Recently in a thread it was mentioned by T.Jeff Veal & Barcroftb about using small rounds and their higher btu value which got me to thinking and here's my question to FHC folks. When harvesting a tree, what is the smallest diameter limb you will save? Its rare for me to score an entire tree, most of my roadside scores are 4-5" and up. Tree guys chip anything less. And having so much larger wood i wont take the skinnies. Not worth the effort IMO. Anything above 3" ill mix in with splits, but less than that i have a separate bin. Since im on the subject, what is the largest diameter you will leave unsplit?
I'll save 2" and over assuming it's not gonna be too much trouble. (Too much processing, straight, etc) Start splitting them around 4" and up...depending on species.
It was in the thread posted by Ohio "wood ID". They both posted comments. My rule of thumb for skinnies is the same as yours BTW!
In the past the women would harvest everything down to 1/2” LOL Real pain to process even with the buzzsaw. Now that I’m doing it all I take just the trunks of course I’ve been scrounging the gypsy moth kills. The branches on those trees are worth nothing. That’ll change again when I start cleaning our own property. Push come to shove the little stuff will go in the campfire. This is the first year I’ve ever burnt wood besides brush at home. I’m liking it. Nice to sit out in the dark with a nice fire, cocktails and listen to the coyotes.
I’ve got some 3 inch “rounds” that I just cleaned up in the back yard wood area. I’ve been doing some cleanup of my wood area to make room for new stuff. Been throwing larger “skinnies” on the To Stack pile than usual just so I can keep the cleanup moving along.
On my property here in town when cleaning up any storm damage or leftovers from pruning I'll save for kindling/fire starter most everything down to 1".Because I don't want so much mess to either bundle up or chop in pieces with loppers to toss in trash bins for the city to haul off. If I have a fair amount which happens a couple times yearly I pile it in pickup bed & dump it in a designated spot at parents acreage.Out there when cutting firewood,cleaning up snags or storm damage everything under 2" is piled up in several places near where I'm working that day. Makes good cover for smaller wildlife,the birds,squirrels,rabbits etc like to use it.
When we started out on the wood burning/hoarding adventure, we saved down to about 1", had a separate pile and bin for those, in fact this past winter, that is mostly what we burned,. mixed with pallet scrap wood. I have all sizes up to about 4-5" in that shed.
When I cut a tree at home I save everything down to about an inch. Moving brush is my least favorite part of doing wood so I leave as little brush as possible.
It really depends much on the stove you are going to burn the wood in and how much wood you have. It seems when you have an overabundance, the smaller stuff gets thrown into a brush pile which is not all bad if it is in the woods. Back before the EAB, my wife was with me perhaps 75% of the time and when she was with me, we'd save down to about 2". If she was not there, I'd save to perhaps 4". Since the EAB, my wife rarely helps any more and again, I'll save down to about 4". Split anything, say, 5" or larger.
On my own property, if I have time, I might cut and save branches right down to maybe three inches, but more often than not I find myself just hauling anything under 4 inches or not nice and straight right off to the wood dump that I have. Dead standing branches can be kinda soft so I might toss them as well. Deeper into the woods I might be just winching out a trunk so even bigger stuff gets left behind. SO it really kinda all depends. If it is oak I try to split anything 4 inches or more in half to, in theory, aid seasoning. Pine and maple I might not split under 6 inches. Again, what you require for feedstock really depends on the size of your stove and what you need for drying time can influence split size as well.
I save down to the 3-5 inch, with spruce and birch it doesn’t leave much. I personally like a good mix of sizes, both split and rounds. I leave some rounds pretty large up to about 10-12. I try to have a variety to play stove Tetris.
In the past I've not bothered with anything under around 4" or so, but I find myself keeping more of the smaller stuff this year. Usually start halving around 6" or so.
