How to make wood "Splits"

[pcs2011]

I have a large stack of kindling ready for next winter. It is all oak which we split with a log splitter. Ave size is about 2" x 1-1/2" x 16".

I am getting a new wood stove this year and have been reading on how to start a fire. Many of the posts refer to "splits", but I'm not sure what they are and what size they should be.

Can someone explain what they are and best way to make them; or refer me to a website that covers this.

Thanks in advance,
Pete

 

[Todd]

When you fell a tree you cut it up or "buck it" into rounds, those rounds are "split" into various sizes for your stove. The size of your splits can vary according to how large the fire box is. My smaller stove likes 2-5" diameter splits, some larger stoves can take larger. I'd say a good average is 3-6" diameter.

 

[begreen]

Welcome to wood heat Pete. The length and radius of the splits depends on the the stove and the stage of the fire burning. For starters, kindling is the way to go. Some like to burn the kindling fire on a few smaller splits. As the kindling burns down it ignites the splits, (aka top-down fire starting). Larger splits get added as the fire and coal bed gets hot. Then, for long burns you don't want to use small splits. I often am burning 8-9" splits in the dead of winter. So the best plan is to have a variety of sizes, the largest based on the capacity of the stove.

For an idea of what I am describing, take a look at this video on the bottom of the page labeled "Efficient Wood Stove Operation":
http://www.woodheat.org/wood-heat-videos.html

 

[Woody Stover]

I have a large stack of kindling ready for next winter. It is all oak which we split with a log splitter. Ave size is about 2" x 1-1/2" x 16".

Oak is known here as the slowest-drying wood. Do you know what kind of Oak it is? Splitting small will help it to dry faster. Do you have a different wood for your main fuel (larger splits) or are you splitting the Oak for that, also?
BTW, welcome to the boards, sc!

 

[pcs2011]

I have a large stack of kindling ready for next winter. It is all oak which we split with a log splitter. Ave size is about 2" x 1-1/2" x 16".

Oak is known here as the slowest-drying wood. Do you know what kind of Oak it is? Splitting small will help it to dry faster. Do you have a different wood for your main fuel (larger splits) or are you splitting the Oak for that, also?
BTW, welcome to the boards, sc!

Hi Woody; thanks for the reply.

We burn mostly red oak and white oak. Both for kindling and main fuel...

I guess I'm not understanding what a split is. I thought it was pieces of small kindling used to start a burn. From your reply it sounds that a split is split logs that we use for the main fire once the kindling has caught.

Still learning!!
Pete

 

[shawneyboy]

You got it, a split is used for main fuel. Some split small pieces that can be used as kindling. but usually when we refer to splits we mean the main fuel.

Shawn

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

You can split your Oak very thin for kindling but it would be better to use a less dense wood for kindling. Sometimes you can go to a construction site and get scrap wood that works great for kindling. The best kindling around here are cedar shakes that people actually use on their roof. Not a great idea to use kindling for your roof shingles.

 

[fossil]

"Splits" has no specific definition in terms of firewood...other than the fact that splis are the result of splitting rounds bucked from a tree trunk or branch. Splits can be any size you want them to be. Kindling is nothing more mysterious than really small splits. The size you choose to make your splits depends on the stove you're going to feed, and also on the type of wood and who's going to be handling it. Generally, I'd say that most folks starting with a round 12" in diameter would split it in half, and then into quarters. I like having a variety of sizes in my stacks. Pic attached is of splits of Oak and Madrone...sorry there's nothing in the pic to give a sense of scale, but the splits are generally about (roughly) 6"-8" inches on a side. Kindling is nothing more than splits that have been repeatedly re-split until the splits are down to a size where you want them to be. Rick

 

[laynes69]

+1 on the less dense woods for kindling. We use lathe boards from the remodeling of our home. They are pine and bone dry, which almost light from a match. Oak works, but seems to take longer to really take off. Hands down cottonwood, pine, poplar etc. work much better. As far as splits I don't want them any bigger than I can grab with one hand. With our old woodfurnace, I burned mostly rounds. Now that we run a EPA furnace, splits work much better and season quicker than rounds.

 

[cptoneleg]

here are some splits, Oak splits that I will burn in 2 to 3 yrs they were split in may this yr.

