Cut rounds that are to long in half or cut to stove length with a chunk left over?

[rdust]

I'm sure this has been asked before but couldn't find a thread. I'm curious how people treat rounds that are to long for your stove but not long enough to get 2 stove length pieces. Today I finished moving a bunch of ash from my neighbors that a tree service cut at random lengths. I like using 16" lengths in my stove, it can take 18" lengths and this gives me some wiggle room. I'm thinking I will cut all the rounds to 16" and then have what's left over for the shoulder seasons when I don't need a full stove. I also find stacking easier when the lengths are all the same or close.

So would you cut to stove length(16" for me) and have chunk pieces left over or would you cut the round in half and have 2 equal sized pieces?

 

[Rockey]

Almost all of my oak, cherry, and walnut bucks come already cut from the veneer company. Thay are rejects for whatver reason, usually knots. Anywho, they all come in differnet lengths and I usually end up cutting again to proper length with lots of discs that get cut up into chunks for kindling. Seasons faster this way to.

 

[jpl1nh]

I cut chunks off too. Then I've got one nice 16" piece iand a chunk for when I'm at home or shoulder season burining instead of two 11.6218" pieces

 

[Valhalla]

Maxing out the split length will give you theoretical
max stove BTU, all else equal. Less handling too!

I have always cut for an easier and somewhat
mixed size fuel supply. This way there is a variety of
something to fill a gap or use on some milder, shorter
burns. Your choice. But... unless you cut from long logs
you will always have some shorts.

 

[rdust]

I typically cut from tree length so I don't end up with many chunks. I figured I'd ask how everyone else does it. Everyone's thinking seems to be inline with mine, cut to length and have a chunk.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It depends on how close it is to giving me 2 full lengths. If the original piece is 20 inches you can bet I'll have a chunk for shoulder seasons. If the original piece is 28" I'll have two 14 inch pieces for the top of the pile.

Matt

 

[John the Painter]

I say cut to 16 inches and have chunks for the shoulder season or if the chunks a big enough try and sell them to tourists as campfire wood.

 

[rdust]

It depends on how close it is to giving me 2 full lengths. If the original piece is 20 inches you can bet I'll have a chunk for shoulder seasons. If the original piece is 28" I'll have two 14 inch pieces for the top of the pile.

Matt

I was kinda thinking along these lines, you worded it perfect for me, thanks! I usually have a marking stick that is 16 inches, I may put a mark for 14 inches and if I can get two 14 inches I'll call it good. If I can't get two pieces at least 14 inches I'll have a 16 inch piece and a chunk. I hate trying to stack chunks but I think 14's will still stack nicely.

And yes, I'm over thinking this.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

It depends on how close it is to giving me 2 full lengths. If the original piece is 20 inches you can bet I'll have a chunk for shoulder seasons. If the original piece is 28" I'll have two 14 inch pieces for the top of the pile.

Matt

+1 on this comment, 14 inch is close enough. Also the remaining chunks can fill in the wholes if you want to really load up for an overnight burn. I stack in several methods Holt Hauzen(you can really put any size in the middle), cross stack (I put smaller pieces in the middle and the larger pieces hold the frame), or cross stack on the ends and lay parallel in the middle (odd sizes fit well in the middle). So I can always find a spot for them.

 

[Danno77]

i was wondering this myself. I have a bunch of wood i had originally cut for the fireplace, so it's longer. now the stove is installed in the fireplace I keep running across things that are a little long. I was thinking about halving them because then they'd be perfect for loading N-S. I guess the depth of your firebox might not be as shallow as mine, but I can fit 18" long rounds (but prefer 16) into mine width-wise (E-W), but it's only something like 12" or 10" deep.

 

[madrone]

I like some of both for flexibility in loading.

 

[Tony H]

It depends on how close it is to giving me 2 full lengths. If the original piece is 20 inches you can bet I'll have a chunk for shoulder seasons. If the original piece is 28" I'll have two 14 inch pieces for the top of the pile.

Matt

I was kinda thinking along these lines, you worded it perfect for me, thanks! I usually have a marking stick that is 16 inches, I may put a mark for 14 inches and if I can get two 14 inches I'll call it good. If I can't get two pieces at least 14 inches I'll have a 16 inch piece and a chunk. I hate trying to stack chunks but I think 14's will still stack nicely.

And yes, I'm over thinking this.

This is how I cut it also and I have had a ton of it because I got a bunch of wood cut to about 20-40" that has to be cut down.
I have a whole bunch of small pieces and keep a box by the boiler to throw in with each load.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We're still cutting from wood we made for our old stove. We've cut ends off and also some cut in the middle. Either way works fine for light fires. If cutting the ends off, I've found just throwing them in a box works well and then take the box to the porch so not so far to carry those little buggers.

 

[firefighterjake]

Chunks and cookies . . . I get them all the time when I cut wood and then realize later it's a bit too long . . . or more likely when I cut down 4 foot lengths in the wood to haul out and then when bucking them up end up with a regular sized piece and one too long.

It's all good . . . the chunks and cookies get thrown on top of the stack or between the stacks . . . and I use them in the shoulder season when I don't need to stuff the firebox full, on the cold winter nights when I want to get a little more wood into the firebox and those chunks and cookies fit neatly in the end of the firebox and I use them on restarts when I'm home so I can get the fire going and then add the regular sized wood on to the now nice bed of coals.

 

[Flatbedford]

I say 16" and chunk. I made a "butt box" for all my chunks. It all burns.

 

[JeffRey30747]

I start my fires using the bottom up "in between" method. When I do this, I'll prop the front split on a chunk of some sort to allow the air from the front of the stove to get directly to the fire. Because of this, I prefer the full length split and chunk option.