How small is too small?

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Island-Doc

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Apr 2, 2007
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I'm in the process of cleaning up the broken branches and down trees on my property and I was wondering what size (diameter) branches are worth cutting into lengths and burning in the woodstove once they are dry.

Most of it is Oak, but there is some arbutus and some douglas fir.
 
It all depends...how big is you stove? How big is your house? How warm do you want to stay?
I draw the line at 4-inch stove rounds...some people might at 2-inch.

All depends how much you want to put into it "work wise".

Burning much below 1-inch...your stove is doing the job of an "incinerator"...IMHO
 
Island-Doc said:
I'm in the process of cleaning up the broken branches and down trees on my property and I was wondering what size (diameter) branches are worth cutting into lengths and burning in the woodstove once they are dry.

Most of it is Oak, but there is some arbutus and some douglas fir.
Click to expand...

In general, I keep anything that is the diameter of my wrist or larger (around 2"), which seems like a good idea when it's warm out and I'm building up the woodpiles.

In the winter, when I'm moving wood around, loading the stove etc... I wonder WTF I was thinking with all the twigs, yet I do it all over again next year.

-Hal
 
My question is then what to do with all the little branches and twigs that you're not going to burn in the stove? The local farmers seem to gather and pile them up and just leave them there. I haven't asked them why yet. Is it a wildlife thing? I'm thinking of just burning it.
 
Yes, it is partly a wildlife thing, but also looks a little bit better being stacked instead of just all over the place. Many around here puposely stack brush for rabbits, but I tend to think mice use them more than rabbits. Also woodchucks like them and will dig beneath them. Helps cover the entrance.

We cut some pretty small stuff every year and use it in early fall and late spring when you want a little heat to take chill or dampness off but not much else.
 
I would imagine it depends somewhat on your stove. I burn stuff as small as an inch diam each end of season, gives me a quick, hot 45 min to 1 hour fire just to take the chill off. I have a steel pre_EPA stove that warms very quickly so this works well for me. I suspect one drawback of this might be a bit more creososte buildup than long hot fires since the chimney is still cool (though I have a central chimney). Also, a bit of small material makes great kindling anytime of year.
 
I have a ton of small branches and was thinking about taking some junk plastic barrels and cut the tops off and drill some vent holes. Then fill them up with twigs for kindling. Might be a little bit of a project, or I might just buy some slab wood for kindling. But the twigs are free.
 
Personally I'd scrap any branches under2.5" OD.I can fill my 89 Chev with sawmill slabs for $15 although my sportside truck really only has a "toybox" in the rear and the last time I loaded 'em I smashed my rear window.Maybe I should be keeping some of these smaller branches. :eek:hh:
 
A bit depends on how "bushy" the branch is - and no that doesn't refer to it's politics! ;-P I tend to cut stuff up until the branch gets down to below an inch or two, or starts getting enough stuff coming off it that it's a pain to trim it... above about 2" goes into the main wood pile, under that goes into the kindling pile, along with the odds and ends of "chunks" and big slivers from splitting, etc.

The little stuff I either pile up to let it rot, or leave it where it's at depending on how big it is, how far it is from the crap pile, and how noticeable it is... I'd probably burn the trash, but we really don't have a place that is good for that.

Gooserider
 
So, anything over 2" is burnable as fuel, anything 1" to 2" is kindling and anything under 1" is for the 'burn with the yard waste' pile?

Stoves are a VC defiant and a VC intrepid, both NC and both on insulated SS flue pipes running up inside interior masonry chimneys. I also have a VC 'model 46 Fireplace Insert' and a VC Winterwarm (small) Catalytic insert (again both on SS insulated flues in interior masonry chimneys).
 
Island-Doc said:
So, anything over 2" is burnable as fuel, anything 1" to 2" is kindling and anything under 1" is for the 'burn with the yard waste' pile?

Stoves are a VC defiant and a VC intrepid, both NC and both on insulated SS flue pipes running up inside interior masonry chimneys. I also have a VC 'model 46 Fireplace Insert' and a VC Winterwarm (small) Catalytic insert (again both on SS insulated flues in interior masonry chimneys).
Click to expand...

