I just put in a doozer in the castine. I wish I took a picture. Just curious to see some pictures and hear some measurements of the largest splits you've put in. For those that cut down your own wood, why dont you use LARGE SPLITS more often??? We save our "OVERNIGHTERS" for these situations. We only get a few every season, but they're awesome, I wish we had more HUGE splits. I want to say the split we put in is about the 1/3 size of the actual firebox. It was big!
What's the BIGGEST split you ever put in your stove? PICS please....
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bogydave
Minister of Fire
I get overnight burns regardless of the wood split size so long as the stove is loaded up. I have stuck wood in the stove that damn near hit the baffle on a low ash bed (stove is too hot to get the measurements now). But I don't like them that large for 3 reasons.
1. If the wife is tending the stove that split is something that she doesn't want to handle.
2. With that much surface area I get more heat out of splitting it up.
3. I recently received a fiskars axe for my birthday and anything big has been getting the whack just to test that little bugger out.
Now, i will occasionally set some of those big boys in the back corner of the basement for use if we are going to be gone ALL day (14+ hours) otherwise they are of no use to me. Next time I'll have to take a pic of it if I find one in the stack.
However, as a young(er) buck using a fireplace drinking in the basement of a buddies house, I can remember putting in logs that were, well, LOGS! Probably 16 inches in diameter. Those were different times.
pen
1. If the wife is tending the stove that split is something that she doesn't want to handle.
2. With that much surface area I get more heat out of splitting it up.
3. I recently received a fiskars axe for my birthday and anything big has been getting the whack just to test that little bugger out.
Now, i will occasionally set some of those big boys in the back corner of the basement for use if we are going to be gone ALL day (14+ hours) otherwise they are of no use to me. Next time I'll have to take a pic of it if I find one in the stack.
However, as a young(er) buck using a fireplace drinking in the basement of a buddies house, I can remember putting in logs that were, well, LOGS! Probably 16 inches in diameter. Those were different times.
pen
ckdeuce
Feeling the Heat
pgmr
Feeling the Heat
LOL, my avatar has an example of a couple big splits. If they reach above the firebrick line, they are big.
Since the second season with the 30 I split everything huge. Most night burns are three splits or rounds that fill the firebox.
SolarAndWood
Minister of Fire
I limit myself to the size of the wedge on my splitter which is 6-7 inches. Anything bigger I'll have trouble burning it down enough to load the stove in the am before heading to work. What I consider large splits for my stove are 4x6, 5x6 or 6x6 splits.
jghall
Member
I used to leave a lot of big splits in my pile for long over night burns but I have since stopped... My main reasons are, it takes longer to season, and its harder for my wife to handle and load during the day.... I cut all my wood in 16" lengths, and the split fairly fine... I have no problems whatsoever getting an overnight burn, and the smaller splits catch and heat the house up faster in the morning... Also the 16" lengths allow me to choose which way I want to load my firebox, front to back or side to side (firebox it 17" deep by 22" width), and they are easier to split...
NH_Wood
Minister of Fire
My problem with using ALL big splits is that three large splits N/S on the coal bed leaves a lot of space below the baffles, but not enough space for more big splits. If I want to pack the stove for overnight, I need smaller splits to fit in that tighter space. A range of split sizes seems a good way to go, with plenty of large splits for overnight burns when is real cold. Cheers!
Adios Pantalones
Minister of Fire
The big splits in my stove are all pine. In the kiln- they are 40" long and I've put in logs 12" in diameter. I've put in chunky slab pieces that I could barely lift into the firebox.
Wood Duck
Minister of Fire
If I load one oversize log, that means the others will have to be small. The small ones will burn away long before the big one, leaving a single large lump of wood, and I find a single piece of wood usually doesn't burn well by itself. I get better fires with several 5x5 splits than one biggie and several small. My stove isn't very big.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
I used to think bigger was always better, but now I know size doesn't matter . . . and yes, I am talking about wood in the woodstove. 
I do split up a few "overnighters", but in general I prefer to have smaller to medium sized splits . . . a) as mentioned it seems to not make much of a difference to me in terms of length of burn, b) the smaller and medium sized splits are easier for my wife to handle and c) with the larger stuff I could get two or three splits in the firebox and there was still a lot of extra room . . . with the smaller stuff I tend to fill up the space a bit better and d) the smaller stuff seasons faster and ignites a lot easier than the big stuff.
I do split up a few "overnighters", but in general I prefer to have smaller to medium sized splits . . . a) as mentioned it seems to not make much of a difference to me in terms of length of burn, b) the smaller and medium sized splits are easier for my wife to handle and c) with the larger stuff I could get two or three splits in the firebox and there was still a lot of extra room . . . with the smaller stuff I tend to fill up the space a bit better and d) the smaller stuff seasons faster and ignites a lot easier than the big stuff.
madrone
Minister of Fire
I tend to split conifers on the large size. Sometimes they just won't split down anymore, due to huge knots. Big splits of softwood last much longer. I'll load a full load with just 3 chunks. 8 x 10 x 18 is about as big as will go in the stove, usually.
I've seen my in-laws put a 15" long, 12" thick round directly into their Jotul. Basically so big they can't fit anything else in.
8 hours later, it's still burning stove with big thick coals.
8 hours later, it's still burning stove with big thick coals.
btuser
Minister of Fire
Its hard to get oak to dry out when the splits are too large. I guess if I had the time to wait it would be good.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Although we generally have some large splits, we also like to have several rounds for long burns. I think the rounds do better for this than the splits but splits are usually easier to get stacked tighter together. So usually I'll only put in 1 round per fire on those really cold nights.
Big Al
New Member
btuser said:
Yeah, nothing ruins the party like a big ol oak split that's not fully seasoned all the way through, Just kinda sits there sucking up the incoming air and barely burning. I don't even try the monster splits anymore. I give em another couple whacks with the maul and call it a day.
Danno77
Minister of Fire
Man, I should have taken pictures back when I used to burn in the fireplace. That was before i really knew what the heck I was doing. I used to bring in these 2ft stumps that I couldn't split for whatever, and they'd be so heavy I could barely carry them. would burn for a day or so, had to throw small stuff on it to keep it going at first, then it would dry itself out enough that it could keep going. If you have the time to dry big rounds out then more power to ya. I am not far enough ahead yet to deal with them.
I'd like to see some pictures, too, if you've been throwing big splits/rounds in your stove.
I'd like to see some pictures, too, if you've been throwing big splits/rounds in your stove.
woodsmaster
Minister of Fire
I have an ashly automatic stove that the top swings open on for the extra large pieces. I only use it when I get a piece that I have trouble spliting and or need a long burn when going away for the day. it will take a pretty big piece its a 12" x 14" opening 2' deep.
HeatsTwice
Minister of Fire
Danno77 said:
Me too. Before I had a stove, I burned in an open hearth fire place. Before I could landscape the house I had to rip out all of the origonal dieing trees. I had many stumps on the property which the dump would charge extra for.
So I started burning them. Once they got going and the flames were rushing around the root ball, they looked like metiorites entering the atmosphere. Quite a show and burned forever.
No pics but I find myself putting in pieces over 24" long and heavy enough it takes 2 hands. Longest my splitter will do is 26". Then I put the big fat knarly chunks in front of those.
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