Wood diameter

I don't think there is any real difference, trade offs. More cutting, less splitting. If you have alot of branches or skinny logs I would recommend something like my H style sawbuck. You can cut a bunch, all the same size in a hurry and safer and easier on the back.

Sorry I am at the office and do not have the picture handy, I will try to find a link. They are probably taking the bigger wood to the sawmill and giving you the remains.

Here is the link:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/67227/

What size of stove do you? For me, it would be the ideal size. But Ive got the NC-13 stove. This year, I'm cutting and sizing the wood for maximize capacity much smaller size's and fewer big logs. The only nice thing about bigger stock is more chunks per cut long.

I think the big monster trunks seem to have more btu's but your not talking 45+ inchs with those logs.

I have found that the unsplit small diameter rounds hold moisture for a long time. I recently through a small load of 2-4" branch pieces (maple) into the fire, they had been in the stack for 2 years and they hissed and spit like a pissed off cat. I try and split everything atleast in half.
I would want to see that load before forking over the money. If its mostly on the low diameter end I would look for another option.

I would choose larger logs over smaller because the wood:bark ratio is higher with larger logs. However, I would not expect the difference to be much in terms of BTUs. I guess I might pay a little more for larger logs, but not much. How many of the smallest logs will be in the mix, and how many will be about 12 inches? Probably the only way to know is to buy a load and see.

I still split anything over 3" in half so they dry out quicker. Other than that, I split down to the same size no matter the diameter of the original log, so the stove doesn't know the difference.

I like 18-28" rounds for the better wood:bark ratio as mentioned. It is also fewer logs rolled to the splitter than smaller stuff carried to the splitter. Over 28" are sort of a pain. They are heavy and unwieldy. I want a helper to split them in half first.

We'd all love perfect size wood. I cut the trunks down to about the 3" diameter stuff.
When splitting the smaller stuff, I partially split it so the small rounds are cracked down the middle but still in one piece.
Smaller 2-1/2" to 1" goes to the cook out fire wood pile.
Stove type matters, bigger splits last longer in some stoves.
Smaller splits help get mine up to temp, make good coals fast & then I turn to a loser setting &
the bigger splits last a long time.
Comes down to what you like. & is it worth more $$ to get it?
Some one on here said "It's all BTUs". I like that saying & cost is a major factor for me.
If $100 for a cord for an 8 cord log load is a good price in your area, get it & get it C/S/S so it's ready come burning season.
Last price I got here was $800 for a 10 cord log length load. (probably 9 cords when C/S/S )
Good luck

Wood is wood . . . and I don't worry too much about the size of the wood in tree form vs. the size of the wood that I process. Truthfully, I prefer my trees to be 12-24 inches or so . . . but I'll take down larger or smaller ones . . . for me the key thing when it comes to size is the size of the splits and after a few years I find that I prefer mostly smaller to medium sized splits with a few larger splits . . . it's what works for me. Only drawback I can really see to the smaller wood is that you handle more of it more often to get the same amount of wood -- you might have to process 2-3 rounds of the smaller stuff to get the same amount of wood out of a single larger round.

I'd split some for this coming season 2012/13, and leave some in rounds for 2023/14.

A lot of my wood is in 4 - 6" rounds and I often split them, although they season quicker, they burn quicker too

Tansao, the btu's will be the same but the smaller stuff will burn faster.

If this is the best you can do, then okay, but I too would prefer some larger logs that 4" - 12". Maybe more like 8" or 12" - 30" would suit me better. And yes, the amount of bark does make a difference. You'll also notice a difference in the amount of ashes you get with more bark.

Backwoods Savage said:

And yes, the amount of bark does make a difference. You'll also notice a difference in the amount of ashes you get with more bark.

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Another little gem of knowledge