Has anyone ever seen any reliable info about drying time and split size? Like, a common somewhat triangular shape split... say you split them kind of small at 3" each side vs. bigger splits at 5"-6" each side. Or whatever. Curious if anyone has ever tested how much faster the smaller splits will dry. If there is very little difference, if you sell wood, you're better off making bigger splits, time is money. But if I were a buyer, I'd want some smaller splits. And then you have buyers who just can't physically handle large splits. Sidenote... I lived with my former gf's mother last two years of college. What a deal, huh! Yep, pretty unique. She was a great lady and liked me, lol, was mad at her daughter for dumping me so she gave me a free room. Daughter ran off with the preacher. The bastid. And I got free breakfast five days/week. She was well off and part of a family-owned construction company and their employees processed firewood for their entire big family. But they always delivered green red oak for her fireplace and it was 24" long. She struggled to handle those splits and I'd do it for her. They were certainly heavy! As I think back on it, I am surprised we ever got a fire lit but it certainly burned. Lots of natural gas! So green, it had a strong red oak smell in the wood room. I liked that her wood room had a door that you could access a storage bin next to her fireplace, good design. As for length, as a scrounger, no way could I deal with 24" rounds. Heck, these large oak rounds at 16" are so big sometimes I have to noodle them into halves or quarters. Back to split size and seasoning time. I wonder if any of you has come across anyone testing this.
The old adage for air dried lumber is one inch per year. That in and of itself has enough vagaries involved to fuel debate. A common woodpile has more. Obviously a smaller split will dry faster as you’re creating more surface area to release moisture but the variables of species and environment come into play.
If someone were going to do a study, another interesting wrinkle would be to compare triangular shape versus rectangular shape, and not more than two inches thick. When I had a huge scrounge job a few years back, I processed a lot of the white oak into rectangular splits 2x6 inches. Theoretically, that will dry faster due to a lot of surface area and also less thickness. If all of your splits were that size, that's one thing, but if you have thicker pieces in the mix, that complicates the drying time overall for the stack. But... take any stack of wood, if you have some small splits in the mix, one could use that to get a fire started (it's close to equivalent to kindling) and then progressively add larger splits once the fire gets hot. I don't know if anyone else does it, but I find that the majority of customers around here do NOT buy ahead of time. They buy and want to burn immediately. They expect fully seasoned wood, ready to burn great, and they do NOT get that from most sellers here. So, if I am out of fully seasoned wood to sell, I provide a mix or fully seasoned wood, some greener small splits, and some larger, greener splits. Thought being that, at least, they can get a fire going. And maybe keep it going with the greener splits once it's hot. The problem with this strategy for me, the seller, is that you have to touch the wood again. Unless you are filling someone's truck bed or trailer and you can just drive up to various stacks and take x-amount from each stack. I've done that quite a bit. It is def a challenge to sell seasoned oak due to the drying time, and most people expect oak. I am changing my strategy, however. I am going to start selling more mixed species loads. Maybe even some pine, which seasons quickly, and can help get a fire going. If the customer demands only oak or other species, I can sell it at some premium, if I have it. It's like buying a drink in a bar... if you buy a highball with house brand liquor, the price is cheaper than if you specify a certain liquor, especially if it's a 'premium' brand. And fully seasoned oak is certainly premium due to drying time if nothing else! I am also thinking of ways to find more fast-seasoning wood, like cherry and maple.
Hard to stack that where it can get any air flow though...for me a mixture of shapes in the stack gives decent air flow, and allows some choice for size/shape when loading the stove
Yes smaller splits dry faster. Since I've been making firewood my whole life I average the size of a standard 4x4 (3.5" square) give or take, when splitting. I mix up all sizes from triangles to rectangles and everything in between when using the hydro. Nice rectangles are ideal if you are cribbing stacks. Splits used for my wood bundles are made roughly 1/3 smaller. Its a matter of personal preference on the individual burners for split size. Yes, maple and cherry would be ideal for you to seek if looking for faster drying wood. Main reason I avoid oak and hickory is the long drying time. Tying up my limited storage space the other. One of my customers is elderly with limited mobility. She wants her splits smaller and light weight. I explained tulip poplar to her and split my standard size pieces in half. Couple deliveries later she complained about how fast it burned! Her recent delivery was red maple and cherry sized like my bundle wood.
