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DaveRicheson | Posted in General Discussion on July 27, 2002 04:36am

I am going to build a solar drying kilm for lumber. I need some guestimates on lumber weight (green) and joist size/spaceing.

The kilm will be 10 X 14 feet on 4×4 treated post. The floor will be elevated above grade about 16 inches, and the whole thing covered with 1/2 inch CDX painted black. The shed type roof will be of 3/16 inch plexiglass.

I have about 100 bf of hickory, oak, and ash to process through this kilm. Does any one want to tak a WAG at what this quantity of green hard wood will weigh, and reccomend joist size/spaceing for the structure?

Dave

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  1. User avater
    BossHog | Jul 27, 2002 04:55pm | #1

    I've always used 40# per cubic foot as a rough weight for SYP lumber. Green lumber might be a bit more, but that will give you a rough idea.

    Do old men wear boxers or briefs? Depends.

    1. Piffin | Jul 27, 2002 07:47pm | #2

      I'd bet green oak could be over 100#/CuFt

      You could post this Q at http://forums.taunton.com/tp-knots/ for some more expertise.

      I hope you have other future plans for this. You can buy 100' of lumber a whole lot cheaper than to build this structure for drying what you have.

      Excellence is its own reward!

      1. DaveRicheson | Jul 27, 2002 09:41pm | #4

        Sorry, that 100 should have been 1000 bf. About half of it has been in my unfinished shop for a year now. The other half has been stickered and covered with a tarp outside. I also have what may be another 2500 bf still in the logs(33 of them), laying on treated 4x4s outside.

        The solar kilm will get a pretty good workout. I am also putting up ####16x20 shed to house the lumber in. The plan is for much of this to be used in the new house I will be starting within the next month. All of the mill work will come out of what I have cut down.

        I was going to use 60 lbs/sq.ft. as a guess for the green weight, and figure 2x10 joist 1 ft. oc. I am working off memory at this point. My books are all in the back of a rented storage facility. I have got to get the lumber storage shed and kilm built to finish the shop. The shop then becomes another storage facility for the remaining furniture and stuff I have accumulated in the last 32 years.

        As my son would say,"this has reached the mission crtical stage." The "For Sale" sign goes up in front on my current home Monday.

        Dave

        1. User avater
          Gunner | Jul 27, 2002 11:07pm | #5

          What part of the county are you planning on building in Dave?

          1. DaveRicheson | Jul 27, 2002 11:56pm | #6

            Henry County, about six miles from La Grange. 6 1/2 acres,cleared about 2 acres in the front for the house, shop, kennel and anything else I decide to build. The rest is wooded and mother nature can maintain it for me.

          2. User avater
            Gunner | Jul 28, 2002 12:08am | #7

            What, your not rushing to Oldham county with everyone else? LOL  Nice area I like Henry county. In the next 5 years I hope to be doing the same as you. Save me a spot.

  2. DavidxDoud | Jul 27, 2002 09:08pm | #3

    Dave,  here's a good resource for such questions - http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/sawdry.pl

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