In your scenario, I would cut to 16” and 8”. Then split the 8” exactly in half or fourths (as close as I could get) then put the two 8” halves end to end in my 16” stacks.
For me, my splitter handles up to 24” , and i am way off at times when i eyeball the length on a log cutting some at 16-18”. Since i prefer longer splits for the boiler, that can take up to 48”. As i split have a second pile of “fireplace wood”, that goes int our indoor fireplace for cold weekend burns. I keep near a cord of i5 at different seasoning stages. then of course i keep uglies and shorts for the boiler. Fo4 your situation, i would cut the full length for the burner and keep a “shorts” stack to just fill in whe; yo7 hink it needs a little mor3 added.
I cut to size,.and split and give all shorties and uglies to my neighbors (elderly, fixed income, not able to cut and split). They pile them in a tent for one season and then burn them in short hot fires in a small stove. (I tried to educate them about drying but it's hard teaching settled folks new things. So I split them small for them.) They are happy as they don't get crap (bottom of the pile) wood as from their other contact, and I'm happy because everything that doesn't stack well or is short doesn't need to go in my stacks.
Since so much of my scores comes from random logs or rounds from tree services, I end up with a lot of shorts. I cut all to 16" and throw the shorts in the trailer also for the older neighbor lady who has a smaller insert. When I split I fill several wheelers with small, short splits and chunks and dump them next to her covered bins. I filled some of the bins for her once but got some of the green wood in a seasoned wood bin. I was told "I appreciate the wood so very much BUT she could fill her own bins according to her own system thank you!" I got a big kick out of that. Got dressed down by an independent 83 year old! She is always baking and bringing over cookies, banana bread, pie and such. Gotta love a neighbor like that!
Awesome..similar here. Such things can make me smile weeks after they happened - and for something that I'm happy I don't have to deal with...
We take a tote, cut top out, drill 3" holes with hole saw in sides, make the door, then put all the shorts in there... We pile them full, write date and contents, put top on and let it dry. We use a lot of this as stove stuffers, got a box on one side just for chunks. Or we give some away to folks in need that have smaller stoves
I cut to size and will stack the shorts on top of cord stacks. If I have an abundance of shorts, I'll make sort of a dome shape to help the tarps shed water. I'll currently have to do this with some chestnut oak rounds I have.
That's perfect! My problem here if finding those dam totes! They're usually 60+ miles away from me and they want $100 bucks for them. I have one with no plastic liner and it works, I get the occasional "Escapee" that falls through.
We had a great deal going for awhile, guy at the company next door would "charge" me a chicken biscuit and hash browns for 2 totes at a time...about $4.50 each total...got maybe 50 like that...then someone over there went to yapping......and the company is now selling them back to chemical companies......
This thread got me thinking and inspired me to go back to Craigslist and look. I found a person about (60) miles away that has them. They are food grade and had coffee syrup in them. The fella said he had plenty of them and they were new, $50.00 a piece. so I'll drive up after Christmas sometime and grab 2, I have a source now but I'll burn $50.00 gas in the truck getting there and back!
The last 2 I purchased were $100 a piece, but since I drove about 70 miles, (one way) to get them, the lady gave them to me for $150.00 for the pair, (which was nice). This man I spoke with yesterday said he has over 100 sitting. I assume he has some kind of business with a fast food chain, Just a guess... I wish I had a place to put a few more, my yard isn't that big.
T.Jeff Veal , I "Just" realized your door cut out! Really cool idea!! I just have mine cut out in the middle where I can reach in. (bottom) pic. As you can see, my "uglies" are all gone...
I'd love to have a bunch of those IBC totes but they go for a stupid amount up here because everyone and their brother now advertises them for firewood storage. I can get all the pallets I want for free, and though not as nice or long-lasting as the totes, they do the job. If you were closer, I'd say maybe we could find someplace that would do a bulk deal on the totes.
