Im cheating I know just getting some practice thanks to Shawn Curry, probably split those in half with the idea of making a triangle split and giving that a shot.
I would see no advantage of splitting those at all. Also it makes me wonder why you want a triangle shape for your splits? When stacking it is good to give air but you don't really need that much air. An inch or two between them should do well then you don't need as much room for stacking. If you want to use those squares for the cribbed ends, then just fill in with small splits between 2 of them per tier.
I think it was just how Shawn was saying how the splits normally are. But I dont focus to split often and get the square pieces they often are oddities.
I'm new at this, but I agree. Seems like a lot of air space. FatBoy85. You should get more and stack a little tighter or use for your cribbed ends. Just thinking out loud.
The only downside to untreated lumber is that if you leave stuff touching a lot, it gets moldy on the flat sides. The good thing is that not all sides touch so leaves room for air more. I only stacked these because it was practice and practical. Had a whole trailerful and some is still piled up in a no-sir way. Dry as hell though.
Awesome stuff. I got about 6 cord of white and red oak and 1 or 2 cord of soft maple and cherry blocking. Get as much as you can. Mine is all cribbed and drying very nicely. Waiting for my honey hole to get up and running again so I can load up. Supposedly this fall.
Yeah I did grab as much as I could. Got two car back loads and then got a trailer full of it. Im good for wood. Haha the nice part is being able to do that kinda run and know I got lots at home either way! I got to liking the square wood blocks because its the closest you come to splits. Same thing with oak skids. Big stringers do well.
I agree with the others on spacing of your cribbing but you make a good point about the touching and mold. I believe in your region youre so damp you even get moss on the south side of trees
Im almost worried it may burn too well in the full block...Possible runaway fires in the stove... the pit fires ive had are hot but they split so dang well, I cant see myself not using them. They are appropriate sized for the stove but not in this picture. damm fun collecting them though. I tell myself that about every 8 of them depending on the length is like packing a round or two and no bark!
I doubt the runaway stove. Wood burns much different in the stove vs the pit. Controlled draft is the key.
Pack that SOB tight and to the gills, get her going and put the draft almost off and that thing will run like a locomotive. For a long time! Windows open in Febuary type heat as we call it at my house.
Yup pack her full bud! I will add though that I dont pack her to the rafters with pine but with the other woods I will. Pine gets a 3/4 load. Like others have said full loads are what we do when looking for a nice long burn. It will seem strange to do this at first but you'll find its the way to go! Learning when to throttle down the air is key to a long steady burn. Once the air is down to where you need it the stove will tend to heat up from there but then will settle down and cruise....
This is probably going to be my big learning curve. When to settle on the throttle-down. Weekends will be my bigger days to do that. Im gonna hope that my stove has room to breathe when I may just set a small fire and hope it just steadies the temps in the house rather than fluctuate as big peaks and drops. Thats what my thermal wall will be for... allowing for better heat during times of lull when i have day extensions depending on whats going on.
I really just did it because it was fun to do it in that morning. Also because I just had enough time to get that pile off the ground. I could go with 5-6 of those on each level and the rain was on the way. Now im just content with having the wood there to begin with. Its stacked in the most exposed area of the yard, most airflow and sun. All of my premium wood is stacked in that area correctly minus some oak and some walnut. Doug fir is just a great thing to burn here.
There was a member on another forum that used to work for SBI (PSG, Drolet, Osburn) he once said that he thought that was the biggest thing for new burners to get over...trying to control the house temp too steady...wood heat gonna have a lil rise and fall to it. Some house/stove/operator combinations are smoother than others though...and it may not be as much of an issue with modern stoves because the EPA has made 'em "idiot proof"...in other words I think the biggest issue was that in the past when they were making "air tight" stoves people would pack 'em full and then throttle it down overnight trying to not overheat the house, but then making a creosote mess out of the stove/chimney...like I said, not as big of a deal on modern stoves as you can't really shut them down too far as long as the wood is dry and the stove is left to get to its cruising temp in the first place.
