Burning unsplit rounds for longer overnight burns?

[7acres]

I saw someone on here recommend leaving some wood in the rounds for long overnight burns. That would decrease surface area for sure. But an EPA stove stacked to the brim with smallish splits (tons of surface area) but with the oxygen cut down to low wouldn't allow all that surface area to be engulfed anyway, right? Can you shed some light on why large splits or un-split rounds give people good heat and better burn times?

 

[Dix]

Those rounds have mega BTU's. I use them on the coldest days / nights, usually packed to the back if loading e / w, buried in the coal bed if loading N / S for the PE, E / W in the 13. I'll squeeze in some at the top, if I need to pack the fire box for maximum heat output for the longest time.

Once those splits have fired off and are burning down is when the heat output from the rounds continues, due to being a denser mass. More coals in the fire box ='s longer heat output.

 

[BrotherBart]

Less surface area is the key. My favorite night load in the 30-NC is five 16-18" rounds loaded N/S. With an EPA non-cat stove you can't choke most of them down enough to control a firebox stuffed with small dry splits.

 

[7acres]

Awesome. What's the diameter of the rounds you like and how many years have those rounds been seasoned before you'd burn them?

 

[STIHLY DAN]

5 16"-18" rounds is a crap load of wood. I thought only OWB's ate that size wood.

 

[BrotherBart]

5 16"-18" rounds is a crap load of wood. I thought only OWB's ate that size wood.

15"-18" long. Not diameter.

Five to six inch diameter. All of my wood is three years or more on the stacks before I burn it.

 

[Dix]

Rounds are usually seasoned 2 + years around here, single stacked on pallets, then moved into position during the fall for the coming seasons burning. Last year, I hadpractically none. I was not happy about that

Length varies from 12" - 18". Depending on the branch / log. Most of my rounds come from firewood cut here. My prince of a firewood guy does not do rounds.

 

[BSH1F]

Rounds are nice for having coals when you wake up to and throw a log on and poof! Makes my day right of the bat. I have an englander i purchased at home depot 2 years ago. I can put up to 21" and the wood is right on front of the glass. I think my opening is 12x16, and it drops down an inch in about 3 inches and my only air inlet is right on the middle front 2 inches up facing in. I get the coals level with the bottom of the door (about 3") I dig a little trench from the hole the the back and wiggle that sucker in there and open the damper and full air until it catches then shut it down and I get 8 hours of burn time, I've gotten 10 before! I'll post pics eventually because it's hard to explain

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

What if the rounds are 30% MC and you don't even know it?

Just sayin........

 

[BSH1F]

I think the slightly higher moisture is what helps it burn all night, i know it basically smolders all night.

 

[BrotherBart]

What if the rounds are 30% MC and you don't even know it?

If I pick up an 18" 30% round I am gonna know it.

Just sayin...

 

[BSH1F]

Yea, you can tell which ones are better than others by weight, sadly i have 6 cords of oak some 30% some 20% and it's a mixed stack (don't ask) so I'm playing the weighing game with each peice and checking every 10th peice with my meter to make sure I'm still on lol

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah. The beauty of having that lil electric splitter in the breezeway now is if a round is suspect it quickly becomes two splits and a measurement is taken.

 

[BSH1F]

Yeah. The beauty of having that lil electric splitter in the breezeway now is if a round is suspect it quickly becomes two splits and a measurement is taken.

Man, that's nice

 

[Dix]

If I pick up an 18" 30% round I am gonna know it.

Just sayin...

You know when you pick it up, if it's gonna burn, or not. You just know, with years, time, and seasoning.

 

[BrotherBart]

Man, that's nice

Nicer for that one perfect split you need to fit in the stove for the night load. No more stomping out into rain or snow to try to split one while the stove is sitting in there taking off.

 

[BCC_Burner]

I try to avoid burning rounds, as I don't like the way they burn and they take too long to season properly. I have split far too many 6-10 inch rounds that have been bucked for years and are still 30+% MC to want them going in my stove. I make some large square splits and will half-split medium sized rounds, but everything that is large enough in diameter to stand up on the splitting block gets split.

 

[iceman]

Yeah. The beauty of having that lil electric splitter in the breezeway now is if a round is suspect it quickly becomes two splits and a measurement is taken.

BB, that should be a must for everyone-- it saves a lot of headaches, gives you the ability to make kindling without leaving porch! My electric splitter only runs in the winter- spring/summer it gets put a away so the 28 ton can get a work out!

 

[NordicSplitter]

I usually save at least 30-45 rounds that I refer to as "all nighters"...Roughly 16-20" long and at least 10-14" in diameter. I get about 10-12 hours out each one provided I have a great bed of coals. Shut the damper down to about 2 or 3....and then its nighty night

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I burn rounds all the time. I burn mostly beetle kill Lodgepole pine, and the trees I cut are pre-seasoned, meaning the wood in the trees is <20% MC before I drop them. And as the name suggests the trees are like long poles, generally no more than 22" wide at the base, tapering straight up 50 feet or so, like a pole. Consequently I end up with a lot of smaller rounds from the top portion of the tree that don't need to be split,and the top portion of the tree is actually the driest so there is no worry about the rounds being too wet to burn.
The door on my stove is 8" wide, so any rounds I cut less than 7" wide we don't bother splitting, and we burn a lot of them. They burn OK, but rounds still tend to have a lot of surface area in the stove. I find I can get even longer burn times from larger rounds where I split off the round edges off of the larger rounds to make square 7" blocks, and I'm able to stack them in the stove tighter, thus reducing the exposed surface area. These square split blocks give me longer burns then the rounds.
Also the rounds still have the bark which contains a lot of resins and burns quickly, so if I load my hot stove with rounds I get a lot of off gassing for a while that needs to be monitored otherwise I can get an over fire situation. This isn't a problem with the square split rounds.

I do sometimes burn rounds from other types of trees that were not so seasoned and yes, the higher MC slows the burn times down despite the extra surface area.