Help! I have roughly 2500bf of mixed hardwood 4/4 air-dried for about 18 months. For roughly 17 months, everything has been going fine. Howecer, in the last month I have developed what appears to be PPB in the stack. This means I need to get it into a kiln to kill the buggers. Problem is the only Kiln I know of in SE MI only runs their kiln at about 120F. My understanding is that to kill these little buggers, I need to get the lumber into a kiln at 140F+ for a couple days. Anyone know a kiln where I could get this done? I got some 14"-16" 10' clear black walnut and red oak in that pile I really don't want to lose. It's already dry to 10%-12% so I don't need a lot of drying. Just bug control. Any and all suggestions welcome.
Chip Charnley
Well darn, Chip, if you didn't live in the refrigerator section, it would be easy. :D
Comfort yourself with this thought, however: They can't do you much harm
while they are frozen, so you have a little while to make a plan - that is, IF
your wood is outside where it can enjoy the cold weather which we never get in
middle Georgia.
::)
Down here, I would throw some foil-backed insulation on the piles and heat
the pile to 130 for a few hours. I think that would be cheaper for me here
that loading, transporting and paying all the kiln costs.
A passing note.... :P
I have decided that a pre-treatment with borates is the way to go for me,
before the air-drying begins. The borates end the problem before it starts.
Another reason for taking this approach is that I plan to move most of my wood
eventually into an old wood-floored warehouse to sell and and don't want
my building devoured by nomadic PPBs or other beetles! For example, I have
slabs of walnut, red oak, pecan, etc. from 3" to 6" thick with narry a trace of bugs
in spite of the fact that they have been out-of-doors for 2-3 years, slowly drying.
(I partly cover the treated slabs and control the rate at which they dry, so I have
to use barates and Ammonium Chloride solutions to prevent mold and bugs.)
Phil L.
what do you use specifically, Phil? borax in water? I saw something somewhere about mixing up wallpaper sizing and spraying it on the pile.
Hey Chip,
I've sent you a few emails. Come on over to the great south west part of the state with that lumber and we will "cook" the little buggers out for ya!
Steve (Oakie)
Hickory&Oak Sawmilling, LLC