The Forestry Forum

I live in North Florida and have cut a bit of Pecan in to 8/4 slabs that are about 13 feet long and now I need to dry them. 

I have been looking to build a solar kiln. My father in law said he has a 2000 gallon steel tank that maybe we could cut the top off and make it work a solar kiln. It's 8 feet wide by 20 ft.

I basically need help with the process of making one. For my understanding I would need to cut a hole in the top and replace it with transparent plastic and paint the inside black. Stack the wood inside and seal to the top with a barrier with fans that runs during the day to push the hot air through the stack. If that's correct it seems kinda simple in theory. 

Where would I get a timer that turned the fans on when the suns up? Or what do y'all use? 

I'm basically looking for advice of what would be the most simple and achievable way to dry my wood in the Florida climate, we have plenty of sun. 

Could you use a thermostat to a furnace to tell your fans when to work?
I like the tank idea

I just don't get what people use to turn the fan on, are people using the thermostats or light percentage like automated car lights sensors. What turns the fans on day in and day out?

My 4 solar kilns all use a standard water heater type of timer.  Three of them run off of one unit; the fourth has it's own.  However, for what you're trying to do a simple timer for Christmas tree lights should work fine.

Virginia Tech has a lot of great info on building a solar kiln, and on kiln drying in general.

If your pecan is freshly milled,  you might want to consider air drying it for a few months before putting it into a solar kiln.

I just got a WM meter and it says the pecan is at 20%.

I have looked at the Virginia Tech info and it does have some good info. 

Quote from: GC88 on December 26, 2018, 01:09:47 PM
I just got a WM meter and it says the pecan is at 20%.

I have looked at the Virginia Tech info and it does have some good info.

8/4 pecan will usually take at least 9 - 12 months to fully air dry.  How long ago were your slabs milled?