Factors That Affect the Cost of Hardwood Kiln Drying

Costs for drying hardwood lumber in conventional kilns are discussed and the more important factors influencing these costs are identified. The data presented are the part a composite of information obtained from furniture plants and custom drying firms but come mainly from the cost records of the author’s own custom kiln-drying firm. A kiln-drying cost system demands at least three expense separations: 1) kiln operation, 2) handling (stacking, yard and storage handling, and unstacking), and 3) assignable burden or overhead. Each of these is expressed in average cost per thousand board feet per day in the kiln and adjusted to reflect varying drying times and changes in expenses or footage. Dollar costs for each item of kiln operation and handling are presented in table form, based on 1957 experience. The more important variables that affect kiln-drying costs include beginning and final moisture content of lumber, species and thickness of lumber, quality of the end result, quality of the lumber, geographic location of the kiln operation as it reflects fuel and power costs and climatic advantages, local labor costs, efficiency of the kiln operation, quantity and variety of lumber dried, operating know-how, depreciation and maintenance expense on equipment and buildings, taxes, insurance, sticker breakage, and overhead. The author’s conclusions are that, as a fair rule of thumb, the average cost of most hardwood drying in the Midwest is $1.25 per thousand board feet per day in the kiln, plus handling and overhead costs. This decreases somewhat on long-term runs. However, kiln-drying expense is highly variable and can fluctuate as much as 400 percent. Example of costs given are as follows: green 4/4 cherry, equalized at 6 percent after 12 days of drying–$15 per thousand board feet, plus handling and overhead; 2-inch green walnut, with an optimum drying time of 55 days–over $50 per thousand board feet; equalization and conditioning costs for 4/4 stock total about $1.30 per thousand board feet.

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