Split Size Research

[ckdeuce]

Did a search, but did not find what I was looking for.

What size splits do you normally use?

 

[burleymike]

During the day I use the smaller stuff, during the night I use some logs 5-8" diameter and my biggest splits up to 10" tall and 20" long. I like to use the largest splits at night that I have. Since I already got my wood this year for my old stove then bought this one my wood is cut a little short. Next year I am going to cut them longer and split them a little bigger.

 

[shawneyboy]

I generally use a mix of big an small with most reloads. Biggest and best for overnight. My avg split is probably 6 inches or so at big end. I do have some as large as 8-10 inches, but my box is over 3 cubic feet so I can get some monsters in there,

EDIT ***** Just noticed you have a Mansfield as well... I let that big mouth of a stove, take some very very big bites !!

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

I have to agree with the responses. I use varied sizes during the day and save the monster splits and large rounds for ther overnight.

 

[rdust]

I try to split no bigger than the wedge on my splitter which is 6-7 inches. I may occasional split bigger but not often. My stove is only 2.2 cubic feet so that limits me a bit. The firebox is square 18x18 so 5-6 inch pieces work pretty good with the smaller stuff filing the gaps. For hot fires I load smaller stuff, overnights I usually load the bigger splits and use the smaller stuff to fill the gaps. A round that is the size of the wedge gets split in half, a little bigger it may get quartered, big rounds get split into squares or rectangles since I can load the stove best with those for overnights. Rounds with 4-6 inch diameters get tossed on the pile, some in the 6 inch range will get split though depending on how I feel.

I'm only two years in so I still find my splitting strategy changing as I learn what the stove likes better.

 

[NH_Wood]

I have a good mix of split size. I'll have a better feel for which sizes work well for different time after the first season in under my belt. I'm quickly finding that lots of small splits are great for the shoulder season (faster, hotter fire with poorer draft) and lots of good sized splits and rounds for when the weather gets very cold. It'll likely depend on species as well - I've found that I split red oak a little smaller that some other wood (most other woods) because I worry about the splits not seasoning well. But, now at I'm working on wood for the winter of 2014/2015, I'm even splitting the red oak quite large - nearly four years until the wood will see fire, so I'm looking forward to nicely seasoned, large oak splits for the overnights. Cheers!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

What size other folks use in their stoves might not have much in common with your stove. Just remember, the larger splits will hold the fire longer while the smaller ones will burn a bit hotter and shorter time.

Also remember that if you save rounds and make your splits large, they will need a bit of extra time to season properly. If you have the 2-3 year wood supply on hand, then it is a non-issue.