As a seller, I split everything. I provide a free 1 cuft bundle of kindling with each purchase, so the small limbs are used for that. Medium (5-8") goes to my parents for their wood stove. I sell limb wood over 8" if I can get nice looking splits. When selling, you want to provide split stuff that burns with nice flames which is what casual burns prefer over longevity.
Sent from my SM-S536DL using Tapatalk[/QUOTE] Not totally weird I guess. If you fashion a tiny wedge to keep the crack slightly open then you DO qualify as totally weird!
For me depends on species birch; I got lot of yellow birch. If not split rots so all is split rest is bon fire.. Tulip poplar are bigger.
I have learned the hard way to be very careful where I position my body when splitting small limbs. They sometimes explode at the upper thigh to crotch region on my splitter. Stay back behind the pusher.
There's a few species I "trust" to leave in the round and will dry that way. Cherry, any of the maples, and ash comes to mind. I burned quite a few 5-6" black cherry rounds this fall, that were cut late last summer. They felt dry and burned great with no wood snot boiling out of the ends. Had they been oak I would've halved them first, unless they were barkless. Bark seems to impede the drying process significantly. I'll leave barkless elm or black locust in the round up to 6" diameter. I'm sure with enough years in the stacks I could probably dry larger rounds, but I haven't felt compelled to test that theory yet.
If thats weird then I’m weird because I do the same thing with some rounds. I just want to get a little air in there.
I love having 8" or 10" rounds for longer burns, but I have to be able to guarantee they will be dry. Do you think I could get away with just cutting the whole trailer load into rounds? Looks like a mix of elm, poplar, and who-knows-what.
I want to get some pictures of some of my large diameter. I do have some 16" but most tend to be short so I can lay them on their face in the stove.
If the bark is still on it, down to 3” gets split (especially pine). If it’s been dead standing with the bark gone, down to 5” gets split...Roughly and depending on species.
Same here. I put all my not-to-be-split rounds in a different pile and use them to finish up the tops of my stacks. I probably keep everything 2-6" or so in the not to be split pile. I've learned a long time ago not to put a bunch of rounds down low in the stacks. Makes the stacks "slippery", as there are no edges to "lock together". My stuff stays stacked/top covered for 6-8 years before I use it, so I'm not worried about it being ready to burn.
My answer is everything. However in my case, everything that the tree guys give me is usually 8-10” at its smallest.
