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Building a kiln

Started by SieghofMtnFarm, August 22, 2013, 04:49:06 PM

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SieghofMtnFarm

Hello everyone,

I've been wanting to build a wood kiln for some time now, both for firewood sales (I'd like to take my business to the next level), and lumber.  I have two insulated reefer trailers on my property, 40' and 45'.  I'd like to convert the 45' to the kiln.  I'd like to have a wood fired boiler someday to provide the heat, but due to financial constraints I'm wondering if I could use a fairly large hanging propane wall heater that I already have in my shop.  Output BTU for it is 57,500, is that adequate for drying softwoods such as douglas fir, ponderosa pine, western larch, western red cedar etc? 

Also, how hard is it to drop one of these reefer trailers onto the ground?  Any idea of how much money I would need to fork out to do this part?  Sorry for all the questions but I don't have any extra money to pay for a consultation. 

-Karl

beenthere

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.
Interesting project planned for the reefers. And someone here will surely have some good suggestions for you.
If short on money, I'd suggest skipping the firewood drying and let nature dry it for you after it is split.

Where are you located? As your list of species indicates prolly on the West coast.

Hope to hear more about your project.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

SieghofMtnFarm

I live in north central Washington state, where the apples come from.  I've been to Wisconsin a few times and when I lived out in Indiana I got to see a few Amish sawmills, and the hardwood side of the country. 

Well the thing is I'm getting to the point with my business where I have too many orders to deal with and the fast(er) turn around of a kiln sounds attractive to me right now, even more than before.  Especially considering I have a reefer already.  It seems really difficult to find high quality wood in our area, so I'd like to be able to provide it to even more people than I do now and also hire people part time.  I'm always interested in creating jobs for local people.  People tend to run out of firewood in the middle of the winter as well, so I'd like to be able to provide dry wood in the winter at an affordable price. 

beenthere

I hear ya, but thinking take your one-year expense of propane to kiln dry firewood and divert it to hiring help to cut, split, and let air dry the same firewood would be a one year investment not needed in future years.

The cutting, splitting, and moving firewood would be somewhat fixed expense year after year.

Too many orders is a good thing and means profit. If firewood is in short supply, then the price goes up and profit should go up.

What species of wood are you turning in to firewood that is in great demand?
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

chickenchaser

Quote from: SieghofMtnFarm on August 22, 2013, 04:49:06 PM


I have two insulated reefer trailers on my property, 40' and 45'.  I'd like to convert the 45' to the kiln.  I'd like to have a wood fired boiler someday to provide the heat, but due to financial constraints I'm wondering if I could use a fairly large hanging propane wall heater that I already have in my shop. 

No experience here - but I am looking and thinking on a similar situation. I have a refrigerated "milk truck" box approx. 8X16... rear door and side door. I have thought about building a crude solar attachment for the accumulation of heat...and using a small fan to exhaust the moisture. My box is not ideal due to the side door. If your trailer has an opening in the front, you might locate a fan there. For wintertime lo-solar days, I have thought a cheap wood burning heater could provide dry heat while using cull lumber scraps instead of propane or electricity.

A lot of other issues to consider but maybe put what you have to use and gain a little.

I'll be following with great interest.  ;D

CC
WoodMizer LT35HD

JD 3720 w/loader. 1983 Chevrolet C30 dump. 1973 Ford F600 w/stickloader. 35,000 chickens.

dboyt

Sounds like you're on a budget, but you might consider one of the smaller Nyle dehumidification kilns.  The controls will help you get consistent quality on your lumber.  You need to control air flow, temperature, and humidity when drying lumber.
Norwood MX34 Pro portable sawmill, 8N Ford, Lewis Winch

outerbanxer

Quote from: SieghofMtnFarm on August 22, 2013, 04:49:06 PM
Hello everyone,


Also, how hard is it to drop one of these reefer trailers onto the ground?  Any idea of how much money I would need to fork out to do this part?  Sorry for all the questions but I don't have any extra money to pay for a consultation. 

-Karl

If you can get the weight off the axles somehow, and safely get under the trailer, you can just torch off the axles, then lower it down.

EZland

How about a external solar collector ?  Then maybe you could later add a piggyback wood boiler later?  I just saw a plan for a external collector which allowed you pump the warm air into the chamber.  You than could add a dehumidfier and bring it down lower.  That would a heck of lot cheaper than propane.  I bet you could build an External collector for about $500-1000 and some used Dehumidfiers. I bet you could google some designs and modify them.   It is mostly about heat and airflow right?   

My Solar kiln is 40 degrees warmer than the outside temp and about 30% less in moisture than the outside RH. 

My step Dad, heats his pool this way.  He has ABS pipe under mulch and plumbed into his pool pump.  It brings it up about 10 degree in NH. 
EZ Boardwalk Jr. 30", Husky 455, Kioti 5010 w, FEL , And I just moved to Ohio.and still looking for logs.

God is great!  I will never be as good as the "Carpenter's Son"

miro

Years ago, Fine Woodworking had a series of articles about solar powered drying kilns for hardwood.
The gist of the articles was to evenly circulate the air somehow and to control the moisture evenly by careful venting. Added to this were methods to measure the moisture content of the lumber.


As for the firewood, seems to me that a solar powered idea along with venting the moisture ought to suck out the moisture fairly quickly.

miro

goose63

 :snowball: if you can your hands on a big enough fork lift pick up front first cut the legs off then cut off the dot bumper in back lift up cut off axels pull out from under set her down blocks those trailers are not that heavy puller one for 40 years
goose
if you find your self in a deep hole stop digging
saw logs all day what do you get lots of lumber and a day older
thank you to all the vets

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