How small is to small?

[TradEddie]

I’m sure this has been asked before, but a search for “small rounds” returns almost every thread ever posted. Where is the cutoff point between the firewood stack and the brush pile? Does this depend on species, heat content, or seasoning times of unsplit rounds? Primarily asking about maple, hickory, oak and poplar. Is any of it worth the effort or should everything too small to split just be kept for the campfire?

TE

 

[Waulie]

It really depends. I definitely keep everything 3" and up, but I've been know to stack up "rounds" even smaller than that. Hey, it all burns. Also, you don't have to split rounds.

 

[firefighterjake]

I think I'm pretty frugal . . . I usually take anything 2 inches or larger . . . unless it's a pain to cut up due to excessive amounts of branches.

 

[WhitePine]

I've got some stuff that's 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 inches diameter. It's super dry and burns well. I kept it because it was free, dry, and right by my old house. Now that I have a new house, splitter and about a gazillion trees around me, I will probably not stack much of anything less than 2 1/2 - 3 inches. Anything above that will get split first to hasten drying.

You do what's best for you.

 

[TimJ]

It depends on species and condition. If it is a good dry hardwood with little or no smaller branches to clean off. 1 1/2" diameter will work just fine.

 

[schlot]

2" to 3" roughly.

 

[LLigetfa]

It comes down to hassle factor and diminishing returns. Too gnarly or too many side branches and it stays in the bush. That said, more than 90% of the wood I burn is trucked in so someone else makes that decision for most of it.

 

[Boog]

Since I sell most of bigger trunks, I want to get everything I can out of the tops. I cut them down to 1.5 inch or so, sometimes smaller if its nice hard stuff. I'm not selling this little stuff, its just for personal use. The rest goes for wildlife brushpiles "elevated up off the ground" a bit in the center so critters can get under them

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It depends on if the wife is helping or not. If alone, usually I won't take anything less than about 3" but she hates to waste wood... For sure though if the limbs are crooked, they stay in the woods. Not worth messing with and hard to stack.

One can also consider their time. You can but a whale of a lot more wood cutting larger wood than you can smaller. It is the same with the trees. We have lots of dead ash to clean up yet and have naturally left the smallest trees for last. It simply takes longer to make a wood stack out of small trees. So, each has to consider if it is worth the time and the extra wear and tear on saw and body.

 

[Jack Straw]

Around 2"....

 

[bogydave]

I cut in a state cutting area, required to take everything 5" & up.
Sometimes I take 3" & up but usually 4" & split it all, (birch)
Time, effort, efficiency comes into play way out.

If at home or close 1" & up, great outside fire pit wood

 

[TradEddie]

Fire pit is what I was thinking too, of course I have to build that first ...
After Hurricane Sandy I have many long straight maple branches, and it seems a shame to waste them. I've used some of them to keep the big rounds off the ground while I prepare more storage space.

TE

 

[red oak]

Nothing wrong with straight branches - good for firestarter and usually dry fast. Keeping larger pieces off the ground is a good use for them as well.

 

[ansehnlich1]

I normally cut 2 in. stuff and larger.....depends how tired I am when I'm at it.

 

[Realstone]

If I would rather cut it off with the lopping shears than fart around cutting it with the chainsaw, it goes into the fire pit.