That's about right, within guestimated limits - I may go a bit smaller on the kindling sizes as long as it's easy, but don't go nuts about it. By the same token it is best to avoid loading your wood pile with too many small diameter rounds - either mix them in well with the other larger splits, or keep them separate and just bring in a few at a time. The small stuff will burn fast and relatively hot, so you don't want to stuff the stove with just the little stuff, but it's good for balance and getting the "all-nighter" logs going.

Also it depends somewhat on your burning habbits. If you are mostly a 24/7 burner who almost never lets the stove die down or go out, you will need less kindling and small stuff. If you are an "intermittent burner" who is frequently needing to re-light the stove you will need more small stuff. I have a 5 gallon bucket I used for kindling - during the winter I was maybe filling it once or twice a month, now that it's warmed up I'm filling it a couple times a week, all because I don't keep the stove going as much.

Gooserider
 
Gooserider said:
Island-Doc said:
So, anything over 2" is burnable as fuel, anything 1" to 2" is kindling and anything under 1" is for the 'burn with the yard waste' pile?

Stoves are a VC defiant and a VC intrepid, both NC and both on insulated SS flue pipes running up inside interior masonry chimneys. I also have a VC 'model 46 Fireplace Insert' and a VC Winterwarm (small) Catalytic insert (again both on SS insulated flues in interior masonry chimneys).
Click to expand...

That's about right, within guestimated limits - I may go a bit smaller on the kindling sizes as long as it's easy, but don't go nuts about it. By the same token it is best to avoid loading your wood pile with too many small diameter rounds - either mix them in well with the other larger splits, or keep them separate and just bring in a few at a time. The small stuff will burn fast and relatively hot, so you don't want to stuff the stove with just the little stuff, but it's good for balance and getting the "all-nighter" logs going.

Also it depends somewhat on your burning habbits. If you are mostly a 24/7 burner who almost never lets the stove die down or go out, you will need less kindling and small stuff. If you are an "intermittent burner" who is frequently needing to re-light the stove you will need more small stuff. I have a 5 gallon bucket I used for kindling - during the winter I was maybe filling it once or twice a month, now that it's warmed up I'm filling it a couple times a week, all because I don't keep the stove going as much.
Goose - how'd you make out with the flooding? Any problems for you? Heard it was pretty bad in the Lowell area.

Gooserider
Click to expand...
 
jpl1nh said:
(note, quoting fixed to clarify who said what...)
Gooserider said:
Island-Doc said:
So, anything over 2" is burnable as fuel, anything 1" to 2" is kindling and anything under 1" is for the 'burn with the yard waste' pile?

Stoves are a VC defiant and a VC intrepid, both NC and both on insulated SS flue pipes running up inside interior masonry chimneys. I also have a VC 'model 46 Fireplace Insert' and a VC Winterwarm (small) Catalytic insert (again both on SS insulated flues in interior masonry chimneys).
Click to expand...

That's about right, within guestimated limits - I may go a bit smaller on the kindling sizes as long as it's easy, but don't go nuts about it. By the same token it is best to avoid loading your wood pile with too many small diameter rounds - either mix them in well with the other larger splits, or keep them separate and just bring in a few at a time. The small stuff will burn fast and relatively hot, so you don't want to stuff the stove with just the little stuff, but it's good for balance and getting the "all-nighter" logs going.

Also it depends somewhat on your burning habbits. If you are mostly a 24/7 burner who almost never lets the stove die down or go out, you will need less kindling and small stuff. If you are an "intermittent burner" who is frequently needing to re-light the stove you will need more small stuff. I have a 5 gallon bucket I used for kindling - during the winter I was maybe filling it once or twice a month, now that it's warmed up I'm filling it a couple times a week, all because I don't keep the stove going as much.

Gooserider
Click to expand...
Goose - how'd you make out with the flooding? Any problems for you? Heard it was pretty bad in the Lowell area.
Click to expand...

It was pretty much a non-event for us. We are a few blocks from the river, and while we have a high enough water table to give us sump pump issues, it would have to be a REALLY huge flood to get any where close to where we are. We got tons of rain, but no snow that stuck. Our sump pump is running about once a minute, but it usually does this time of year, and it isn't having any problem keeping up...

Today the sun's back out, and the bees are out, so looks like all is well...

Gooserider
 
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