Short splits

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mass_burner

Minister of Fire
Sep 24, 2013
2,645
SE Mass
When filling my shed (soon to be covered), I came across a good chunk of oak splits in my racks that were ~10" long. I opted to not include them as I had longer splits to store.

Do you put short splits in your covered, seasoned storage area?
 
Toss them on top . . . sometimes I stack a few in between stacks if there is a big enough space . . . but usually they go on top with the other chunks and uglies.
 
Yup, spread 'em along the top, use 'em to weigh down woodpile covers.

We got a pickup load of shorts dropped off last month by a tree company we work with. The owner said his customer for short wood had ordered it but wasn't able to pay for it. He didn't want to take it back, unload it and reload it later so he stopped here to see if we wanted it.

Some of the splits are under a foot long. But you know me... any wood is firewood. If it comes here, it burns. :)
 
Stack em on top to dry and when you go to move your wood to burn put them in a bin or tote and use them for shoulder burning when high heat or long burns aren't needed. Or for anytime you are around to reload more often.
 
I mix 'em into the stack sometimes. Stack a couple of similar height long ways, and stack regular lengths over the top. As mentioned, I've also made a bin for shorts and uglies out of pallets or woven fence, if I have too many to mix into the regular stack.
 
Has anyone bulit a rack specifically for shorties? I going to have a lot after splitting all my short rounds and my existing racks will fall if I stack 5' of shorties.
 
as above, spread them out along the top, or if they give me too much grief, stack them on the pile for outside fires.
Outside fires? Whatcha talkin bout willis? Shorties are good for NS in my smaller stove, they're just 16" splits cut in half.
 
Two shorts = one long in the wood pile. But once there on my side deck, waiting to go into the stove I separate them. Most of the time they get used for the start up reloads. We call them the "chunky monkey" pieces.
 
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Maybe I'm odd (actually I know I am), but I use them to my advantage in the stacks. I have a long time to dry, so my stacks are 3-4 rows wide. The shorts are nice to stagger things up so that I can lap splits across the rows. Just like brickwork. It holds the whole lot together quite well.
 
Outside fires? Whatcha talkin bout willis? Shorties are good for NS in my smaller stove, they're just 16" splits cut in half.

Haha....I have a rule when it comes to processing wood. If it is too much like hard work, I thrown it on the pile for bon fires or for the fire pit.....so anything that is too hard to split, or too wonky to stack, i waste no time on it.
 
Haha....I have a rule when it comes to processing wood. If it is too much like hard work, I thrown it on the pile for bon fires or for the fire pit.....so anything that is too hard to split, or too wonky to stack, i waste no time on it.
I would agree, but what I have is boatload of straight shorts. They would stack well if I could find the right design.
 
I have a small shed that I just randomly toss wood into from the doorway, in a pile. It gets real hot inside in the summer and so far no problem with drying and no problem trying to stack odd shapes, crotches and short cut offs. Minimum effort.
 
I keep the shorts for the 13, stack & season as usual.

I also toss them with the uglies on a few pallets, and keep them for fall / spring shoulder season. I don't top cover, just "let it flow".
 
Do you think this will work?
uploadfromtaptalk1437094672973.jpguploadfromtaptalk1437094678890.jpg
 
That design to me looks like it will be top heavy and tip over. But if you can make it work, it would definitely look interesting.
 
That design to me looks like it will be top heavy and tip over. But if you can make it work, it would definitely look interesting.
Well, it's up to 5', and surprisingly sturdy. It does have another full rack in front and some trees/bushes behind to block the stroner gusts.
 
Has anyone bulit a rack specifically for shorties? I going to have a lot after splitting all my short rounds and my existing racks will fall if I stack 5' of shorties.
I have 3 pallets together in an L shape, left side of the pic. I have long curb pins through some 3' chain link fence behind 2 sides, works ok for me
image.jpg
 
2 ten inch long splits becomes one 20 inch long split in my stack.
Sticks out a bit on one end or the other.
 
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Well, it's up to 5', and surprisingly sturdy. It does have another full rack in front and some trees/bushes behind to block the stroner gusts.
It fell over. Cinder block didn't break, just tell over. It really didn't hold that much anyway. Back to the drawing board. I'm adding an additional ugly bin, so I'll throw the shorter pieces in there.
 
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