What size does wood have to be to go straight to the stacks? I give 3-4" rounds a free pass and split anything bigger.
I went 5"+...might have even picked 6"+ if that was an option...unsplit 4-6" rounds make some nice "all nighters"
A guy called today and asked for a load of big wood. It was his lucky day because I was in a patch of 6-8” white oak limb wood that I had not split. My original intention was for personal use overnight long burn wood. The majority of folks appreciate smaller splits, so I split smaller now. Probably still cut and stack 4” limb wood.
I voted 4+. I’ve been known to split even smaller. I like to break the bark to help drying after watching Black Birch sizzling in the stove. I also don’t like small trees, too much bending over to get them.
I split anything that looks like it'll split the whole way thru the peice. So really depends on species. Now let me say, i split on the small side compared to alot of guys. Seems to burn more complete in my stove. Lots less coals overall. I try to split everything square so that i can control how "packed" the stove is. Usually somewhere between a 4x4 and 3x3. For an all-nighter i just pack 4, 8, 12, + of these in the back of the stove all really tight together, then do a loose load in front. Wood dries faster that way too. I've "filled" the stove with limb wood rounds, unsplit before and don't seem to get the same peak heat. Haven't done it lately so i may need to try that again. My theory is that the wood gas is more easily/readily available and burned with split wood vs whole rounds.
I split it all , the very small splits are used to get the stove going hot and to fill in the gaps for a tightly packed stove.
I would also pick 6+" as well. I still have a few 8" from several years ago that are not split. Anymore, over 6" will probably get split, but I do split some 3" just for filling the spaces during the cold season. Plus I will keep disks that lay flat, and they just have to fit in the door for awesome overnight burns.
I agree with brenndatomu. I burn mostly Doug Fir and the 5"-6" limbs are packed with BTU's compared to the trunk wood. Leaving them whole allows them to burn more slowly like a good hardwood!
I learned something useful while I was home sick today. House was chilly when I finally got up about 8:00 this morning. Still had a few coals from last night. Raked them into a pile in the middle and put a 1-1/2” piece of limb wood on each side, then laid about a 14” cut off about 9” thick on top of the limb wood…flat side down. Had good flames for about 45 minutes until the limb wood burned up and the cut off settled down on the ashes. Then it just laid there and glowed and kept the house comfortable until I added a couple of splits at about 8:30 this evening. Outside temp was about 50 for a high today. Left the air wide open all day. NC30. Easy all day heat for mild weather. I will probably start saving more cut offs that size on purpose now.
Trees don't grow straight around here. I put most of what I cut into the stacks down to an inch or two. As for how far down I split it depends on how green the wood and if it is splitable. Green Blue or Live Oak that is 5" dia will take a long time to dry out. Years. It gets split. Standing dead I might go up to 6" straight to the stacks. If pieces look like they aren't going to split cleanly because they are crooked or have a knot they will go in the stacks and hope for the best. As a result my stacks are kinda ugly.
I usually split everything but if I'm dealing with softer woods like silver maple I'll leave a few unsplit like 4" or so. It all gets seasoned for 3 years so my thoughts are it'll be good enough by then. Wouldn't ever do that with oak or honey locust though.
I split down to 3”. Any smaller than that, I at least crack it. I’ll put a crack about 2/3 of the way down. I’ve got no data to back it up but in my mind it dries faster and will stack like a round. Just typing that out made me realize how anal I am. Good Lord I’m weird.
around 4 inches or so. I have smaller stoves so don't have many big splits anyway, except for some occasional really naughty pine
If the round is destined for bundle wood ill half it. I make bundle wood splits smaller than general cordage wood.
I voted 4” but that’s not necessarily gospel here. Depends on the species and if it’s taken alive or dead when I get it. If it’s green I’ll split some that’s around 4” so it will dry, dead elm I’ll keep some 6” or so rounds for overnight
