Drying kindling

[laxin213]

Hi guys,

I'll take a plastic bin and place it under my hydraulic splitter. It will catch small pieces off of splits that make nice kindling. The thing is drying those pieces. I figured I could just dry it in the same bins I was catching them in, but I'm seeing moisture collect at the bottom of the bins. I have like 10 bins of small pieces off the splitter and a couple bins of other assorted scraps from my woodshop (but those are dry, or were until I mixed these splitter fragments with them)

Do you guys just let these small pieces hit the ground? I thought they'd make easy kindling. How to efficiently dry them? I've got them spread out on a tarp in this lean to that was on the land when I bought the house it's all I can think of . But this is just my woodshop scraps I have a lot of splitter pieces too...

Just spreading them out on a tarp - or taking a clothes hamper from the wife's laundry Arsenal. Hope she doesn't notice.

 

[TheAardvark]

At least the last owner left you a pre built wood shed! I put kindling in a cardboard box. Its a breatheable container. You could buy some cheap laundry baskets from the dollar store too.

 

[claydogg84]

I leave all the scraps outside in a pile and bring them inside as I need them. They tend to be small enough to dry rather quickly.

 

[firefighterjake]

Chunks (those small pieces from splitting or from the end of a bucked up tree that are shorter than normal) either get tossed on top of my wood stack or I toss them between the two stacks on the pallets. Usually I burn them up in the Fall along with my punks (partially punky wood that is dried out) and uglies (crooked or mangled wood) and junk (pine, poplar and other lower BTU wood).

 

[Riff]

We have some wood storage racks in the basement from when the house used to have a wood stove hooked up to the central heat as a backup (previous owner burned coal in it and wrecked it). Since they're nicely slatted and let air through I use those to store the smaller pieces.

 

[Fred Wright]

Splitter scraps are excellent kindling. We've been storing it in plastic trash barrels in the garage with the lids left off and use it the following year. Seems to dry well in there. Dog food sacks work, too.

 

[mwhitnee]

Splitter scraps are excellent kindling. We've been storing it in plastic trash barrels in the garage with the lids left off and use it the following year. Seems to dry well in there. Dog food sacks work, too.

I put my splitting pieces in plastic bins after splitting in the summer and let them roast for about a week outside in the hot sun uncovered. Covered them when it was going to rain. Then put most of the bins on the second floor of my barn where it is hot and dry.

What I see in your picture is kindling that is slightly chunky and probably a little difficult to dry without summer heat. You could always put the next fires kindling near the stove so it will dry out.

Here is my kindling if I did it right. https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/20150821_161843-jpg.160721/

 

[crater22]

No expert by far, but I usually take the plastic bins and drill and zillon holes(small) in the sides and the bottom, Place them in the sun when no rain is expected . It really helps in drying the kindling.

 

[Applesister]

I store pinecones in old feed sacks, chunks in large plastic garbage cans and cardboard boxes and metal garbage cans for slivers. You can use paper leaf bags.
I spread the slivers out on top of my tin roofing (the corrugated galvanized tin) and let them bake all summer. Store cardboard boxes and paper bags in a hot dry place.
Also you can take an old screen door and dry slivers on 2 sawhorses.
I have a tin tub I keep near stove with "seasoning" scraps for fire.
Oh...also bushel baskets.

 

[Paulywalnut]

I find that even the little splits and tiny chunks from under the splitter still take a summer to season.
I do like most and leave them in a trash can for a year or so. If you split a lot like I do you have a whole lot of kindling.

 

[Dix]

I have 6 milk crates,6 cracked muck buckets from the barn, and a couple of garbage cans that have seen better days with cracked bottoms. Fill 'em up every year.

The garbage cans get tilted on their sides, which really helps drying time for kindling.

The milk crates I rotate, and that stuff dries fast

The muck buckets are my last resort, and I usually cover them with a tarp, and appreciate the splitter trash in the spring

 

[bboulier]

I leave them covered on the top stacks and then bring them in and put them in a plastic bin or metal trash can. They dry very quickly if split small.