If I can palm it and pick it up with one had, it doesn't get split. That's usually about 6". When I get into some big wood, I'll make some nice 8" square splits...they burn for a LOOOONG time. I'm 3 years ahead, or more, so drying isn't really a concern with the big splits.
Looks like I'm the lone vote so far in the "don't split limbs" category. I tend to leave rounds smaller than 8" alone. Heck, I found some over the weekend when I was bringing wood in that I left at 10". I've got time on my side as far as drying, but not the extra time to split every single piece. I'd rather load 4 large logs into my stove than 8 smaller ones.
At the start of the day I split just about everything..... As the day progresses & I get tired my splits get bigger & bigger! It's benificial to me to have a nice mix of sizes.
Being 4+ yrs ahead & having plenty of dry 1" to 4" rounds/small splits/scrap on hand & getting more all the time,I rarely split anything under 5".If the wood is dead barkless,also keep a few rounds intact up to 7". Any green stuff from tree service gets split a bit smaller than my usual,except for Silver Maple which dries quite rapidly. Nice to have a mix of sizes,the 5" to 7" rounds really are great for long daytime burns or overnight,especially during colder spells.
Green wood, everything above 6" gets split. But when I split big rounds, I make my splits 4x4" to 5x5". One of the big factors IMO is how long you let the wood season. If you're only seasoning a year or so, the smaller splits will be better for that reason. If you got 3 to 5 years for seasoning (which is what I'm doing), I keep the splits bigger. Bigger splits last longer in the stove.....
Keep in mind that if you have a 8" round that will take awhile to dry properly. If it's easy to split I split it fairly small because I'll eventually run into pieces that have a knot or something that I'll leave larger. No hard and fast rule but I also won't kill myself to split one piece. I need some wood for outdoors too.
1. Much will depend upon the stove. Some stoves will take large rounds and some want smaller rounds. 2. Do you have the drying time for rounds as they will take longer? 3. As PapaDave stated, weight of the log at some point in time will be a factor. 4. Limb wood? Well, some limbs may be a inch or 3 and others might be a foot or more in diameter. Size determines what you do with it. As for us, we tend to split anything over 5" and sometimes everything over 4" depending upon the wood. One of the nice things about being in the 3 year plan is that you do have the time to dry those rounds.
I try to mix it up a little. I like to have smaller splits in the bottom of my boiler to get it going and larger pieces on top.
I find in the course of splitting that I generally end up with plenty of smalls and chuglies to start fires with and fill in the gaps.
I'm in the by the time it hits 5-6" rounds it gets split camp. Bigger square splits up to 7 or 8" are ok. A 7 or 8" round waste way too much space in my stove. Two 8" half rounds will take up less space and as long as I stay above 3-4" I see no difference in burn times. A 8x8 chunk of soft maple is ok but that is a 20 pound chunk of Locust. I don't like trying to stuff 20 pound chunks in my stove on the run. Every stove is different but mine likes 3-6" stuff the best. With really good dry wood on a 300*+ reload I only have about a 15-20 second window to reload in before the flames are wrapping around my welding gloves.
For me personally, if I can lift it, I don't split it. That is if I'm keeping the wood here for the boiler. All the other wood that we don't know whether Dad or I will use, we split up. We do tend to split bigger than most I guess. I rather carry one piece than 2 or 3 smaller pieces. Dad normally dictates the size as he knows I will burn anything that will fit through the door. He would do bigger as well but sometimes Mom has to feed his stove when he's out working and he hears it if they are too big!
I have been splitting everything at least once. Even a 2" round as they dry more betterer that way. Typical for me is a 4-5" split.
I split anything over 5 inches. But then again I also have to split some larger rounds into 8ths to get them to size.
With me it depends on the length. Some of the big rounds I get are cut short to be able to handle them. If they're short I will split them a little thicker.
Ya know guys are all really great, I ask a simple question and you take it in all different directions, which is a good thing. Becuz, the question I ask only pertains to one or two things in "my" mind, you all answer with all kinds of different variables, angles and solutions, it's great . I started out thinkin one way, then changed and then changed once again, but at least now I know what "will work best for me". I gonna, split everything at least once so they dry and I don't lose pieces to rot, and on those big 24 & 30 inch trunks, well I get plenty of big stuff out of them for those longer burn times.
