M&M Timber is installing a new kiln as part of its preparations for the uptake of micronised timber by customers.
The £125,000 kiln, supplied by Kiln Services Ltd, is being installed at the company’s Clows Top site and forms part of its quality control process to ensure all micronised timber is treated to BS 8417 and has a 15-year service life guarantee.
It will have the capacity to dry 60m³ at a time, although managing director Nigel Poyner said M&M had factored in room for possible expansion to 120m³.
This includes installing the groundworks for an additional kiln, which would be brought in should demand warrant it.
Micronised timber uses a recently introduced copper preservative technology from Osmose, MicroPro, which sees copper particles ground down to a size small enough to enter wood as a solid substrate in a water-based solution.
M&M and Brookridge Timber Ltd are the first companies in the UK to offer MicroPro treated timber. M&M will use the technology on its commercial landscaping timber, playground equipment, agricultural and equestrian fencing, home and garden products, and amenity and leisure structures.
Distributor agreements were signed “within hours of the new timber treatment process being launched,” according to M&M, with farmer’s supplier Mole Avon Trading and agricultural products distributor McVeigh Parker Group signing contracts.
