Using Weights for Wood Stacking

[robertw]

Kilns in the South use steel "weights" on top of their cars or packs of lumber.  This is to prevent the top courses of Southern pine from twisting and warping.  Why don't we see this practice in the West?

[Craig Jensen]

I know of 2 mills in northern Idaho that do use weights, and it seems to be effective for them.

Others have found that blocking air flow to the top 3 or 4 courses has a very similar effect on the types of wood dried in the inland northwest.

Craig J.

[bmason]

We are located in south-east BC and dry some of our products down to 12-13% MC.  We use kiln weights on these products and it shows great results.  On another note, we have not been successful using weights over the winter months as it poses a huge safety concern with the weight being very unstable on the frosted/icy top tier.  We are going to try banding the weights to the load......any other creative ideas out there?

[nkelsey]

Here in South America we use concret weights incased in metal in drying Southern Yellow Pines and Radiata. The weights are used on top of the stacks. The weights ranged from 450 up to 1000 kg/m2. The use of weights has a postive result in quality.