drying wood in a semi tralier

[darkstar]

Here are photos of the last couple days work.
What should i do to better assure this wood dries ok ?
I was thinking of installing a fan at one end to keep the air moving .
And i was going to spray the floor with bug juice to discourage any ants etc., but with colder weather moving in it should be ok.
Most of all the wood pictured is 10 foot by an inch and a eigth cherry.
There is some 16 foot oak of various lengths widths
All of it is stickered with one by ones.
I know they look wobbly but its just the photo.
Its all straight pic doesent show how much wood there is either that cherry in the back is 11 foot long.

Also thats the loader trailer with its new floor of green 2 and a quater thick 16 foot oak of various width , mostly 4 inch.
And a close up of one side cut of cherry i like.

I recon ill be looking at maybe 6 months drying time?
Its my first attempt so any advice appreciated.
I have a great saw mill just up the way and he sawed all this in exchange for some logs.
The thought is that ill fill the entire semi up over the next few weeks.

Im also thinking of maybe building a kiln but id rather just use the semi trailer since i already have it.

 

[darkstar]

close up

A close up of some oak and a pict of the semi trailer hidden by the bushes

 

[PCTREE]

OK I know very little about this but I can maybe give some tips. First yes you HAVE to have a fan!!! You would do better to stack it open air with a roof over it to ensure air movement as this is what dries the wood. No air flow = mold. If you can get your hands on some old windows and set them at 45% facing south about a foot above some plywood painted black and then duct all your air through this into the trailer then you would have yourself a solar kiln which would cut your dry time considerably. Keep us posted as we all need to utilize more of the assets we have at hand as the times get rough........

 

[darkstar]

That trailer get hot as Ga asphalt in summer.
I could put plexi glass on top of it .
Ill hook up the fan asap.
Thanx

 

[darkstar]

I have an enormous amount of sawable wood available for extremly low cost.
Im gonna just see what happens buit my goal is to build a cabin and actually pay for the non wood parts by trading good green wood like on the loader trailer.

 

[Dave Shepard]

As mentioned, you've got to keep the air moving to keep the humidity down. I'd be tempted to saw out the front of the trailer, except it would collapse on itself. I've experimented with keeping wood in shipping containers, and if you can't keep the rh down, you get a nice mold forest going in there.

 

[darkstar]

I dont think this one will grow mold because its lined with wood and has had all kinds of wood in it for the last year and ive never seen any mold in it yet.
It just gets so dang hot in there, even today it was about 60f outside and the trailer was about 80f.Im worried about it being to hot , thats why we waited till fall to fill it up....
I dont know like i said my first time
Im gonna fan the heck out of it though.

 

[PCTREE]

I dont like the plexiglass idea as direct sunlight will crack the shit outa yor boards. GOTTA keep good airflow and the warmer and drier the air the quicker it will dry. Ive gotten to the point where I wont mill wood untill I have somewhere to stack it to dry as I hate double handling all that weight. Ill post a pick of some of my stacks . Keep it a foot or more oof ground and keep it dry and shaded with plenty of air circulation.

Spend the extra time and turn that traler into a solar kiln it will pay you back tenfold, I did mention that I dont know didley right?

 

[darkstar]

So warm and dry ,but not hot.
Got it...

 

[MasterBlaster]

And lots of air flow.

 

[sotc]

the green lumber will breing the moisture. think about a load of chips in the truck over night

 

[Dave Shepard]

You can dry too fast with hardwoods, especially at first. You need a moisture meter.

 

[woodworkingboy]

It's really important to get even air flow as much as possible, otherwise you get the same piece of wood with varying moisture content in it, and without the balance, probably more subject to warping as the wood dries.

I'm pretty sure that the federal and some state governments, along with university extensions, have literature available on drying wood.

 

[darkstar]

I ordered a moisturew metre.
And i just got a awesome solid 3 foot dbh log about 25 foot long so im adding to the collection ...Yippy..
Im gonna mill this one into several 4 inch thick 12 foot long hopefully 15 inch wide and make some beams out of them...
photos coming as soon i go pick it up

 

[Dave Shepard]

Tell me about your mill, darkstar. I run an '08 Wood-Mizer at work.

 

[darkstar]

Its actually a neighbors mill.
Its a huge band saw mill i dont know what kind.
He has a hammer mill to and actually does pretty well smashing up chips and selling them to horse stables.
He also has a giant Lucas slabber that never gets used.
Id say by the cost of his loaders and such his mill is worth at least 60k , ill ask and get some pics.

 

[Al Smith]

In addition to the already mentioned air flow ,you have to "sticker " better .

If possible place the longer lengths on the bottom ,shorter on top .Make real sure the stickers are all aligned on top of each other in the stack and pay attention to the board ends that they are properly supported .

If it isn't stickered properly you could end up with sled runners and all sorts of odd ball twisted lumber which essentually is just high priced firewood .

It takes about two years to air dry red oak an inch thick under normal conditions which would be around 12 percent moisture .To drive it lower takes some sort of kiln .

Many may frown on the practice but I hose down the stack with "sevun " insecticide to prevent or curtail gypsy moths .They love green oak .Ants love green hickory .Always something trying to eat my damned wood .Maybe a pet aardvark would be better .

 

[darkstar]

So there needs to be a sticker in within say 6 inches of the ends ?

 

[Al Smith]

On the very end ,if possible

 

[Al Smith]

This pic .,one of only a few I have is a temporary stack .Note the shorter plank with a sticker towards the end,That's what I mean .In case you ask,that pile was restacked properly but I needed some access at the time I piled it up willey nilley like that .

 

[Al Smith]

I wish I had taken some pictures from the hardwood lumber area of Southern Ohio .They set all their stacks out doors covered with a portable tin roof .All the planks are cut to exact lengths on their stacks --8 -10-12 feet whatever . Most of us hobbists don't go to those extremes though .

 

[darkstar]

Im adding stickers to all the ends of my pile.
Other than that it looks pretty spot on.
I put it on craigs list for sale and had a call in about an hour.
No offer yet though