Larch Question

[west penn]

  I just put a load of larch in my kiln--nyle 200.   pretty much green, 26 to 40 MC  about 1800 ft. I have a setting of 70% at 100 degrees and humidity in kiln is 88%.  Am I on track ?   any other suggestions?   I dont want to turn this into pretzels. I know how larch can react.  water is really coming out. the kiln floor was cold and is soaked.     Thanks for any info.

[bkaimwood]

You do not have an updated profile, so I have no idea where you are from, but am going to go out on a limb and say western Pennsylvania... I can't help you with your question, but thought maybe you can help me... I recently sawed a tamarack log, otherwise know as larch? It had the worst pitch of anything I ever sawed, including reclaimed heart pine beams...to the point it was almost unsawable... Is this common, or did I just have an isolated incident? It also seems to have spriral grain?

[west penn]

 I haven't sawn a large amount of larch,( I believe tamarack is the same, looses it's needles in winter)   some had a lot of pitch   others not so much.  It does have a spiral grain and can be prone to twist  but weathers well. I made some paneling for my brothers porch and it turned out great and looks great also. Larch is not really native to my area. What I have sawn came from a planting and were straight and tall with small knots so might have made a difference in the outcome.

[barbender]

     I have sawn tamarack that sawed very nice, and stuff that moved so much on the mill I couldn't get a 2x4 out of it. And yes, it is pitchy. It is also very strong, and moderately  decay resistant. I have also noticed it has a tendency to check right across the grain when air drying (I don't have a kiln).  I would guess that you would need to slow down the drying process in comparison to other softwoods, but, it is just a guess :

[WDH]

That may be too big a load for a fast drying softwood like tamarack. 

[west penn]

  Do I need to turn the setting up to 100%?   What would be the ideal humidity to try to maintain?

[WDH]

I would do that with green pine.  I suspect that it will be the way to go with tamarack, too, given the amount of BF in the kiln. Most softwoods dry fast and can stand the 100% compressor run time.