 

[Elderthewelder]

"Splits" has no specific definition in terms of firewood...other than the fact that splis are the result of splitting rounds bucked from a tree trunk or branch. Splits can be any size you want them to be. Kindling is nothing more mysterious than really small splits. The size you choose to make your splits depends on the stove you're going to feed, and also on the type of wood and who's going to be handling it. Generally, I'd say that most folks starting with a round 12" in diameter would split it in half, and then into quarters. I like having a variety of sizes in my stacks. Pic attached is of splits of Oak and Madrone...sorry there's nothing in the pic to give a sense of scale, but the splits are generally about (roughly) 6"-8" inches on a side. Kindling is nothing more than splits that have been repeatedly re-split until the splits are down to a size where you want them to be. Rick

Where did you get the primo hardwood out there in eastern Oregon?? Thought you were strictly a soft wood burner

 

[fossil]

...Where did you get the primo hardwood out there in eastern Oregon?? Thought you were strictly a soft wood burner

True, for the most part, Elder. But a couple years ago I came across an ad on Bend Craig's List for 2 cords of split & seasoned (which it was) Oak & Madrone from over by Eugene. A young woman living here in Bend talked her dad (longtime wood hauler/firewood dealer) into letting her list this offer, as an incentive to get her dad and mom to come visit her. It worked. He brought it over the mountains in a big diesel dually pulling a trailer. The daughter was here with him to help him unload. He gave me a couple of long rounds of Yew, as well. I paid a premium price for it, but that kind of wood is very rare over here, because of the expense and hassle of bringing it over the Cascades from where it grows. I've been very careful how I've used it, but only have about 1/3 cord remaining at this point. Other than that rare opportunity, you're absolutely correct...Lodgepole Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Western Larch, Juniper are the species most readily available to me. Rick

BTW, I think I'm gonna slide this thread on over into the Wood Shed.

 

[smokinj]

Here's how I would split it!

 

[weatherguy]

Here's how I would split it!

Thats not a big split, this is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOfqSbsccPg

 

[fossil]

Here's how I would split it!

That's Paul Bunyan's kindling. Does he know you took it? If not, you may be seeing an enormous Blue Ox real soon. :ahhh:

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum scwoodman.

We too make kindling with the wood splitter. It is sort of fun doing it too. We usually use soft maple for the kindling because it lights very easy and burns fast and hot which helps the other wood get started nicely.

One other thing we started doing is using Super Cedars. If you keep watch on this forum, quite often Thomas, the fellow who makes them will offer a free sample. If he does, be sure you get yours as these things really are handy.

One thing that does concern me is your oak. Around here we will not burn oak until it has been split and stacked for 3 years. That is because oak releases its moisture very, very slowly. Especially in today's newer stoves we need good dry wood and not marginal stuff. That is why we give it that length of time to dry. However, even before we had our present stove, we still gave our oak 3 years to dry. Otherwise, the stuff sizzles in the stove and you get creosote too.

What will happen if you give that wood a long time to dry is that you will get more heat from the wood and less or no creosote. As for clean burning, we have had our present stove 4 full winters now and have cleaned our chimney one time and even then we could have easily waited as we got only about a cup of soot and no creosote.

You will find it best to speed the drying of the oak to stack it in single rows and also split it small. Stack it out where it will get lots of wind for the fastest drying. Don't cover it either. In fall or early winter then cover only the top of the stacks.

Perhaps your best bet is to get some other dry wood and then just mix in some oak.


This is why we always recommend having 2-3 years of wood on hand at all times. Then your wood has time to dry nicely and if something should happen that you can not cut some wood some year, you have a good cushion to fall back on.

Good luck.

 

[Wood Duck]

Pete,
You already have splits - the kindling you decribe is small splits of oak. I call any wood that has been split into pieces along the its length a split. The term split doesn't imply anything about the size of the split, there are large and small ones. If firewood isn't split I call it a round. If it isn't cut to the right length for a stove, it is a log. If it is still growing it is a tree. It sounds like you already know everything about splits except the terminology.

I like to have kindling that includes a lot of short length splits so that I can criss-cross the kindling when I build a fire. For me that means length less than 10 inches.