to split or not to split............

[pict]

Hey all,
well, I'm splitting and stacking all the wood i gathered after the ice storm at the start of the year, and I've a load of small diameter oak. My question to you wise woodmen is: is it ok to leave logs of maybe 6-7 inches whole and burn them like that?

 

[cmonSTART]

I split everything I can. It makes them dry much better. I've never had good luck burning rounds well. They seem to hold moisture a looooooong time.

 

[scfa99]

depends on how long you are going to dry them. I split everything under 4" in diameter.

 

[gerry100]

If you plan to burn it this year you need to split it and get it under cover to dry.

If it's next seasons wood, I'd just cover it.

 

[iceman]

depends on how long you are going to dry them. I split everything under 4" in diameter.

so do you split stuff over 4" in diameter........lol
me too everything about 4-6 inches or more gets split....unless i am not going to burn it this year then i will hold some round in the 8-12 and let them sit for a good year or 2 they burn great and long when dry......this years stuff everything got split

 

[elmoleaf]

I split 'em only so they fit in the stove. If a round fits in the stove, then it stays unsplit.
If I owned a hydraulic splitter, then I'd split 'em all.

 

[iceman]

I split 'em only so they fit in the stove. If a round fits in the stove, then it stays unsplit.
If I owned a hydraulic splitter, then I'd split 'em all.

very good point

 

[johnsopi]

I'm 2-3 year a head so I only spilt what i have to. 8" and over.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

If you have enough wood so you can let it season, larger pieces of wood will hold fires longer.

 

[billb3]

If ALL my pieces were 6 inches, I'd probably split a little over 1/3 of them in half.
I have a small stove.
Even with a huge open fireplace I would want some 8 inch pieces, but not a lot.
I don't think I'd get an 8 inch log to burn completely overnight in my stove. 6 inches would, but I wouldn't put one in on the first fire of the day with a cold stove.

 

[the_dude]

I split pretty much everthing. I do like to have splits of all different sizes. Sometimes I tend to be a tinkerer, and like to tend a fire pretty regular. I do keep larger stuff if I don't/can't tend often.

 

[stanleyjohn]

If its 4" and up i split!Split wood seems to burn better than nonsplit!even when very dry.This may seem crazy!but is there any scientific proof that rounded uncut pieces of wood dont burn as good as jagged split wood.

 

[Gator eye]

I split every thing over 6 inches................


The old lady has a hard time carrying anything bigger than that........lol

 

[Jags]

If its 4" and up i split!Split wood seems to burn better than nonsplit!even when very dry.This may seem crazy!but is there any scientific proof that rounded uncut pieces of wood dont burn as good as jagged split wood.

Yep, its called surface area. The more area (split) the more fire.

 

[savageactor7]

With our newer stove I split everything a little smaller, now we can load the stove fuller without banging the tubes on top. With a fully loaded stove with smaller splits we can 'low burn' more effectively and not smolder...like turning the knob on a gas stove. Only problem is you have to keep a close eye on the primary air for about 10-20 min or so so you can lock it down when it just the way you want it. Anyway now we split 3" rounds.

Last winter after we got the new EPA stove I was hand splitting already split wood and I found it to be a bit hassle hand splitting for smaller splits. Sure it's easy to hit the bigger rounds...not so easy for me once they get smaller and you're specifically trying to produce a certain sized split.

Sure the bigger splits will work fine when you in and about your house and can replace them but when your away for 8-10 hrs I think you'll get more bang out of smaller splits loaded to the max mostly cause I think you can load more wood in...anyway that's our experience.

 

[woodconvert]

I split 'em only so they fit in the stove. If a round fits in the stove, then it stays unsplit.

I try to keep a bunch of 8" - 9" dia stuff in the pile. They make good "overnighters".

 

[Henz]

split them for sure

 

[RedRanger]

I keep about 10% of my rounds that are 6 inches or less for longer burns. Probably easier for me to do than most of you that burn hardwood. A piece of unsplit douglas fir is nice and dry after only 7 months. The quick drying time is one of the "very few" advantages of burning strictly softwood :coolgrin: