Do I need to split branches that 3-5" in diameter?

[Dmitry]

After cleaning my property and got a lot of small trees and branches that run from 6 to 3" or so in diameter. It's all cut to the needed length and sitting on a pallets . Don't have a lot of time to split it but will if needed. Im wondering if it's gonna dry eventually. What is your experience ? It mostly maple and birch with bark on it.

 

[billb3]

I don't bother with anything under 5 or 6 inches.

Although I've had birch rot from the center unless it was kept rather well dry or the bigger rounds split.

 

[gerry100]

I don't bother with anything under 5 or 6 inches.

Although I've had birch rot from the center unless it was kept rather well dry or the bigger rounds split.

+1 me either

If you stripe ( rip the bark lengthwise with the nose of your saw) the 3-6' birch, the bark will peel back and drying will be improved

 

[Paulywalnut]

If you need well seasoned wood, I'd split 4 and 5 inch. They will dry much quicker

 

[bag of hammers]

I don't lose sleep over these but I will split some of the 5 or 6" pieces if I'm outside farting around at the wood pile. You can split the 6" birch with one hand almost as fast as you can stand them up, it's almost no effort. As mentioned the white birch can get punky pretty fast so you have to keep the unsplit round high and dry. But IMHO they can wait until the bigger stuff is out of the way.

 

[kennyp2339]

if I'm outside farting around at the wood pile

Man you got some tough rules over there, you can only fart by your wood pile?

 

[Riff]

Generally I don't bother with anything 4" and under, though sometimes I'll split a 6" piece if I want to mix in some smaller pieces for starting a fire.

 

[fespo]

3" and bigger I split

 

[BigCountryNY]

If it's larger than my wrist in diameter, I split it.

 

[Woody Stover]

With small rounds like that, I sometimes try to crack them with a maul so air can get in the split, but I try to leave the round intact.

 

[blades]

I run them through my band saw, faster than the hydro, and less wear and tear on me than swinging and axe or maul. 2-3 inch even with no bark can still retain too much moisture for quite awhile.

 

[Poindexter]

Sealed up birch will rot, at least the varieties I can get up here. If I am felling I take everything down to about 1" in diameter.

I stripe (or zip, or unzip) my small rounds as above while they are still on the tree so I can run the saw with both hands and not need a third hand or a saw buck or whatever else to hold the fool things still.

In my experience 1-2" diameter birch rounds with the bark stripped open will dry in one season. 2-3" diameter birch will dry in two years with the bark zipped open, but usually have some fungus on it. Over 3" I split.

I haven't fooled with maple in many years. I find if I treat everything like birch it all gets dry.

 

[Fred Wright]

Soft maple rounds 3" and under will cure well without splitting in a year. Any larger than that, I split 'em.

Small stuff like this is great for fire starting.

 

[Snotrocket]

I would split the birch. It will rot instead of drying.

The rest I would just let it dry as is.

 

[Dix]

I'm a fan of rounds for stuffing the stoves for over nights when it's brutal outside.

5" - 6" is the limit for splitting, and I usually go 50 - 50 on that.

Anything smaller than 5", just gets cut to length.

They will dry, and pretty quickly at that size.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I don't bother with anything under 5 or 6 inches.

Although I've had birch rot from the center unless it was kept rather well dry or the bigger rounds split.

Same here. It gets dry the same time as the splits.

 

[Poindexter]

Same here. It gets dry the same time as the splits.

I am not doubting y'all about maple, but birch will rot if the circumferential bark is undisturbed.

 

[Poindexter]

I found the thread where I did a memory dump of what I have learned about birch.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/im-gonna-burn-a-lot-of-birch.132184/

Somewhere in my wood pile is an 8" round that I zipped two summers ago..when I find it I'll bump the thread linked above.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I am not doubting y'all about maple, but birch will rot if the circumferential bark is undisturbed.

I've never burned birch, so have no clue, but this I know: If I have to split the bark on every small round to keep it from rotting, it's going on the burn pile. I can't waste that kind of time.

 

[iamlucky13]

Our county has outlawed outdoor burning. So depending where on my property I am, I might find it easier to cut branches, etc to stove size than drag them to my out of sight brush pile or chipping them, since my chipper doesn't handle anything larger than 1" very easily. Tedious, yes, but it's part of cleaning up.

I was shocked to hear 2 year old maple sticks sputtering and see bubbles forming on the ends when thrown in the stove.

So now I figure if I'm bothering to stack it, I split it, regardless of size. Fortunately, the really small pieces can be split with a hatchet, so it's not much effort.

 

[bag of hammers]

I was shocked to hear 2 year old maple sticks sputtering and see bubbles forming on the ends when thrown in.

Yeah. Have had that happen a couple times.

Fortunately, the really small pieces can be split with a hatchet, so it's not much effort.

No worse than busting up kindling, easy and quick (and actually it is good kindling)...

 

[Knots]

I like rounds, but I let them season a lot longer...

 

[CenterTree]

With small rounds like that, I sometimes try to crack them with a maul so air can get in the split, but I try to leave the round intact.

Hey, that's MY trick too.

 

[BIGDADDY]

I don't split the small stuff in life, oh wait that's sweat the small stuff. Never mind

 

[Frank625]

I usually split anything above 4" in diameter