I hate to cut you short

Nothing like having a nice long straight tree to mark and cut your rounds from, but i dont always have that luxury so this question is for FHC scroungers like myself.
A lot of the wood i scrounge is longer, needing to be cut, some already cut to "fireplace" length.
I mark and buck my standard 16" lengths from them, usually ending up with a "shorty"!
My question to fellow scroungers: will you average out your cuts so there is no short "nugget" or will you just cut your lengths and toss it aside?
I have pallet bins specifically for shorts and have close to two cord of them and other scraps and uglies too.
Here's a classic case in point. I scored these red oak logs, but tree guys had cut them 22-24" long, 25-30" diameter. Would you cut your 16" and have 6"-8" nuggets or cut in half for 11"-12" shorts. Normally id cut my 16", but in this case i opted for the latter for the ease of loading.
So what do you scroungers do? If you're not a scrounger, feel free to chime in as well!
dead ash lengths from dump score last week sugar maple and a pc of shag from my dump score last week
pallet bins with shorts/nugget/uglies etc

 

I'll split the difference if it isn't too bad, 12" is about the shortest I like to go to get it to stack right in the pile.
I cut mine to 16 as well, but sometimes I'll do 17 just to avoid a 2" chunk
18 is pushing it. I generally throw the chunkies on top of the row as well.
When I start on a new row, it's kindling and I'm grabbing it with my big stuff.

 

I can handle 18” max and use the Mingo marker to mark 16”.
If the last piece is longer then 16” I eyeball the marks and will cut the last few pieces on the log a little longer than 16”.
But when it’s all done I would rather have some short pieces than some longer than 18” because I have to deal with them to make them fit in the stove.


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Everything in this year's (and most of next) stacks that I cut myself is at 24", as it's the max my splitter takes and I cut it intending to burn in the owb. Having switched to indoor burning, I had to make the same decision on a large scale.. I made an h-frame and elected to cut it all in half. Handling and loading 12" doesn't allow for the tightest stove load, but it serves well on all but the very coldest nights where you really want every square inch of room in the stove maximized. It's going to be miserable stacking the 12" piles for next year, but at least I can do it tightly since the stuff is pretty much burn ready.

 

What will you do with newly scrounged wood...cut lengths and leave shorts BigPapi ?

 

Toss aside and sell your nuggets as camp wood..... if the species is right those nuggets are prime for smoking chunks.

 

I cut 16"
I cut multiples of 16"

I do end up with some oddballs and they go in the oddball heap. Lately I've been doing all my own cutting so there are not many. If it is pine I'll leave the shorty in the woods. If it is oak or maple sometimes I'll just leave the round long so it stacks and I'll cut it if needed when the time comes. One stove will take up to 21" if you're careful so an oddball or two in the stack is NBFD.
Big rounds I'll sometimes make a couple cookies as they will season that way in/on the stack and they can be easy to split as needed when the time comes as well. Sometimes they split all on their own.

 

I have a shed that takes 64" of splits.... leaves little room for slightly longer stuff until it hangs out the end

 

I aim for 19- 21", but try by best to not have many shorties (for stacking reasons only). Not really too hard if you start on the top and you work your down and are willing to have a few a couple inches little longer or shorter. I can count the number of short chunky monkies each year on two hands.

 

did you process that big trailer load you posted a while back bobdog2o02

 

I got a nice load of tree service wood last year. huge ash. cut anywhere from 12-30" long. Drives me CRAZY!
i cut 16" and the shorts make good camping wood

 

Maybe the next one can be more flexible and accommodating.

 

we have done 5 of those trailer loads..... 10 cords this year

 

I mark & cut everything to length. 24" for the boiler, cookies & chunks go in whole during shoulder season. Splitter will take a 32" round, but all my racks are set for 24". Firewood for sale is at 16" or 18" depending on customer request. Chunks in the boiler. Cut all my logs at 12' because that's what fits in the dump trailer & is divisible by all three necessary lengths for firewood. Local Boy Scout troop has permission to take as many chunks & uglies as they want for campfires. That keeps the pile down somewhat.

 

As another loaded pic

 

I normally cut all my wood 18'', then if i have a odd length, i take it as well, no sense leaving it. Then, when i get home i keep the short pieces and odd ball stuff off to the side. If its seasoned and ready to burn, i use the little stuff first, at the start of fall. Small fires, small pieces of wood, odd ball sizes it all burns and makes heat. If its got some rot, or wood that's punky, it goes into the same lot. And, i burn that stuff in the early fall right off, even right down to the saw chips, and little splinters of wood, bark, etc. I use it all and follow through the winter with the same idea.

 

I try to stick to 18", but I'll cut a 24" in half. My stove takes up to 24". I stack on racks, single depth, and I just mix the 12 inchers in with the longer ones. I save cutoffs in old wire dog crates. They are all full now. I have to come up with a strategy to empty them, and have the contents ready to burn in the fall. I have some steel barrels, so maybe new chunks go in them for now.

 

I cut 16". If it's off by more than 2" in either direction, it goes into separate piles. I have customers who like the shorts and others who like the longs.

 

I always use the short or ugly pieces for the stove in the shop.