Will this wood be ready for me this year?

[gthomas785]

Airflow is IMO the most important. You want the prevailing winds blowing through your shed or stacks.

Don't get me wrong, I was saying the key to building a solar kiln is full sun. In that case you are basically minimizing airflow (still having enough to extract the humid air) so as to build up heat inside the stack which drives the moisture out of the wood.

Lacking a sunny location, I agree it's best to have a shed with open sides so the stacks can breathe. That's what I have here since my whole yard is pretty shaded.

 

[NickW]

In my experience, dead standing ash the branch wood is ready to go but not the trunk or bigger branches. It will also burn OK if 22-23% MC but not nearly as well as sub 20%. Don't try that with many other woods.

Ditto @stoveliker's comments regarding moisture and will add that the steam from boiling out the excessive moisture inhibits secondary combustion and keeps flue temperature down longer giving additional time for creosote formation.

Creosote forms at temperatures under 250 degrees with the presence of moisture and volatiles. Excessive moisture content inhibits the ability to get above creosote forming temperature and adds one of the components necessary for creosote formation. I figure there is heat loss in warming up the flue so on startup I expect top of the flue is under 250 until the flue probe is giving me 450. Coaling stage there's no moisture and no volatiles, so it's not as much of a concern if the temperature drops below that as long as combustion is complete (all wood fibers are burned). Smouldering a fire by having the air choked back too far or excessive moisture can cause creosote because the temperature drops too much before combustion is complete.

 

[Wildflush]

Don't get me wrong, I was saying the key to building a solar kiln is full sun. In that case you are basically minimizing airflow (still having enough to extract the humid air) so as to build up heat inside the stack which drives the moisture out of the wood.

Lacking a sunny location, I agree it's best to have a shed with open sides so the stacks can breathe. That's what I have here since my whole yard is pretty shaded.

View attachment 335202

Very nice shed! I live next to a creek and small pond so for now I’ve been doing single row stacks and crossed stacks on pallets. All my platforms are elevated on patio bricks. Also have a long row of wood along my retaining wall of my driveway. Looks very neat. I do have a spot for a shed now since I had 7 trees removed from my property last Fall.

 

[Wildflush]

In my experience, dead standing ash the branch wood is ready to go but not the trunk or bigger branches. It will also burn OK if 22-23% MC but not nearly as well as sub 20%. Don't try that with many other woods.

Ditto @stoveliker's comments regarding moisture and will add that the steam from boiling out the excessive moisture inhibits secondary combustion and keeps flue temperature down longer giving additional time for creosote formation.

Creosote forms at temperatures under 250 degrees with the presence of moisture and volatiles. Excessive moisture content inhibits the ability to get above creosote forming temperature and adds one of the components necessary for creosote formation. I figure there is heat loss in warming up the flue so on startup I expect top of the flue is under 250 until the flue probe is giving me 450. Coaling stage there's no moisture and no volatiles, so it's not as much of a concern if the temperature drops below that as long as combustion is complete (all wood fibers are burned). Smouldering a fire by having the air choked back too far or excessive moisture can cause creosote because the temperature drops too much before combustion is complete.

100% agree. I try to get a fast burning top down fire on all my cold starts. Will be interesting to see how my flue and chimney looks this spring since my sweep said I could skip a year.