To much small stuff

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Butcher

Butcher

Minister of Fire
Nov 2, 2011
530
N. central Ia.
Spent 4 hours stacking new splits and restacking this years burnable wood yesterday. Since I dont like to let anything go to waste when I drop a tree I end up bringing home even the smallest of limbs. What I've found in this years pile was a VERY large amount of small stuff 2" and under. So much so that I would have enough kindlin for 10 years if thats all I used it for. I guess I dont know what I'm askin here but was wondering if anybody else has this situation and how do you mix in the small stuff in each load? I'm sure using to much small stuff in a load could cause an over fire condition, or am I thinking wrong?
 
We use driftwood smalls to start a fire, but we also have been using them in small quantities for shorter burns in our apparently never ending shoulder season.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
... Load with larger splits, stuff spaces between and up top with smaller stuff...
Click to expand...
That's how I do it. No over-fires yet. Need to take more care when loading on hotter coals.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
Too much small stuff could lead to an overfire if not careful. Load with larger splits, stuff spaces between and up top with smaller stuff, IMO. My stove likes to be packed solid.
Click to expand...

+1 . . . and sometimes I just use the small stuff for the shoulder season fires when I don't need to pack the firebox full . . . just a partial load of the small stuff.
 
I don't bother with anything much under 6". I feel that small stuff is too much labor per BTU. I am far enough ahead that I can be a wood snob now.
 
I don't worry about anything much smaller than 6 inches unless it is locust etc. I go for trunks as much as possible. More bang for your buck as you are dealing with heartwood in trunks vs. alot of sapwood in tops. I know that is wasting but it depends on how much wood you have to work with. Definitely, look the other way on anything two to three inches.
 
Flatbedford said:
I don't bother with anything much under 6". I feel that small stuff is too much labor per BTU. I am far enough ahead that I can be a wood snob now.
Click to expand...

Where I cut wood at is surounded by farm ground. I try to drag any brush back into the woodlines so the guy we got renting the ground dosent have to deal with it. I figure if I gotta drag the small stuff around I might as well cut it up and throw it on the truck. It would be nice if I could dump the trees into the woods but they are so thick I get all kinds of hangers and widowmakers so I start from the outside perimetter and work my way in thus having to lay them in the field.
I should add that this is all red elm and they all are growing so close together that to just try to thin them is not an option. For the most part around here they will grow to about 60 foot tall with a trunk diameter of only around 24 inches with almost no branches for the first 30 feet from the ground. I know alott of folks on here dont like elm but in these parts folks would kill for the red elm I got. Just gotta know how to deal with the stuff when it comes time to split it.
 
If leaving the small stuff isn't an option I usually pile it up and burn it on site. But thats what works for my situation usually. I don't bother with anything smaller than 2" due to the quickness that it burns and there isn't much bang for your buck.
 
It all burns and provides heat. I am plenty ahead and still take all the useable wood I can when I scrounge. I hate to waste any. I mix the smaller branch pieces in w/o any issues.
 
When I was trying to get ahead, I just collected anything I could, small, big, punky, as long as it would dry out and burn.

Funnily enough, I'm glad I did have so much small stuff, as we had a very long shoulder season from October through to last week when the colder weather eventually came in.

Now we have a good supply of decent wood for long burns, and the rest of the small stuff can wait until Spring.

Or the occasional time when the fire is a bit low and needs livening up a bit...... ;-)
 
eclecticcottage said:
We use driftwood smalls to start a fire, but we also have been using them in small quantities for shorter burns in our apparently never ending shoulder season.
Click to expand...

Driftwood from a lake or river, I presume (by where you live) and not salt water. Salt water drift wood isn't good for burning.
 
I save everything down to about an inch.
I have no trouble with too much small stuff. It just isn't an issue in any way.
I honestly can't imagine not saving wood under six inches, it just doesn't make sense. Throwing away tons of wood, having to split everything.

3, 4 and five inch rounds burn great. And 2 inch and two and a half as well.

The small stuff gets dropped at the base of my wood rack, when I bring the wood in. It is always super dry, and in the morning I throw in a good bunch to get the fire going
and quickly establish a goosd coal bed.

I am ahead a few years BECAUSE of saving the small stuff.
 
I usually cut down to about a 3" round and then stop. If my wife is there, she hollers at me. She even wants to pick up the wedge from notching the tree... I usually just don't mess with it.
 
I have a small firebox, small stuff seems bigger for me. Great for the never ending shoulder season this year, and for those times that you don't want to reload just yet because it's too early but it's cooling off too much so you need a little warmer upper.
 
I burn a lot of small stuff. I can't fill the box with it but I can put in half a load and get a short but hot fire.
 
I save everything with a diameter of 2" and up. The work we go through to get some of these trees, I'm burning EVERYTHING I CAN! :lol:
Seriously, the small stuff is great for a quick re-kindle (mornings or after work) or for a quick burst of heat. And it helps fill some of the gaping cracks in the wood stacks!
 
I save it all too. Makes a quick hot fire in the morning or after work or when I'm home to feed the beast. But yeah, it's a bit of a pita to deal with.
 
I'm cutting to improve my woods as much as I am cutting for wood to burn, and I have a lot of ground to cover, so I don't mind leaving more of the tops out there because it takes a lot more time to handle them. But I remember growing up on a farm that had predominantly white pine, and always being amazed at the size of limbs the commercial loggers left behind on other people's land. All a matter of perspective.
 
Dune said:
I save everything down to about an inch.
I have no trouble with too much small stuff. It just isn't an issue in any way.
I honestly can't imagine not saving wood under six inches, it just doesn't make sense. Throwing away tons of wood, having to split everything.

3, 4 and five inch rounds burn great. And 2 inch and two and a half as well.

The small stuff gets dropped at the base of my wood rack, when I bring the wood in. It is always super dry, and in the morning I throw in a good bunch to get the fire going
and quickly establish a goosd coal bed.

I am ahead a few years BECAUSE of saving the small stuff.
Click to expand...

Same here. I have access to 10 acres of oak/hickory,do the occasional CL scrounge & paid job too here in town & am at least 4 yrs ahead right now.But I still bring in everything that's sound & firm,down to about 1 1/2" or so.Even the odd chunks & uglies,the wedge from notching the tree & dead fallen branches/saplings up to 4"-5"diameter.

Because of the mild winter (so far) at least 2/3rds of the wood I've burned has been the 'junk' that is considered 'no good'.Saving the best & biggest chunks & straight splits for next year & beyond.
 
I usually go down to 3-4". If it was my property I'd pile and chip once a year. Whatever you do with it remember that nothing goes to waste. Anything you leave is helping grow the next tree.
 
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