I tried it all throughout last burning season. Short splits loaded regular ns with a row ew in the back, a row ew in the front then ns behind them, I even loaded some splits standing on end up and down. In the end I decided I'd rather cut to 16 and have it all fit nice and pretty. I like 12hr cycles. Uniform splits help me establish a regular burn pattern.
I had to do that my first year since I bought a few cords of wood before I bought the stove, had to trim off 2 inches, was a pain, at least your cut offs are a little bit bigger and better to burn. I have the opposite problem this year, I have all 16" wood that I cut for my Princess and sold the Princess and bought a Progress Hybrid. At least no cutting this time.
Ya, when we went from a stove that would take 23" to one that takes 16", it took some time away from other tasks.
I trimmed up about four cords I had cut for my furnace. I didn't think it was a big deal, but I didn't do it all at once. I cut them as I brought them up to the house to be burned. The worst part was that it was kinda messy, with all the chips from the fresh cutting. No matter how much I tried to clean them off, they still ended up tracked thru the garage and house.
Here's how I trim 'em... 5" diameter and below and all lengths... If they're bigger in diameter and I don't feel like breaking out the Stihl I'll just split em first and then trim them down with the compound miter saw..
