Large or Small Splits

A mix is best but from a personal situation I have always split smaller because (except for this year) I needed it to be seasoned in 8 - 12 months. Too large or too many large will tend to smolder and not season properly unless allowed to season for two years (of course depending up the type of wood and condition). Too small or too much small will tend to get out of control. Again in my unprofessional opinion variety is the spice of life - and the size of the splits.

I can only reiterate what I have read here several times. Smaller splits will put out more heat but larger splits will burn longer. That makes sense to me because with smaller splits, there is more surface area of the wood to combust. For the same cubic ft of wood loaded in, only a certain amount of BTU's will come out. With smaller splits, those BTU's are released more quickly (shorter burn times) and larger splits will burn longer but still only put out the same amount of BTU's. At least, that's what I read here.

A mix, small, medium and large. "Big" splits for some mean different things, how big are we talking about? My big splits are squares or rectangles in the 6x8 or 6x6 category, my favorite sizes are in the 4x6 range but 3x4 or 4x4 make for easy handling.

Small splits to get the fire going, medium to keep it going, large splits for those all day or overnight burns. I split by hand so those pieces that split easy go very small. Some of the more knotty ones will go into the stove whole if they'll fit in the door. You really do need a mix of sizes.

I have about 10 cords of really large splits/slabs and 6 cords of medium and small splits. Going forward I will have mostly large splits. My feeling is that I can always take an axe to the large splits if/when I need something smaller.

BrowningBAR said:

I have about 10 cords of really large splits/slabs and 6 cords of medium and small splits. Going forward I will have mostly large splits. My feeling is that I can always take an axe to the large splits if/when I need something smaller.

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My feelings as well....the only reason to split it smaller earlier is if you want it to season a little faster.

I also mix sizes. Mostly to fill the stove to the max,
Big splits in the center, they burn longer. med splits on the sides & fill in any gaps with small ones as I load.
You might try mixing in some small splits & see if you get hotter temps.

Good dry wood is the most important.
I get longer burn times if I use mostly big spits, (more wood less air space)
I can crank up the stove temp with the inlet are damper, smaller splits burn fast but I can get a hot stove with big splits too.

I have nothing to add that hasn't already been said by N3Pro . . . since I too have a variety of splits . . . perhaps more "medium" sized (for me -- 5-7 inches in diameter) than small or large. Sometimes I want smaller splits to get a fire going . . . sometimes I want larger ones for longer burns overnight . . . and most of the time I want regular, old medium splits.

If you're short on seasoning time, split smaller.

I'm 2-3 years ahead at this point and keep splits larger, but still something small enough that I can carry it by the end with one hand - say 4"x6". Overall a mix of sizes works best. I figure I can always split them smaller if I need more small splits, but you can't make them larger.

You can always split them smaller if you decide you want to. Pretty hard to put them back together.

I have evolved (?) into a big splitter. I don't split past the "one handed" size which ends up being about 5 inches across. Faster to split, faster to stack.

Yea what they said.

trettig said:

Hello,
I haven't posted in a long time. Someone stopped by my house and looked at my wood pile. They said "Are you going to split that." I said "No I like big pieces" he told me that smaller splits burn hotter. I always thought that large pieces last longer. So what do I do. Large pieces or small splits. I heat my house with wood and can never seem to get the house warm enough. I have a two year old Hearthstone Equinox with damper. Also SS liner all the way up the chimney. The stove doesn't get above 450 degrees. Please tell me your thoughts.

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Welcome back to the forum.

Your post leads me to think perhaps you have not split the wood at all. More information would allow us to answer your question better but I'll take a shot anway. If you have not split the wood at all, how long has the wood sit since being cut to lenght? What kind of wood is it?

You can't get your house warm with a big stove? What size is the house? Stove not above 450 degrees! I'd freeze too. That is not a very hot stove for sure. But this leads me to think you are cutting wood and shortly trying to burn it. Just remember, we have not yet figured out a good way to burn water. All wood has moisture in it and it is out job to get rid of most of that moisture before we put it inside the stove. Different types of wood takes different amounts of time to dry right too.

Around our place, we cut wood in the winter months. Come spring we split it and then stack it. Those wood stacks stay open to the weather throughout the summer and fall months. Before they get covered with snow, they get top covered.

Some folks make the mistake of covering the entire wood stack. That is very wrong! You need the moisture to get out of the wood and not try to hold it in the wood and that is why we top cover only. Around our place we also give wood usually 3 years minimum before we burn it in the stove. This assures us we are not trying to burn water. It works too and the nicest benefits we receive is that we burn less wood to keep warm and we rarely have to clean the chimney. Even the glass on the front of the stove stays clean so we can view the fire.

Dry wood also means you will curse the stove a lot less and the reason for this is that it burns the way it should. Less than dry wood means you are always fighting the fire and can't get that stove top over 400-450 degrees. Our little stove reaches 600 degrees quite easily and the temperature stays up to keep the house nice and toasty. Our thermostat is the ladies. If they aren't pealing clothing off, the stove is not hot enough. Keep them comfortable!

Backwoods Savage said:

Welcome back to the forum.

Your post leads me to think perhaps you have not split the wood at all. More information would allow us to answer your question better but I'll take a shot anway. If you have not split the wood at all, how long has the wood sit since being cut to lenght? What kind of wood is it?

You can't get your house warm with a big stove? What size is the house? Stove not above 450 degrees! I'd freeze too. That is not a very hot stove for sure. But this leads me to think you are cutting wood and shortly trying to burn it. Just remember, we have not yet figured out a good way to burn water. All wood has moisture in it and it is out job to get rid of most of that moisture before we put it inside the stove. Different types of wood takes different amounts of time to dry right too.

Around our place, we cut wood in the winter months. Come spring we split it and then stack it. Those wood stacks stay open to the weather throughout the summer and fall months. Before they get covered with snow, they get top covered.

Some folks make the mistake of covering the entire wood stack. That is very wrong! You need the moisture to get out of the wood and not try to hold it in the wood and that is why we top cover only. Around our place we also give wood usually 3 years minimum before we burn it in the stove. This assures us we are not trying to burn water. It works too and the nicest benefits we receive is that we burn less wood to keep warm and we rarely have to clean the chimney. Even the glass on the front of the stove stays clean so we can view the fire.

Dry wood also means you will curse the stove a lot less and the reason for this is that it burns the way it should. Less than dry wood means you are always fighting the fire and can't get that stove top over 400-450 degrees. Our little stove reaches 600 degrees quite easily and the temperature stays up to keep the house nice and toasty. Our thermostat is the ladies. If they aren't pealing clothing off, the stove is not hot enough. Keep them comfortable!

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Right there is reason enough to burn dry wood!

It is always hard to know what 'big splits' mean to different people, but for me a big split is a split that is large enough that only three or four will fit together in the stove, allowing room for some coals and ash (because you rarely put big splits into an empty stove). If you can't get three or four in the stove at once you probably won't get a healthy burn going. I generally prefer splits that allow at least five or six in the stove at one time for easier loading and a hotter fire. The big splits I save for nighttime when a long burn is most critical.

If you're only getting the stovetop up to 450 then either the thermometer is not working right (very common for cheap thermometers) or you need smaller and/or drier splits with more air.

Well, like others, I like a variety for all situations.