Kiln dried cordwood business

[drewboy]

We have a local business man that just opened a kiln dried cordwood business.
He has a warehouse in which he installed a wood burning furnace in the center and
he loads the pre-measured boxes of 16" splits around it. I believe the newspaper
said 30 cords at a time ( I read this last week so my memory is workin' here ).
He stated that it takes about 4 days to reach a 20% moisture reading and delivery
is free within 10 miles... $330 per cord.

Seems to me this is a good way to get "dry" wood this time of year instead of having
to guess about the quality and "seasoning" of some deliveries this late in the year.

What do you guys think about this? I've read some conflicting things on this website
about burning kiln-dried wood...Too hot? Or would my chimney love me??

Rob

 

[Summertime]

When I burn kiln dried hardwood scraps for kindling the fire gets real hot very fast, I can't imagine burning a whole stoveload of it with the damper forgottn open! It would seem to me that that wood would last quite a while as you would almost never run it with the damper open and only have to use a minimum amount of wood.

 

[rockreid]

I would order the smallest lot available at first, then open up a split after delivery to measure the actual moisture content inside using a meter. As far as the price, $330 is a good price for a FULL cord for kiln-dried around here. Around here in the Stamford/NYC area, $330 will get you only one face cord.

 

[LLigetfa]

( I read this last week so my memory is workin’ here )

That's gotta be the loosest description of a Kiln that I've ever heard of....

Sounds like hear-say, not something I would lay judgement on.

As was mentioned, order a minimum quantity and test it. Share with a neighbor if the minimum is too much.

 

[Vic99]

The fact that the wood is kiln dried isn't dangerous by itself. If he truly dries the wood to only 20% moisture content, then it should burn about the same as air dried wood. Perhaps accelerating the process in a kiln changes the wood structurally on the cellular level, but I don't imagine that it matters much for burning.

20% moisture is 20% no matter how you got there.

The reason why you should not fill the firebox with kiln dried LUMBER is that it typically has a moisture content of 6-7%. THAT will burn hot and fast. Perhaps others have more experience with the lumber trade, but I believe it is dried to that level because most insects are not interested in wood that dry.

 

[iceman]

The fact that the wood is kiln dried isn't dangerous by itself. If he truly dries the wood to only 20% moisture content, then it should burn about the same as air dried wood. Perhaps accelerating the process in a kiln changes the wood structurally on the cellular level, but I don't imagine that it matters much for burning.

20% moisture is 20% no matter how you got there.

The reason why you should not fill the firebox with kiln dried LUMBER is that it typically has a moisture content of 6-7%. THAT will burn hot and fast. Perhaps others have more experience with the lumber trade, but I believe it is dried to that level because most insects are not interested in wood that dry.

thats what i thought was the "real" kiln dried.. 20 percent is just a target we try and get to so we can consider it "dry and seasoned" kiln to me it super dry like what you can build with ...so i too would expect it to be 10% or less
but "kiln" prolly has a different meaning

 

[Vic99]

From wikipedia:

Kilns are thermally insulated chambers, or ovens, in which controlled temperature regimes are produced. They are used to harden, burn or dry materials. Specific uses include:

To dry green lumber so that the lumber can be used immediately
Drying wood for use as firewood
Heating wood to the point of pyrolysis to produce charcoal

It goes on to list other non wood stuff, which I know no one hear cares about

 

[Bigg_Redd]

We have a local business man that just opened a kiln dried cordwood business.
He has a warehouse in which he installed a wood burning furnace in the center and
he loads the pre-measured boxes of 16" splits around it. I believe the newspaper
said 30 cords at a time ( I read this last week so my memory is workin' here ).
He stated that it takes about 4 days to reach a 20% moisture reading and delivery
is free within 10 miles... $330 per cord.

Seems to me this is a good way to get "dry" wood this time of year instead of having
to guess about the quality and "seasoning" of some deliveries this late in the year.

What do you guys think about this? I've read some conflicting things on this website
about burning kiln-dried wood...Too hot? Or would my chimney love me??

Rob

There shouldn't be any problem with the wood itself, but it seems like a horribly inefficient way to go about drying it and makes sense only if one doesn't have the room to store the wood while nature does her thing.

Also, I'm opposed to buying wood of any variety on a molecular level.

 

[savageactor7]

Huh...I'm just surprised that wood could season in 4 days like that...as far as the price goes, it's worth what you're willing to pay. If I had to buy wood I'd buy green wood, it's less money and now you're master of your own domain.