Okay, I didn't have much luck getting a full cord or decent wood this year. I saw a guy listed on this site (I've seen his name in the paper as well) who offers kiln dried wood. He claims the moisture content is 6-10% Should I not bother with any other supplier and go straight to this company? What questions should I ask to ensure I get the full amount I should, and that the wood is of the quality he states it is. Lastly, how much more should I pay for this wood over the competition? Keep in mind I don't really have the yard space to process my own wood, or keep it in my yard over the spring and summer so my plan will be to get a load of this wood at the end of August and throw it right into a covered space.
Need input on Firewood for next Year
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Here is there website....Look at the picture gallery. I think it's hysterical...the parts about the loose bark and junk they DON'T deliver. My driveway is still filthy with the crap the last guy gave me.
http://verriertree.com/
http://verriertree.com/
- Feb 10, 2006
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I would expect to pay quite a bit more for the Kiln dried option. It costs the supplier to provide the heat and equipment to kiln dry it. You are stuck in that you can't store unseasoned wood and cannot process the raw material yourself. You need wood that is ready to go upon delivery. You will probably have better luck getting wood that is ready to go from someone who kiln dries it as it has been exposed to heat to season vs firewod dealer guy who takes the literal meaning of seasoned to be "wood that has been cut for 1 year". many firewood guys feel that a log that has been sitting in his woodlot for a year is seasoned. Or wood that has been piled on the ground is seasoned. Cut, Split, Stacked off the ground and in the sun and wind sitting for a year is seasoned. Most of the posts from folks who have bought "seasoned" wood are dissatisfied with the quality. To find out if the guy delivers what he promises you should check around and see if anyone has bought from him and are they happy. Order a cord, look at it, stack it and see if it measures up. If it doesn't he should come back and make it right. If he doesn't you have your answer.
Maybe I'll order a half cord from him this year, to see how well it'll burn. I can also measure up his half cord to what I ordered this year.
He also offers air dried wood, so maybe that is cheaper. At least I know they handle the wood better than the typical wood supplier. I'd guarantee his air dried stuff would be far better than what I got this year.
Is impact on the environment ever a factor? Seems wasteful to kiln dry wood. Just wondering the advantage.
If you look at their site, they use the scraps that most customers won't want to feed their kilns. The advantage is I'd have wood that burns easily for a change 
I don't have the space to store a winter's worth of wood, either. I buy 6 cords in April or May from a dealer I have bought from for more than 20 years. This wood has been split for 3 or 4 months and I know I have another 5 months before serious burning begins. In late December I buy 2 cords of kiln dried wood from a different dealer. It is more expensive, but is great stuff to have around for the coldest part of the year. Even dealers who are conscientious about seasoning can't supply wood with as low a moisture content as kiln drying supplies. All the kiln drying operations I know of use waste wood, used motor oil, or a combination to heat their kilns. Many parts of New England ran out of seasoned wood early this fall. Kiln drying seems to me an excellent way to insure an adequet supply of high quality, safe to burn, low creosote producing wood. With heating oil at 3.25+ per gallon, Biobricks at 300 per ton (plus delivery) and propane, kerosene, electricity even more expensive, kiln dried wood at 250 to 275 per cord is still a bargain.
Even if the wood is 6-10% when it comes out of the kiln, it doesn't stay that way. The wood immediately starts to equalize with the environment. If stored outside, typically it will equalize at +/- 15%. The primary benefit of kiln dried wood is that you know you are not getting 20%+ moisture content. Actually, too dry wood does not make the best stove and especially gassification boiler wood. It burns too hot and fast. 20-25% moisture content can be much better than 10%.
I dabble in furniture building primarily using Ash, Cherry, and Walnut. So of course I'm familiar with kiln dried hardwoods. But I never knew there was such a thing as kiln dried fire wood. That's gotta be pricey stuff.
The little plastic wrapped bundles you see at the grocery store around here are kiln dried I think.
bbc557ci, I dabble in furniture building too. Those cut-offs and scrap make great kindling!
bbc557ci, I dabble in furniture building too. Those cut-offs and scrap make great kindling!
cmonSTART said:
Yeah I know but I just can't bring myself to burn them. I save all my scraps. End up using them for inside corner braces, turn them into small trim pieces, make wedges, shims, blanks for plugs, throw'm at mice in the shop area, bla bla bla.
For those curious about kiln dried firewood, this is how Colton Enterprises in Pittsfield VT describes their operation:
"We guarantee that our kiln dried firewood is ready to burn when delivered to you. We dry our firewood in one of four kilns especially built to dry firewood. Colton Enterprises prides itself on utilizing the entire log; the kilns are fired by sawdust and chips generated from the splitting process. Even scraps of bark removed during splitting are put aside for grinding into mulch--another product offered by Colton Enterprises.
Once the log length firewood is in the yard the logs are placed on a conveyor and enter the mill. There they are cut, split and dumped into pre-measured baskets. The baskets then go into the kilns.
The wood remains in the kilns for 2-3 days at 150-200 degrees; removing over 1000 pounds of water from each cord. This in turn increases the firewoods' burning efficiency by nearly l million BTU's per cord over green firewood, and increases the heat value by 25%. The kiln dried firewood is dried to an average of 15-20% moisture content.
After kiln drying the wood is stored under cover in a cooling shed until it is delivered. ONCE DELIVERED KILN DRIED FIREWOOD SHOULD BE STORED UNDER COVER IN A DRY AREA WITH ADEQUATE VENTILATION. Kiln-drying insures you insect free, cleaner burning firewood with less creosote buildup and it is available year round." --http://www.coltonenterprises.com/process.htm
"We guarantee that our kiln dried firewood is ready to burn when delivered to you. We dry our firewood in one of four kilns especially built to dry firewood. Colton Enterprises prides itself on utilizing the entire log; the kilns are fired by sawdust and chips generated from the splitting process. Even scraps of bark removed during splitting are put aside for grinding into mulch--another product offered by Colton Enterprises.
Once the log length firewood is in the yard the logs are placed on a conveyor and enter the mill. There they are cut, split and dumped into pre-measured baskets. The baskets then go into the kilns.
The wood remains in the kilns for 2-3 days at 150-200 degrees; removing over 1000 pounds of water from each cord. This in turn increases the firewoods' burning efficiency by nearly l million BTU's per cord over green firewood, and increases the heat value by 25%. The kiln dried firewood is dried to an average of 15-20% moisture content.
After kiln drying the wood is stored under cover in a cooling shed until it is delivered. ONCE DELIVERED KILN DRIED FIREWOOD SHOULD BE STORED UNDER COVER IN A DRY AREA WITH ADEQUATE VENTILATION. Kiln-drying insures you insect free, cleaner burning firewood with less creosote buildup and it is available year round." --http://www.coltonenterprises.com/process.htm
There is a point to kiln drying that may be the future of all but very local firewood. Firewood transportation is a major spreader of non-native insects and diseases of trees. Many states, and the feds might now also have acted, are now prohibiting transportation of firewood without certification of being insect/disease free. The emerald ash borer is a current major threat. Kiln drying may achieve this certification.
Kiln drying or chemical treatment is required for wood used in pallets/crates for international shipment, for the same reason.
Maybe these guys are out in front of the curve, regardless of the quality of their firewood.
Kiln drying or chemical treatment is required for wood used in pallets/crates for international shipment, for the same reason.
Maybe these guys are out in front of the curve, regardless of the quality of their firewood.
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