I had one customer order one cord of wood in June. He said he wanted that much time to stack it but I think he was trying to give it some drying time from past experiences. It was only ambiance wood for a fireplace but came out of my standard dead oak bin. Beyond that most people in this area get it cut and split right of the log. I sell dead oak from my property. I can dry that in one year as long as I cover it for that entire year. One year I didn’t cover until August/September,,,,was waiting for that hot dry spell that never came. Most of the pile was dry but there were pockets where water had infiltrated. Probably still dryer than most firewood in the area. Yeah it’s not easy trying to produce dry firewood in amounts large enough to sell. Dead oak also loses some caloric value and it’s messier. I sell cheaper than most because of it. I also produce wood from fresher cut trees. The stuff I scrounge roadside mostly. Historically I sell that for fireplace burners after two years but that particular market is drying up. It was just one customer and due to health reasons I don’t expect many more sales. Still working on ideas to keep the pens covered for long term without tearing the tarps to shreds in the storms. Seeing improvements this year or maybe we just didn’t have the same wind as normal.
Is it holzen haus or holz hausen? Whatever, they look cool. Ever built one? I've pondered building one out of long lasting wood like white oak to use as advertisement for firewood sales, as I am on a decently busy highway and people can see my stacked wood. But... I'm cutting back some, have less time, and less big oaks that fell in my lap, large scrounge job. And I can sell all I want pretty easily with no advertising. Closest I came to it was a long, single row 4 feet high and it was probably 80 feet long or more. I carefully selected wood for that stack and stacked it as perfect as I could. That beautiful red oak sure got a lot of good comments, it certainly worked to draw customers. I hated to sell that wood, lol, but I ran out and people were sure wanting it. I was able to fend them off for a season but I don't recall making it through two seasons.
Naturally the larger the split, the more time needed to dry. The big thing there too is that small splits will burn faster while if you are stocking for nights, you need larger splits. Still, moisture content of the wood can make a lot of variances. To dry wood quickly then kiln drying is fastest but also more expensive. Holz hausen stacking looks nice but other than that there aren't much for benefits plus it takes a whole lot more time and labor to stack. But these points, good and bad, have been argued to death. For myself, I prefer a mix of sizes for firewood. Large pieces will burn slower whereas small pieces will get a fire going quicker to give more heat sooner. It is a trade-off. I tend to think that cost wise, if one has to depend on buying firewood then it might be interesting comparing cost. I doubt there would be much saving. So to me if someone asks, I tell them if they want to burn firewood, then you'd best be putting up your own and also have the trees on your own property. After all, there is a lot of time and heavy work involved putting up firewood and then you have to consider the cost of equipment and maintenance.
It seems like the bulk of my customers prefer a mix of 3-6 inch splits. So that’s what I do. Try to please the most and let the rest buy somewhere else. My own personal wood is split much smaller. Easier for me to fill the stove right up to the burn tubes for those cold nights.
The farther ahead I was with firewood the bigger the splits got. When we sold our house I had 3 winters worth of wood stacked, and it had already been there for 3 years. My rule of thumb was if I could pick it up one handed I didn’t need to split it. Most fires were 2 rounds as the base and some splits on top. Almost never had an issue with wood drying, even larger rounds.
My load last night was an odd one...all poplar, except for one huge 20lb locust chunk (yes, I weighed it) but hey, it's still over 70* in here this morning, so...
I don't have any hard info on dry times other than smaller dries faster, but that's a wild story dude
Yawner I have seen it botH ways and even Holzen Mitte or something similar. Saw holz housen tha5 explained it translates to “round house, but i know holz is wood, so have no idea why it says that .
