Dry and wet storage of Picea abies and Pinus contorta roundwood with and without bark

Abstract

Storage of logs without bark is uncommon in, for example, Sweden, even if the method has advantages compared to traditional storage of logs with bark. In this study, logs of Picea abies and Pinus contorta with and without bark were studied during 10 weeks of storage, both dry storage and with sprinkling. During storage, the development of blue stain, cracks and moisture content on the logs was studied. All studied treatments kept the wood quality well for three weeks of storage. After 6 and 10 weeks of storage, dry stored logs were more damaged from blue stain than sprinkled logs. Dry stored P. abies logs without bark had more cracks than the other logs at the end of the storage. The results showed that storage of logs without bark for shorter periods of time is a possible alternative to storage of logs with bark. The study also gave valuable information about how P. contorta, a new species for Sweden, behaves during storage.

Keywords:

• Blue stain
• cracks
• debarking
• lodgepole pine
• MC
• Norway spruce
• sprinkling

Acknowledgements

The study was partly financed by SCA Timber and Special thanks go to Sören Edmark and Karin Larsson at SCA Timber for valuable cooperation. Further thanks go to Mats Nylinder, Hans Fryk and Martin Tubes for help and support in fieldwork, laboratory work and discussions.