I have a question for ya'll. Does everything that goes into the pile need to be split or do small rounds from limbs go in as well? I tend to keep limbs that are wrist size or bigger. It seems a waste to let it rot in the woods. Just curious
Slow drying wood like oak gets split down to 3 inch size. Fast drying wood only gets split if over 4 inches or so..
If they are that small wrist size, I do not split them. I just stack it with the rest of the split wood on the 3-year plan and burn it then. It will be dry.
Wrist size or bigger sounds about right. All depends on how much time you have working with the small stuff. I've never split that size and they dry.
I personally keep about 4” in rounds down to probably 1.25”. I like the way a round burns , seems to burn a long time and good to load up the fireplace with at bedtime. Smaller ones are good for starting a fire. I hate wasting any part of a tree personally. Always will be some but feel better if I take as much as makes sense to.
I take everything down to probably 2" dia, 6" and under I don't split, heck there is some 8-10" rounds I won't split, they burn well in the OWB.
I keep about wrist or elbow size and up as well. I do not split anything probably 4-5” and smaller. I’ve checked MC and in 3 years they are at acceptable so I don’t bother.
Ill go down to the same size when i have a full tree to harvest, unless its real big, lots of limbs or time restraints etc. Usually anything over 4-5" gets split. Small rounds get mixed in with splits when stacked.
I've got 35 acres of woods i can cut on. So i usually cut down to 5-6" or wherever it starts to wye. I get the easy stuff and move on. Everything usually gets split then. I seldom have whole rounds in my stacks. I've found that the IS doesn't care what size the splits are so i split smaller than most people. Seems i can pack the stove tighter with smaller splits. I stuffed her tight tonight. Gonna be a cold one.
Dang it Karl, that is a good question. I always have some rounds in my stacks and I like to have some good ones for night burning because they tend to last longer, especially if placed on the bottom and rear of the firebox. This first picture shows a stack where most of it is in rounds, but usually there is a mix.
I usually would not keep hardwood like oak at wrist size, I'd say that is kept at five inches and more but I keep some 4-5 inch oak that I do not split, they are just kept round. Red maple, I will keep those at wrist size because I fell a bunch of small maples because they are too thick in spots and it is a bit of TSI (timber stand improvement). I don't like waste and I take a lot of wood because of that but it just gets overwhelming to keep wrist size or less in a big oak. If I didn't have any scrounges, I guess I might would take more.
Small rounds get mixed in and stacked without splitting. Anything ; Ohhh... maybe 4 inches or bigger gets split at least once.
A famous and well respected member here, Firewood Bandit , once said, it's not firewood till it's split. What say you, Bandit?
