How to build a WOOD KILN

lenray · Oct 22, 2016

I have a friend who has a large fire wood contract and may have to have his wood KILN dried to keep his contract. Not a moisture issue, but to KILL BUGS. The wood is all SLAB WOOD and it is on 4x4x4 pallets and the wood is in small bundles tied together with baling twine like you see at gas stations etc. The wood is oak and maple.
Any ideas on what he would have to build to dry-heat say 20 of these 4x4x4 pallets at a time and what would he need for a heat source and air movement???? THANKS

da.bees · Oct 22, 2016

If ambient tempature is above 50 degrees F and and plenty of sun,a black tarp or clear plastic sheet should create enough heat to kill most bugs. I don't see how he could make much profit paying for fuel to heat a kiln.

Charles in Aus. · Oct 22, 2016

A steel shipping container painted black placed on a concrete slab in summer should develope internal temperatures hot enough to kill just about anything .

JD Seller · Oct 22, 2016

He needs to check and see what heat requirements he has to do to meet the contract.

The International rules on this are: "Thickest solid wood piece in packaging must meet minimum wood core temperature of 56 degrees centigrade for a minimum of 30 minutes"

These rules are in effect to stop bugs like the emerald ash bore from spreading.

A friend has taken an insulated semi trailer and heats it with a grain bin dryer. He has cable sensors that hang in the lad to record the actual temperatures. He does 400 pallets in a batch. The pallets also need to be marked to show they were sterilized.

Stephen Newell · Oct 22, 2016

There are a number of different ways you could construct a kiln. The main issue is you get the temperature inside to 130 to 140 degrees. The wood would also need to be separated in order for all of it to reach that temperature. If you just set a stack of wood in there what would be in the center would be insulated. Sounds like a lot of trouble for firewood.

Stephen Newell · Oct 22, 2016

Sounds like a lot of work for firewood. There are a lot of different ways you could make a kiln. The main thing is you separate the wood and get the temperature inside the kiln to 130 to 140 degrees. Since you are making firewood I think I would heat it with a wood stove made from a barrel.

Stephen Newell · Oct 22, 2016

I wonder why this post waited four minutes to show up? I thought it never posted.

flembo · Oct 23, 2016

Tree Huggers is the name of a big time firewood co. near me and they advertise kiln dried firewood.

wisbaker · Oct 23, 2016

One of the egg plants I worked at had a Whites dryer, to pasteurize the product we stacked the boxed dried egg whites on pallets with no boxes in the center and put it in a room that had several heaters, we had thermometers that we placed in the stack that monitored the temperature, we had to get them up to temperature and hold them at that temperature for a period and then we could call them pasteurized. I would imagine wood could be done in similar ways you just need to figure out the probes to measure you core temperature.

W_B · Oct 24, 2016

(quoted from post at 03:45:06 10/23/16) Sounds like a lot of work for firewood.

Regulations are trying to slow down the spread of emerald ash borer, perhaps they can't sell the firewood without "sterilizing" it. i have seen signs along the highway that say it's illegal to move firewood but don't know what the details are in Ohio.

How to build a WOOD KILN

lenray

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da.bees

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Charles in Aus.

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JD Seller

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Stephen Newell

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Stephen Newell

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Stephen Newell

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flembo

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wisbaker

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W_B

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