Drying Ash- how long?

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I just got a load of ash, about 2000 BDFT of 4/4 into the kiln a guy I know owns. It is a Nyle unit in an insulated semi-trailer. How long does it typically take to dry ash? He said 28 days, but I thought I have read that Ash will dry a lot quicker than that. It is going to be made into flooring so we need it down to at least 6%.  My problem is that we couldn't get it all in the kiln, so I will have to dry another load after this one, and I don't think we can come up with a climate controlled, or heated building to put the first load into while the second load dries. The guy making the flooring wants all of it at once. He doesnt have the room to take the first load while the second one dries, and I don't want the first batch to start gaining moisture while the second load is drying.

[Norm]

This time of year I wouldn't worry about the first load regaining much moisture...well in a normal winter I wouldn't. You could wrap it in plastic and it wouldn't gain much as long as you seal it up pretty good.

Without knowing the details of the wood I think 28 days is normal if it was pretty green going in.

[beenthere]

As Norm mentioned, solid pile the dry and wrap it in plastic, with no holes. Store in as warm a place as you can find, to keep the RH as low as possible inside the wrap. Keep track of the RH where you are at, and you will find it quite high when the temps get in the 30's (remembering it is the amount of water the air can hold at a temperature that controls the RH %). If the RH goes up, the wood will gain moisture.

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Here is a quote from the other place :

"From Gene Wengert, forum technical advisor:
Ash and oak do not dry the same. Oak may take 30 days to dry, while ash should be dried in 7 to 10 days when kiln drying. Ash can be dried quickly and should be for best color; oak must be dried slowly to prevent checking. Oak honeycombs; ash does not. Ash stains and has a risk of powderpost insects; oak does not generally stain (except sapwood at times) and white oak especially has little risk of insects. "

I try not to post questions over there as I have tried linking to threads over here that relate to what people are discussing, and everyone was deleted with no explination >:(
Is that 7 to 10 days referring to a conventional kiln?

[Norm]

Footer go over to WW and tell the Doc he doesn't know what he's talking about. :D

I'm guessing the doc is talking about a conventional kiln. There's no way I'd be able to do that in our L-200.

[footer]

Thanks Norm, I figured that might be the case. So would it be ok to mix in some oak in the next load so we can get the kiln fairly full?

[Norm]

You certainly could if they were similar in moisture and thickness but you'll be stuck using the schedule for the oak as it's the fussiest for drying.

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

You can use the ratio Wengert bases his comments on,
namely, you can dry Ash three times as fast and get away with it.
That is three times as fast as you could dry oak.  In fact,
you are better off drying the Ash fast.

If the kiln is not full, you can really speed that load on through.
As Norm says, mixing won't help you, but a partly filled DH kiln
can work faster, especially if you add a little aux. heat (since its
winter time, at least they claim its winter somewhere).

Since its not your kiln, you may not have that option, but if you
could get that Nyle up to the max recommended operating temp.
suggest for the dehumidification unit, you could move that load!

Phil L.

[Kelvin]

Ash is very dry when cut, and firewood guys love it for that.  Dehumidifiers can take out so much water per day, and the schedules are set based on how much you can lower a given species per day without damage.  Thus white oak is the hardest to dry, only about 1.5% MC per day is allowed, but we air dry to 10% and have it out in 5 days.  What is the MC of the ash going in?  Wengert is saying you can take a lot more water out of the wood per day with ash.  Can't remember, have to look up but i think 6% MC a day with ash?  So ash cut in winter already has low MC, Ash normally has low MC and you can cook it hard.  Thus i would think a load of ash could be out of the kiln in 7 days at least.  With dehumid kiln stack the partial load thinner in width, and full height and length and it will be done even faster.  Pick the schedule for ash in the Nyle handbook that your buddy got with his kiln.  Don't know how that few bd ft could take 28 days. Hmmm.  I would think the first load would be done in lets say 7 days, partial load 4 days.  Del all to your mill shop.  No problems.  Right?  Ha,
Kelvin

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Thanks everyone, Hopfully it will dry that quick, He does have an aux heat unit in there to get it up to temp. I just didn't know if a DH kiln was capable of drying it that quick. The moisure content of the wood is not all the same as some of the trees were pretty much standing dead and other ones had some good life to them.

[Warren]

I am new to the drying business.  So this may be a dumb question.  But, I'm going to ask for my own understanding... 

Does species of Ash matter ?  Looking thru the Nyle book.  It puts White Ash at 45 % MC green, and, Black Ash at 95% MC green...

Is one species of Ash more common than the other ?  Even with a more aggressive drying schedule, it would appear to take the Black Ash about 50% longer to dry...

Again, I am new to this.  But I appreciate all constructive feedback...

Warren

[BBTom]

Warren.. I don't think you need to worry too much about Black Ash, as it's native range does not extend down to KY.  The EAB wesite has a range map at Native range of Black Ash The range for White Ash is much larger as seen at Native range of White Ash

Black has more oval pores and little or no tylosis in the pores.

Yes, Black will take longer to dry, though I think you can use the same schedule, just have to use settings according to the highest moisture in the load.

[Don_Lewis]

Ash is typically 40-45% dead green and dries easily. If you are going to 6%, it should take about 2 weeks for that sized load. He should run his L200 at 100%. If his chamber is tight, he probably won't need to run the heat.

There is a lot of Ash dried for handle stock and baseball bats. They usually don't go down to 6% but then the material is thicker. That is a pretty typical drying time

[SwampDonkey]

I dry my wood by air, and I ain't had no stain in my ash. I guess I can't make that a blanket statement, but I never had stain. Where the stain comes in is leaving the logs unmilled for too long. I've never had powder post beetles in ash. I have in butternut though, and stacked in the same pile.  :

[Warren]

Tom,

Thanks for the references....

Warren