How big a round before you should split?
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LLigetfa
Minister of Fire
I split most everything down to 2" that's easy to split. They dry faster, stack better, make better kin'lin, and tend not to roll up against the glass in the stove.
The size of the round depends on how tired I am while splitting it. I find that the more tired I am, the bigger the rounds. However, all rounds must fit inside the stove.
Matt
Matt
Thistle
Minister of Fire
Most everything under 5" I leave whole,with the exception of those that are wetter than usual.5"-6" gets split in half,larger than that 3 or more pieces depending on diameter.I keep a few 7"-8" rounds for the coldest nights or when I'm gone more than 8-9 hrs at work or elsewhere.Occasionally 3"-4" rounds get split in half if they're wet,that dont happen often though.
NH_Wood
Minister of Fire
fire_man said:
Disagree here - I have lots of 3" round of white birch in the stack > 2 years old (top covered) and doing fine. Cheers!
babzog
Member
NH_Wood said:
Agreed. My white birch does fine so long as it's covered. Leave it in the open however, and she'll be a punk star in no time.
mdocod
Burning Hunk
I think climate needs to be considered as a major factor here. I have a fair bit of pine rounds in the 3-7" diameter range here that have all dried out in piles around the property just fine over the years they have been sitting. They have not been covered, and the vast majority has no rot. The climate here would be considered "semi-arid" with very dry air most of the time. The only rotted stuff is at the bottom in the dirt, which I toss in our compost pile for the garden and green house. I know lots of people are very against letting wood sit on the ground- IMO, the bottom of the pile represents fertile compost that can be used to make food which is every bit as important as heat. Rotted wood is a wonderful addition to growing soil.
Today I was leveling some ground between some trees to set up some wood storage "stands" to get wood stacked up neatly closer to the house. I ran across what must have been the bottom of a wood pile between those same trees--- someone must have put that wood there before I moved in. Very heavily composted, busting up into little chunks as I pried it out of the ground, obviously lots of prior insect activity. I took many wheelbarrow loads of nice compost down to the garden with that.
Today I was leveling some ground between some trees to set up some wood storage "stands" to get wood stacked up neatly closer to the house. I ran across what must have been the bottom of a wood pile between those same trees--- someone must have put that wood there before I moved in. Very heavily composted, busting up into little chunks as I pried it out of the ground, obviously lots of prior insect activity. I took many wheelbarrow loads of nice compost down to the garden with that.
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