Roadside storage of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) pulpwood -: effect on moisture content of climate conditions, felling season and exposure

The drying-out rate for spruce pulpwood felled from April to August and stored in exposed and shaded piles was evaluated. Piles stored in shaded locations preserved the moisture better than exposed piles. Exposed logs in the top-layer of the piles showed rapid drying-out and, in the worst case lost more than 1 %-units a day. The results showed that the freshness criterion practiced in Sweden for Spruce pulpwood, defined as a maximum of 2 or 3 weeks between felling and delivery to industry, are too rigid to handle the variation. Under certain conditions, such a time limit could be to long and thereby cause unacceptable drying-out. In other cases, the time limit could be unnecessarily rigid and thereby prevent the use of the existing flexibility in the wood supply chain. The experiment also shows that it is possible to decrease the drying rate by careful placement of piles.