't think 4 months is enough time to properly season wood. I don't deem to tell you how to run a business, but to me good practice leads to word of mouth and loyal customers. Good luck.

 

[ericjeeper]

Holzhauzen

They claim natural drying with this technique

 

[jrclen]

I cut mostly oak and mostly dead. But I don't think live oak would be seasoned in that amount of time. I don't know about softer wood. But good luck and I'd like to know how it turns out.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Hook a house thermostat on the AC circuit, and only turn the fan on when the temp is above 70.

Theory is the top of the pile will dry with the wind, and the bottom fo the pile will dry with the fan.

And the wind will only blow when it's above 70? Why shut it off, EVER? Well, except for rainy weather.

Frankly, I don't see getting seasoned wood that way, unless you're in the desert.

I'm with Treeco. Get it up off the ground (junked pallets), or on a hard surface, or plan to have wet and maybe rotted wood at the bottom.

 

[DWittenbreder]

Fast seasoning

Split it on the small side, pile loose on pallets, cover top only w/ black landscaper plastic. oak won't season in three months though. I hope you have a processor cause you'll be hard pressed to split 200 crd. in 1 month.


Pocono Mountain Firewood

 

[DWittenbreder]

more

Make sure you have it laying in full sun.

 

[computeruser]

Good luck, that'd be a tough one even if all you were cutting was dead standing ash.

Gotta second the remark about buying improperly seasoned wood. Since I don't have much space, sometimes I have to buy wood towards the end of the season. It straight-up pisses me off when someone sells wood as "seasoned" and as soon as you pitch it in the fire it hisses, bubbles, and steams. Not cool.

 

[jerseydevil]

Quite an endevor, but then again, most things are. How about a few smaller piles that are "tossed" every two weeks or so, with the skidsteer. Have them in full sun, with no wind breaks. Also, if you have anything like fencing to stretch tightly, and securely across some kind of foundation, you could get better circulation with a couple of those carpet drying fans. To do this, I would put an auger attachment on the skidsteer, and sink a bunch of 4x4 posts into the ground about 2 feet and leave about two feet above ground, then use 2 inch horse shoe nails to secure the fenceing. Kinda like a large food dehydrator.
I guess it is as big an endevor as your idea, so it really just matters what materials you have available.
I really think 200 cord in one large pile is gonna take forever to season. Even if you can dry the top and bottom, the middle might as well be in a tupperware container.
My 2cents.

 

[Andyshine77]

The best way to season wood is to make nice stacks like the one in the jpg, and let the sun and time do the rest.

 

[ropensaddle]

Well I still don't know what all the fuss about seasoned is!
I have burned green wood all winter and it burns fine as long
as it is quality wood not as hot but burns longer! I burn anything
though and sell best wood but seriously green burns and if mixed
with dry does very well!

 

[hbbyloggr]

Without good airflow to move the moisture away from the lower portions of the pile, I'm afraid the only thing warm heat introduced at the bottom will do is provide a good breeding ground for mold. Air flow is more important than heat.
Heat, along with good air flow will reduce the drying time, but if the moisture gets transfered to the surrounding air from the wood and not excavated ,all that has been accomplished is creating a green house.
If your going to pile your wood on the ground ,piles should not exceed 3 to 4 ft. That also depends on the overall weather conditions for the summer.
If your space is limited, try to find an additional location to spread your wood out. A pile 10' deep will be a real disappointment for you when it's " harvest time ".
Hope this helps.

 

[Husky137]

Instead of all of the work to dig trenches and and install drainage, how about a kiln? Will probably involve quite a bit more labor in terms of moving the wood, but you are probably going to have much better results and will be able to move right into December continuing to dry wood. I've read about set-ups where they used insulated trailers or containers as the kiln structure and moved the wood in and out in metal carts (think giant grocery cart) on steel rails. Just another angle.

 

[SRT-Tech]

stack it in roows in a heated room, tunr on a dehumidifier, and place carpet fans (the big ones) so the air circulates rapidly. I had great success with this method last year for rapid mouisture extraction. The purists will scoff at it but i will not go back to waiting for wood to dry anymore. A local firewood dealer has adopted this method , on a larger scale in his warehouse.

 

[tawilson]

I was thinking about a dehumidier too. If a room isn't available, why couldn't you put a tarp over the whole thing with the dehumidifier under it. Still circulate air around with the fan.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

What's your cost in electricity?


Solar is free. I tried it on a small scale last fall and it worked VERY well, and that was in a location with not much sun.

 

[ADAMH]

if you are in the firewood business then really the only way is to have it in a huge pile... no one in their right mind is going to take the time to stack it neatly.

all of the big firewood guys here all have piles..and let it air dry..

plus you have to move it around with loaders...which makes neat piles useless unless you want to keep reparing them everytime you deliver wood..

 

[046]

your only possible solution is to start now.... not wait until june

 

[Mr. Firewood]

your only possible solution is to start now.... not wait until june

pretty much the honest truth, I am starting late too but only by 2-3 weeks

 

[drmiller100]

pretty big greenhouse that can store 200 cords. also puzzled as to what will circulate the air inside the stack.

a skid steer isn't going to just turn the pile easily on 200 cords of wood.

If I spread 200 cords of wood out 2 feet deep, I end up with a pile 16,000 square feet. that's only a third acre.

If i stack it 6 feet tall on top of pallets, i only need about 300 pallets, which I then get to separate cuz the loader will destroy them all when it comes time to get the wood out.

but if i use a 1000 cfm fan, i can replace the air in the stack every 10 minutes. the hard part is figuring out something that won't be crushed by the wood, or hurt by the skidsteer, or is so cheap i don't care.