Moisture gradients in poles dried at high temperatures

Ten southern pine poles were divided into top and bottom sections and kiln-dried at 245?F. Top sections were dried for 24 hours and butt sections were dried for 48 hours. Before and after drying, increment borings and wood cubes removed from different distances from the surface of poles were used to estimate moisture content (MC) and moisture gradients in poles. The initial MC (green moisture) of poles was quite variable with the result that MC variation was also quite large after drying. MC was also considerably different along different radii of dried poles. MC estimates based on increment core segments were consistently lower than estimates based on cubes of wood representing the same segments of the pole. Analysis of moisture distributions during drying indicates that in some cases moisture moves toward the center of the pole as well as toward the surface.

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