Bucking to length..

[onion]

I can't help but notice as you guys post your pictures of your lovely stacks of split wood that you manage to always have them so neatly bucked into the exact same length. Pray tell how do you do that? I usually just use the saw bar (18") and cut a little shorter. Somehow I always end up with some @ 16", some @ 18" and everywhere in between. Always bugs the hell out of me when I am stacking and makes me feel inadequate when I see your lovely squared off stacks. I'm too embarrased to post pictures of my ramshackle stacks %-P

Do you use a jig or measuring wheel or what?

 

[fossil]

Micrometer & a bench-mounted belt sander. :coolsmirk:

 

[thewoodlands]

I can't help but notice as you guys post your pictures of your lovely stacks of split wood that you manage to always have them so neatly bucked intot he exact same length. Pray tell how do you do that? I usually just use the saw bar (18") and cut a little shorter. Somehow I always end up with some @ 16", some @ 18" and everywhere in between. Always bugs the hell out of me when I am stacking and makes me feel inadequate when I see your lovely squared off stacks. I'm too embarrased to post pictures of my ramshackle stacks %-P

Do you use a jig or measuring wheel or what?

Onion I have a small piece of wood cut to 14.75 then I use a stihl pruning saw and mark the log I'm going to buck, works for me. I'll mark just half the log(buck) then shut the saw down and mark the other half, gives you some rest time.

The biggest reason I measure mine is the liberty has a short fire box loading north/south and thats the way I want to load it for overnight burns.

zap

 

[smokinj]

LOL us who are not so good at stacking do not post pic's of said stacks!

 

[oldspark]

I don't worry about, if its 15, 16, 17, or so its good enough.

 

[midwestcoast]

They don't always show the back of the stacks! Easy to get the front looking nice while the back looks like the dogs breakfast.
Oh and variable sized pieces creates better air-flow in the firebox :roll:
I can fit 19" spilts, but I'm not gonna buck a 30" round @ 19" & then curse myself when I try to split it by hand. I'll cut smaller on the big rounds on purpose.
Those are my delusions and I'll stick to'em rather than feel inadequate.

 

[firefighterjake]

I can't help but notice as you guys post your pictures of your lovely stacks of split wood that you manage to always have them so neatly bucked intot he exact same length. Pray tell how do you do that? I usually just use the saw bar (18") and cut a little shorter. Somehow I always end up with some @ 16", some @ 18" and everywhere in between. Always bugs the hell out of me when I am stacking and makes me feel inadequate when I see your lovely squared off stacks. I'm too embarrased to post pictures of my ramshackle stacks %-P

Do you use a jig or measuring wheel or what?

The wood I cut up isn't to impress the neighbors or even the good folks here at hearth.com . . . the wood I cut up is destined for the firebox . . . to me my wood stacks aren't about appearing on any posters (no offense to the BioHeat folks and their cool poster) or Country magazine . . . my wood stacks are simply "heat in a heap." For that reason I don't sweat it if my wood is a few inches too short . . . as long as it fits into the firebox and stacks somewhat decent. Heck, I have a whole pile of shorts, chunks and uglies (those pieces that are crotches, crooked or are mangled as I split them) -- they may not look pretty, but once seasoned they burn fine.

To answer your original question . . . kind of, sort of . . . I don't measure my wood . . . just kind of eye ball it . . . sometimes use my 18 inch bar as a guide as I like my wood 20 inches or so long . . . most of the time the wood is pretty darn close to the right size . . . sometimes it is a bit shorter, sometimes a bit longer . . . but it's all good.

 

[maplewood]

I can't help but notice as you guys post your pictures of your lovely stacks of split wood that you manage to always have them so neatly bucked intot he exact same length. Pray tell how do you do that? I usually just use the saw bar (18") and cut a little shorter. Somehow I always end up with some @ 16", some @ 18" and everywhere in between. Always bugs the hell out of me when I am stacking and makes me feel inadequate when I see your lovely squared off stacks. I'm too embarrased to post pictures of my ramshackle stacks %-P

Do you use a jig or measuring wheel or what?

I always figured they were using Photoshop to edit their pics!
My stacks are for drying, not for looks....

 

[Wood Duck]

Onion, I do it the way you do. I try to make sure no pieces are longer than 18 inches, but I have every conceivable size and shape shorter than 18 inches. I scrounge lots of odd pieces, Ys, etc, so I get an odd piece or two for every nice straight 16 incher.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

If you look closely at this particular wood pile you can tell those are not all the same length.

With our old stove we could cut up to 21" and still fit the wood in the firebox. Not so with the Fireview which likes 16". However, we can squeeze a few 18-19" pieces in but 16" is much better. When I had the old stove I just eyeballed everything. I have only one good eye and that is not as good as it once was so now I mark before I cut. Simply put, I have a 16" stick and always have an axe handy. So, I just score the wood with the axe every 16" and then do the cutting. With some knots I'll go a little over or a little under 16". Overall, I'm not really fussy. I even cut some crooked rather than perfect angles. Especially when limbing. If I have to reach and don't cut at 90 degree angle, that's okay as it hurts nothing and sometimes saves my legs.

