Summer wet storage of hardwoods in Sweden

Swedish sawmills specialising in sawing hardwoods have difficulty achieving an even supply of wood during summer. This problem is due to variations in logging and transport capacities and, perhaps most importantly, the closing of sawmills in July for vacations. The storage of hardwood logs, especially Betula sp., for more than a couple of weeks during this period is troublesome due to, among other things, discolouration and drying. Protective wet storage (irrigation) of stored wood is used extensively for softwoods to prevent wood damage, but it has so far been used sparingly for hardwoods. The documented knowledge of wet storage of hardwoods in Sweden is limited. Therefore, a storage study was performed during summer 2011 at a south Swedish sawmill to evaluate the wet storage of hardwoods during summer storage. A full-sized experimental pile consisting of Betula sp., Populus tremula, and Alnus sp. roundwood was irrigated for 12 weeks. Discolouration in the wet-stored logs was compared to discolouration in dry stored logs from a reference pile