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  1. Machria Minister of Fire

    joined: Nov 6, 2012
    857 posts
    Brookhaven, Long Island
    After bucking and splitting a BUNCH of sandy wood, and alot more to go.. I have this huge pile (huge to me!) of oddball chuncks, cookies from shortening rounds which were too long, knuckles that would not split nice.... so what do you guys do with them?

    I know I can and WILL burn them, they burn great! But how do you stack them, just leave in a big ugly pile or what?
    #1

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  2. velvetfoot Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 5, 2005
    4,863 posts
    Sand Lake, NY
    I put in a a couple of piles, but then I had this spread out cone shape with a bunch of stuff in contact (in comparison to the entire pile) with the ground. I tried fencing one pile in with some deer netting, but it got too free-form and unmanagable. Maybe if I drove in posts and attached the netting to that. I moved it all into the garage now, in, like, 10 plastic garbage cans-if they could be ventilated somehow without getting wet, that might be a way to store it. I store the splitter scrap like that, and if I put it in dry, it stays that way.
  3. jeff_t Minister of Fire

    joined: Sep 14, 2008
    2,718 posts
    SE MI
    I just picked up 4-5 cords from friends that had some trees cut out of their yard. The tree service chunked it up in pieces they could deal with, so after it's all cut to length, I'll have a rather large pile myself. And then all the knotty uglies. My plan is to pile it on pallets behind the garage. It's on the south side and otherwise wide open, so I'll just let it bake in the sun for a couple of years. I have the space to do it, though.
  4. Jags Super Moderator

    joined: Aug 2, 2006
    11,514 posts
    Northern Illinois
    4 pallets. One for ground, the other three for walls and toss the junk in there.
    Bacffin and jeff_t like this.
  5. firefighterjake Minister of Fire

    joined: Jul 22, 2008
    13,526 posts
    Unity/Bangor, Maine
    1) Build a holz miete and toss 'em in the middle
    2) Build a traditional stack and toss them on top . . . and if you top cover throw a few on top to hold down the covering
    3) Throw down a pallet and put sides on it with other pallets and toss in the middle
    midwestcoast likes this.
  6. midwestcoast Minister of Fire

    joined: Oct 9, 2009
    1,409 posts
    NW Indiana
    The middle of a Holtz Hausen can hold a LOT of ugly chunks. That style of stack won't dry as fast as a single stack, but if you're stocked-up for a few years from Sandy that shouldn't be a problem.
  7. nate379 Minister of Fire

    joined: Sep 21, 2010
    4,055 posts
    Palmer, Alaska
    I throw in a pallet bin and use for campfire/burn barrel wood.
  8. suprz Member

    joined: Sep 24, 2012
    195 posts
    Rhode island
    Pile them up and burn them in the firepit come summer
    AJS56 likes this.
  9. bogydave Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 4, 2009
    7,988 posts
    So Cent ALASKA
    Lots of good ideas.
    I semi stack/pile them on pallets
    & use for the fire pit & 1 off fires in the stove in shoulder season.

    5-2012.JPG
  10. Thistle Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 16, 2010
    3,937 posts
    Central IA
    Odd chunks,uglies,short/broken stubs,offcuts/milling scrap etc is the first stuff I burn every Fall & usually have a little left for the few random 'mild' days in January through March.
    JOHN BOY likes this.
  11. PapaDave Minister of Fire

    I don't get a lot of it, but the stuff I do get goes on top of the stacks. Usually gets burned first part of the season.
    Some of the really gnarly pine I had is going into the fire pit.
    AJS56 likes this.
  12. velvetfoot Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 5, 2005
    4,863 posts
    Sand Lake, NY
    I was overly focused this year on 16" length splits which might have produced more odd lengths that I should have.
  13. timusp40 Burning Hunk

    joined: Feb 3, 2010
    232 posts
    Lake Orion, Michigan
    Cookie Box
    DSCF2910.JPG
    NH_Wood, firebroad, Curly and 9 others like this.
  14. Boom Stick Feeling the Heat

    joined: Oct 26, 2011
    283 posts
    Capital Region, NY
    I love/hate all those odd pieces. They burn great but can be a pain dealing with. I like that bin.
  15. Backwoods Savage Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 14, 2007
    24,500 posts
    Michigan
    I use a lot of them to throw on top of the piles to hold down the covering. They eventually get burned in spring or fall.
    AJS56 likes this.
  16. red oak Minister of Fire

    joined: Sep 7, 2011
    616 posts
    northwest Virginia
    I pile them up and they are my campfire pieces through the summer and fall. I also put some softwood in this stack also (pine, cedar, poplar, etc). Anything I don't burn in the campfire is the first to burn in October/November. I like using these pieces on the campfire and knowing that my "best" wood is saved for winter.
    AJS56 likes this.
  17. velvetfoot Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 5, 2005
    4,863 posts
    Sand Lake, NY
    But you still have to move them inside, to a shed, etc.
  18. tymbee New Member

    joined: Dec 2, 2011
    57 posts
    Upstate NY
    Save them for campfire wood to burn in the firepit during warmer months.

  19. JOHN BOY Member

    joined: Sep 20, 2012
    232 posts
    Western Mountains ,NC
    They ae left to season and then they get burned in the stove...;)
  20. Blue2ndaries Minister of Fire

    joined: Oct 17, 2011
    620 posts
    Oregon
    I pile them on a couple of pallets and use them for the outdoor firepit, camping, and shoulder season.
  21. Hearth Mistress Minister of Fire

    joined: Jan 24, 2012
    611 posts
    Point Pleasant, PA (SE PA)
    We use them on days early/late in the season when it's too chilly to go without fire but too warm to go blast furnace hot all day. I also throw them in sometimes in the AM if we have a great bed of coals just to burn them up since we don't have outdoor pits (may have to think about adding one though)The stacks aren't pretty we pile them up on a pallet and throw a tarp over them, not every pile will be pretty and perfect, I just had to get over the wood pile OCD and accept that!
    AJS56 and OldLumberKid like this.
  22. I love the knotty misshapen pieces. Sometimes, they are just right when you don't want to jam the box full.
    Thistle, AJS56 and OldLumberKid like this.
  23. OhioBurner© Minister of Fire

    joined: Aug 20, 2010
    686 posts
    Central Ohio
    I put them on the top of all the stacks, and its the first stuff I burn in. If I have more than that allows I just throw em in a pile in the corner of the porch.
    AJS56 likes this.
  24. weatherguy Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 20, 2009
    2,717 posts
    Central Mass
    Scrounging wod from tree services like you just did will yield a lot of cookies and chunks, I build two pallet bins as has been stated a couple times already in the thread. The nice thing about the cookies is they season quick, I tested some oak cookies (3-4 inches thick) with my moisture meter and they're already down to 20% after one year of seasoning, I seasoned them by laying them across the top of my stacks and threw them in the bins in the fall.
  25. b33p3r Feeling the Heat

    joined: Jan 29, 2008
    253 posts
    NE Pa
    I throw them on top of the daytime feedings. Overnight I fill with nicely formed splits.
    AJS56 likes this.

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