I like to have a fair amount of square and rectangular splits for stacking. If that is not possible I measure the end of the round then divide that by the square root of 6, add 2, multiply by 4, then mark it and split.
@intotheBigWoods , I as others on here have stated, do not try for any particular shape while splitting. The only thing I catch myself doing is sometimes splitting too small while using the hydraulic. Just a little to much fun, maybe? For whatever reason, I find that ash seems to present a more square split than any other species, though. I will use those for cribbing on the end rows of course.
I also try to get as many rectangles of about the same size for cribbing the ends I never seem to have enough...
I prefer my splits to be as blockular as possible for longer, slower burns. 4x6 rectangles are nearly ideal. There are always plenty of smalls and wedges without trying.
I get lots of half rounds due to the size of trees that I handle but I prefer squared off edges or triangles as they are easier to pack in a stove than half rounds. I dont really try for any particular shape although wish more were squared off and flat.
By no means am I being disrespectful, since you guys are all great. I work 60 hours per week, and burn 10-15 cords. When the wood is splitting, it is as fast as can be and as large as possible. If I were older or unemployed, retired, wealthy or a welfare bum, I might spend the time to split shapes
Haha!! Heck, I work 40ish hours a week and only burn 3 cords a year, and I'm the same way! I split as large as I can easily handle in whatever shape happens to work out! That could be halves, triangles or squares. It seems that 90% of my splits do end up as triangles, that just must be the easiest for the size that most of my logs are.
No disrespect taken. It does behoove one to burn larger splits though...that is if you are wanting longer burns.
Generally we try to get as many rectangles and squares as we can but it has to depend upon the size of the log you are splitting and if there are knots, etc. Here are a few pictures and you can see some of what we do. The first picture shows a good mix. There are rounds, triangles, squares and rectangles along with some halves or wedges. Below is what we put in the barn last fall (still lots of it left too). This is generally the way we stack wood. Squares and rectangles are used for the ends and the rest just half way stacked between the ends. There are many different shapes and sized there. The larger ones are used mostly for night burning and the same for rounds. Except the real small rounds are usually burned during daytime hours. Oak is usually put aside until the cold and long nights of late December, January and February. Sometimes even for March although I doubt we'll need much oak this year in March. Most of that wood that is visible (there are 3 rows) is ash, oak and cherry. There might be a few elm but very few in this pile. I'll be getting some more wood out of the barn tomorrow so hope I can remember to take some pictures so we can see how much we've used so far.
Yeah, I was laughing pretty hard at that one Stinny. I like where he took the ginger and rubbed it on the wood, and the wood bath the best. Funny stuff!
