Max length for Fireveiw?

[Flatbedford]

I will be installing either a Woodstock Fireveiw or Keystone this summer. I scored a bunch of free cut wood. I'm going to start splitting and stacking it tomorrow. The Woodstock specs say 16" max length. I have read here that 18" will fit. Woodstock owners please share your knowledge. Some of the rounds I'm getting are kinda long and I'd rather cut them now, when splitting than next winter when I'm burning. What is a good length? Can I go a little long with them? I have to decide if I'm gonna have some 12" or so wood or some 16"-18" with a bunch of little cut offs to burn in the little stove we use outside in the summer.

 

[Bobbin]

It drives my husband nuts that I frequently reject splits that are over 18" long. You can squeeze longer pcs. in but it takes some jockeying and it's a pain to do it. I like 16" splits best. It's easy to load the stove and move them around to get a nice fire built and have the door close easily. Nothing coaxes profanity from my mouth faster than splits that make closing the door difficult... unless it's a toilet seat left up in the wee hours.

 

[fossil]

Steve, I don't have experience with either of those stoves, so I'm by no means a source of definitive information. What I can say is that my little Century shop stove will theoretically take an 18" split. While it might be possible to finagle one in, it would be awkward at best when reloading a hot stove. The door opening is 15" wide, so anything longer than that has to start in catawampus, and with a fire burning in there, I don't wanna be playing Tetris with a hunk of wood that's going to start burning on the far end any second. I cut to 16"-17" and rarely have a problem. Our big Lopi Liberty in the house could take 24", but there again, the door opening is not as wide as the inside of the firebox, and anything longer than about 18" can be awkward sometimes. Since I don't want to have to store two different lengths of wood for the stoves, pretty much everything is ~16". Easier for the wife to handle, too. Occasionally I have a big gnarly that just ain't gonna go into the little stove, and ain't gonna get split or cut, so I set it aside for the big stove. Rick

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We do burn some up to 19" and maybe a little more. Some say 20" is not problem, however, in order to fit the 19" & 20" pieces they have to be dead center and above the bottom of the fire door. 16-17" fit nicely in the bottom and sides with no problem.

All in all, it is better to have 16" pieces and then the only fitting you have to do is to fit them so as to load the firebox with no other fiddling around. The only reason we burn some longer logs is that our previous stove would take up to 21" logs. Though I did not cut any over 20" for that stove, I do have quite a few around 18-19" so I'll burn them. I'll be glad though when we're all done with them. Naturally when I sell some or give some away, it is the longer stuff I get rid of. lol All the new cutting is 16" or less.

 

[Flatbedford]

Problem is my Craig's List Score is already cut and some of them look a little long. I guess I'll do some trimming with the splitting. What do you all think is better, 2 @ 12" or one at around 17" and a 5" cut off for the little outdoor stove?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Steve, either size would be just fine but I'd probably go for the 2 @ 12." You no doubt will have other wood the right length so you can burn the short logs in Spring or Fall or even during the daytime in winter. Keep the regular size for nights during winter. If you choose to go with the 5", then you could load the stove with the logs in sideways which also would work nicely. Either way I doubt that you have a serious problem.

Good luck and you will love that Woodstock stove. I'd hate to be without our Fireview now that we've had it for 2 years.

 

[Highbeam]

My last CL score was long wood. I faced the same decision and decided to cut the oversized lengths into 18" and then a 4" drop. My firewood stacks are much more stable with all of the wood being the same size and I found that the little 4" chunks were great for campfires and even loading into the stove in the early season. I would rather have one goofy split, the 4", than 2 goofy 12" splits.

 

[Bobbin]

Another vote for the 2 @ 12". The whole thing about wood stoves is making it as easy as possible to deal with the wood and load the stove. If the firewood is predicatably the same length (thereabouts) it's easier to stack, put in the log carrier for the tote indoors, and put into the stove. "No fuss, no muss"; and trust me, if your wife or girlfriend is going to be a woodstove operator she will appreciate this. I echo the caution the from Fossil that screwing around with marginally too big splits has the potential to be dangerous. Why set yourself up for that sort of headache? Burning wood shouldn't be a chore, it should be fun and rewarding. Trust me on this.

 

[Flatbedford]

I got started yesterday. I made a jig on my saw horse to cut them to about 16". I get one 16" and one 2"-4" leftover. Those little chunks will be good for the outside stove this summer, or as filler this winter. So far, most of them have needed a trim. The good news is that this wood is already nicely dried Cherry and Black Locust. Nice dense stuff.