You might also carry a 48" stick and have it marked at 16" and 32".

 

[fossil]

^^ That (what Dennis just described) is pretty much exactly what I do. I have a 32" stick, marked in the middle at 16". I walk the log with a cute little hatchet and whack it a couple times at 16" intervals as I go. Goes really quickly, and makes for pretty consistent lengths...log willing. Rick

 

[wendell]

I have a piece of aluminum cut to 20" and use a piece of sidewalk chalk to quickly mark where I want to make my cuts. I find that doing it by eye just gives me too much variation as 20" looks a lot different on a 4" diameter limb that it does on a 38" trunk (at least to me). Plus, I believe I am the world's worst stacker so if the wood is all the same length, it makes the stack more stable so I'm definitely not doing it for looks.

The only problem is I've now got 8 cords of 20" wood and no stove to put it in. I guess I need to work on that. %-P

 

[ckarotka]

From the tip of my thumb to the tip of my middle finger when extended is about 8in.
I simply open and close my hand and walk it down the log and find an identifier like bump or rip some bark
off to mark where to cut. If I ever lose my measuring device I've got more problems than
uneven wood

 

[fossil]

From the tip of my thumb to the tip of my middle finger when extended is about 8in.
I simply open and close my hand and walk it down the log and find an identifier like bump or rip some bark
off to mark where to cut. If I ever lose my measuring device I've got more problems than
uneven wood

If I tried that with my cute little hatchet, before the end of the first log, I wouldn't have a thumb. :lol: Rick

 

[wendell]

That's the advantage of chalk. You can't cut your hand off with it.

 

[fossil]

That's the advantage of chalk. You can't cut your hand off with it.

Well...true enough. But then, the way I do it, if I used a piece of Aluminum, I wouldn't have a cute little hatchet left. :lol: Rick

 

[wendell]

Well, I had to find some use for that extra piece of weather stripping. ;-)

 

[madrone]

Stack it first, then trim off the ends on both sides.

 

[quads]

I can't help but notice as you guys post your pictures of your lovely stacks of split wood that you manage to always have them so neatly bucked into the exact same length. Pray tell how do you do that? I usually just use the saw bar (18") and cut a little shorter. Somehow I always end up with some @ 16", some @ 18" and everywhere in between. Always bugs the hell out of me when I am stacking and makes me feel inadequate when I see your lovely squared off stacks. I'm too embarrased to post pictures of my ramshackle stacks %-P

Do you use a jig or measuring wheel or what?

Don't be embarrassed to post pics of your stacks! I post pics of mine a lot and they're all different lengths, leaning, tipping over, etc. I try to cut 16" rounds, but sometimes I end up with 20" and sometimes 12"! Especially when I'm cutting a tree that is laying down in deep brush or snow, then I'm lucky if I can just get the cut straight! I don't care how even or straight my rounds and stacks look, it's all like money in the bank to me. There are more important things to me than being so precise with something that is going up in flames someday anyway!

Please, post your pics!

 

[jebatty]

If I'm cutting just a couple of logs, I follow marks on my bar at 16" (for house stove) and 18" (for Tarm gasification boiler). If many logs, then I fasten a #9 steel wire to one of the bar nuts, 90 degrees out from saw and with a downward bend on the end and the length of the pieces I want. Just move down the log, the bend stops the wire and saw at the end of the log, cut, repeat. Goes really fast, is easy, and all the pieces end up within 1/2" of each other.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

I still have a hunch that some of you guys take a long bar chainsaw to your stacks to neaten 'em up a little. %-P

The real key to having a neat stack is to back way off when using your camera. So long as you don't have a leaner, they all look good from a distance.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Or have your wife do the stacking? No! Not mine at least. She is the worst stacker.

How about sitting up a 4 x 8 piece of OSB and stacking against that for a nice neat edge at least on one side.?

 

[Jimxj2000]

Usually I carry each piece down to the basement were I trim them on the miter saw before putting them on the stacks. I have a nice jig set up for 16.75 inches. On occasion I have just trimmed them outside with the circular saw using a tape, pencil and framing square.

 

[Spikem]

I have a piece of aluminum cut to 20" and use a piece of sidewalk chalk to quickly mark where I want to make my cuts. I find that doing it by eye just gives me too much variation as 20" looks a lot different on a 4" diameter limb that it does on a 38" trunk (at least to me). Plus, I believe I am the world's worst stacker so if the wood is all the same length, it makes the stack more stable so I'm definitely not doing it for looks.

The only problem is I've now got 8 cords of 20" wood and no stove to put it in. I guess I need to work on that. %-P

I do the same (with sidewalk chalk) but with a piece of PVC pipe that's 18" in length.

I mark a bunch of lengths, buck 'em and start the process again.

 

[Captain Hornet]

I don't worry too much about my bucking to size. Just chop it up and stack it to dry. My stove well take a split 26 in long so I just throw them into the stove. I split everything by hand so where it splits is where it is. If I can get the stove door shut, I'm good to go. David