Have u ever restacked from log cabin style to "regular?" How much less wood?

"Larger splits" <- At first I split everything to near toothpicks. Now I split everything that I cannot palm like a basketball while holding the end. I have average sized hands. Should I be keep some splits every larger than that?

I am not going to pull out and restack what I think is oak already in my piles, but if it is "wet" I'll put it off to the Oak pile as I burn next year. This last load is all "pin oak" I am told, and I'll stack that separately.

yea that stuff looks super green in those pics like a few days old max after cut!! But i split all different sizes, the size u describe is good to get it to dry faster or if you have a small stove but if you leaving it 2-3 years out to dry or depending upon species i would split some 2x that size to use in different occasions like long overnight burns or a fast burning wood like pine i split huge to slow the burn down adn decrease surface area to flame.

It absolutely is fresh cut. I can see water coming out the end if I mash the ax in there poorly.

I'm not just referring to which rounds to split, but also with the dimension you split larger rounds to. You could split a 14 inch round into 4 splits or alternatively into 8 splits. Choose to split some of the larger rounds into larger splits. Someone who burns oak should chime in, but I expect that with the time it takes oak to split that you would be well off to split any oak more than about 6 inches in diameter at least into half. This will give slightly greater surface area for evaporation. Maple, beech, pine you can probably get away with only splitting stuff over 8 inches.

I split all rounds over about 5". Rounds burn slower anyway. I do like bigger splits though, up to about 8" in max width. Max size will also depend on the stove you end up with.

I'm shooting for a Blaze King Princess Insert. Advertised 16in split length, but I read reports of 18in after u clear the firebricks... not sure.

I've read that it's best to stick to the 16" length for the Princess. I've also read that split size doesn't matter as much with that stove. Never burned one myself. You may want to keep them smaller for now until you get ahead because they will dry faster and the BK's really do need dry wood.

he's more worried about getting bark on the rug. He will be the one getting killed

Most definitely separate the oak. Save that too until mid winter when the weather really does turn cold. Don't burn it when it is only 20 degrees. Wait until it gets cold. And if you need the wood sooner, then by all means, split it small, stack it loose and make sure it gets lots of wind.

As for size of splits, a lot depends upon the size of your stove. But at least one large split or round in the stove at night will help keep the fire longer. To us, any split that measures 6" is a big split. We don't go any larger than that.

A

As a rookie, that 3 year seasoned stuff is so far off. Bummer. This is my first year. I have mostly oak, but am mixing half oak and ash in my burns. I will burn 3 cords this year. I will have one left for next. I need to process 3 chords very soon for next year and 3 more soon after for the following year to have to 3 chords of two year. That means I need to process another 3 later this year to have that ready 3 seasons from now! I need to do 9 chords this year. And all I use is a 4' bucksaw and a maul. I'm either gonna be ripped or die!

9 chords can make some beautiful music.