How big is your wood?

[Vermontster]

if your thinking that question is about anything other than FIREWOOD, get your mind outta the gutter!

Ok, so I always plan on 16 inch, long but often I get some that are longer, and thats handy - you can lean them up over the new fire. Sometimes you get those chunks too, like 8 inch long, they are a pain, I don't like burning them (well, actually, I will burn anything made of wood) they don't stack in the stove well, or in the wood pile.

Then next is splitting, I sometimes experience "splitters high" and find myself making 2x4's and 2x3's which, I always think, these will be real dry, they'll burn hot and if I am home at night, I'll just keep feeding the fire, then Late night I throw in the knotty suckers my "splitters high" couldn't make into 2x4's - and hope they go the night.

so is this what you guys do? do you ever find yourself a splitting maniac? or is this a good theory?

 

[Harley]

Well - sometimes I get a little crazy with the splitting and end up with sone smaller splits in the pile. I like to make a good mix of sizes so I have of larger ones for overnight burns, and some smaller sizes for getting the fire up and running again in the morning and when I get home from work.

- and glad you clarified the thread title....

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

Since I boguht my Oslo in Sept 04 and my brother-in-law (FlashMan) bought his Firelight in 06, We have been cutting our lengths to 20 inches. We get our wood by the grapple load and have a easy way to mark our cuts. We use a piece of wood strapping 60 inches long and I put a drywall screw at 20" and 40". I run down 3-4 trunks a mark them with spray paint 20/40/60. Then I just hack away and cut.
I save all my caps, chunks and scraps and burn'em before the real cold weather kicks in.

 

[MrGriz]

I try to cut most of my wood to 16" - 18" in length. Of course I do save the odd short chunks or really twisted pieces for early and late season.

when splitting I try to create a good mix of sizes. Small splits for re-lighting in the morning and larger chunks or rounds for all day or overnight burns.

 

[fbelec]

i find myself making the splits to big. but with the bark removed and shrinkage they are usually
ok. the smaller stuff is good on the all night stuff the stove loads. they fit into the air pockets that the big stuff can't and makes for a nice tight fire box full of fuel.

 

[velvetfoot]

I have also found that with the wrong wood if you try to go small you'll get more waste.

 

[Corey]

ARRGH - another one of those trick posts.

I usually go 20-22" - I figure the less cutting the better.

Wait - We're talking about stove wood, right?

 

[jpl1nh]

I try to cut most of my wood to 16" - 18" in length. Of course I do save the odd short chunks or really twisted pieces for early and late season.

when splitting I try to create a good mix of sizes. Small splits for re-lighting in the morning and larger chunks or rounds for all day or overnight burns.

By my driveway I have my "premium" shed for the cold weather. . Its filled with almost pure hardwood, black locust, oak, sugar maple, apple, ash, and yeah some (ugh) silver maple mixed in. (it was free!!) It's a mix of hardwoods though and sizes like Griz. If i'm unsure about splitting it further, I don't. I keep an ax by the shed so when I'm going to use it, if it's still too big I can split it. Much of the season I pull my wood from my covered wood piles in the wood. I have a fall pile of smaller, softer stuff on top mixxing more and more with large harder stuff towards the bottom. I have a midwinter pile of mostly larger and harder stuff, then I have a spring pile stacked the opposite of the fall pile. those piles are all a real mix of sizes AND types of wood including red and white pine, red and white oak, red maple, hickory, hemlock, some elm, poplar, black, yellow, and white birch, a bit of hornbeam, some witch hazel, and a bit of ash and beech. I have about 15 cords of this type of mix all of which is collected standing or lying dead. Tends to be smaller stuff in the 2-4" range but works great when I'm around to keep feeding the stove. ;-)

 

[njtomatoguy]

I recently hit the wood jackpot, and had to make a decision- The wood I got was short enough to fit in the splitter, but to long for the stove. I started bringing stuff into the house to see how it would fit, like a dry run. I kept the easy to split stuff long(sycamore and gum) and the oak I sawed in half. I found it more productive to leave it long now, and I have a chopsaw to cut it in half next year, when it is seasoned, as I use my carport as a worshop. The chopsaw is always set up, i have a rubbermaid container under the sawhorses for pallets and 2x4 starter wood, and when I'm done Sizing it down to where it needs to be, I grab the blower to clean up the mess. Seems to work for me, since the longer stuff is easier to stack.

I'll see if I can take some pics.

Bob

 

[njtomatoguy]

Pics of the long stuff and the short pile with the cheater block on the RYOBI

 

[PA. Woodsman]

18"lengths, give or take an inch or so. I try to keep things uniform.

 

[chad3]

I cut with a 20" saw so I just run down the tree with the bar being my guide. On other saws, we have 20 and 22 marked on the side of the saw with marker. Easy way to make them the correct size. Seems to make the quickest work without the extra tools.
chad

 

[DiscoInferno]

That's what she said! Oh, nevermind...

I have about every length from about 21" down to 6", as it mostly comes pre-cut by a tree service (often to 22-24", which I have to further cut down). My stove can take 18" side-side in the back, 21" side-side in the front, and up to 16" front-back. I much prefer front-back loading, less reaching all the way in and I think it burns better, so anything under 16" goes front-back.

 

[got wood?]

Once on the internet I saw...never mind

I've got 2 stoves...one takes 18" and the other 24".......so the lowest common denominator wins. Managing two different lengths is too much of a hassle for me...sooo lazy and surly

 

[jpl1nh]

If I make a fist, the distance from my elbow to the end of my fist is about 16". After cutting lots of wood, I can eyeball 16" pretty well though I still check about every 8-10 cuts anyway using my arm and fist. If I have a 9' log for example, i eyeball halfway, cut, then eyeball thirds for each piece giving me 6 pieces of 17-18". Everyonce in a while I just get too long for my stove on a few pieces so I generally cut em in half next time I have the saw going and now they're too short %-P but at least now they fit in.

 

[Gooserider]

My future Encore is rated for 20" splits, which means it really should use about 18" or so. I try to cut 16-19" but will burn anything. If it's over about 19.5" I put it in my "QA reject" pile which will eventually get cut to length next time I get going with the saw. I have a rack that I made which holds a bunch of splits lined up on one end, and I just cut down the other end. This gives me lots of little chunks, but I feel like I'm better off with one "standard length" split and a chunk than w/ two short peices.

Anything that is over about 12" goes on the piles in the woodsheds, or the overflow piles on the pallets next to them. The chunks, big bark fragments, and anything under about 12" goes into a couple of "chunk boxes" that I've made from pallets and scrap plywood (salvaged shipping containers from the same places I got the pallets) The splits range from thumb size up to about 5"x 5" and about the same range for the chunks. I probably have at least a cord to a cord and a half of chunks, by the time I get them all packed I may have over two cords - they include the bits from cutting down my left over wood from last season as the Encore will burn smaller than the old stove did, the odd chunks from splitting up gnarly logs, and all the extra tag end bits from cutting logs to stove length.

I figure the chunks are for intermediate kindling, "shoulder season" intermittent burns, save the splits for the cold weather.

Gooserider