How Small (Diameter) is Too Small To Burn??

[thephotohound]

I know if I've see it once, I've seen a million times: Any free wood is good wood.

With that said, there's got to be a diameter of wood that's just too small to burn effectively / isn't worth my time. I've got some 1" diameter stuff, some 2" diameter stuff, etc. that someone dropped off for me. I've heard from someone locally that anything less than 3" or so in diameter will rot before it effectively seasons, as you can't split it. Just like life, though, everything in moderation, right? (except, of course, for wood piles)... I figured I'd cut it up with a chop saw, and mix it in with the bigger splits... it's hardwood... it's free (and delivered)... why not?! But on a going-forward basis, what do you guys usually do with the branches? Keep cutting until you're down to an inch or so (in diameter, not length), or do you give up earlier, and simply leave the branches? I'd be interested to hear feedback...

 

[burntime]

Keep the toothpicks. Anything worth picking up is worth burning. I would rather have something with a 4 inch diameter or larger but the small stuff is great for getting it going again in the morning.

 

[BrotherBart]

Keep the toothpicks. Anything worth picking up is worth burning. I would rather have something with a 4 inch diameter or larger but the small stuff is great for getting it going again in the morning.

And for when you really, really intended to get that nightly coal bed going earlier and you look at the clock and it is already ten-thirty+.

Or maybe everybody else is more disciplined at this stuff than me.

 

[begreen]

I save it all. Makes great kindling, and jumpstart material for balky fires and wood that isn't perfectly dried.

 

[Eric Johnson]

As a practical matter, I usually stop at 2 or 3 inches when cutting in the woods. It's just not worth going any smaller. However, if somebody drops some on your doorstep, why not?

As BB suggested, it's always a good idea to have a wide variety of sizes available. I've even been known to custom split pieces specifically to fit in the nooks and crannies of the firebox on those nights when it's way below zero.

 

[Highbeam]

I leave the branches and the tops once they get smaller than about two inches. Softwood of course. The process for me is to drop the tree, walk the trunk limbing, and then lop off the top. Hook up to tractor and skid the trunk to the processing area. Several trunks stacked up and then spend the time bucking and splitting. It takes too long and too risky with regards to getting your saw in the dirt not to mention the small diameter chunks are more likely to be kicked away by the saw.

 

[jpl1nh]

I always think a mix of sizes is good. Small burns fast and hot. Sometimes that's good. Highbeam's right on about it being a lot of trouble for not much return. I guess it depends to on how available wood is for you. If your scrounging, its all good. Like I said to my wife the other night "honey, small wood is better than no wood" :red:

 

[saichele]

Realistically, I stop around 2". but if someone dropped it in my backyard cut and clean, I'd probably stack it. In my case, I'm clearing an urban lot, so I drop the tree, limb it, and anything the chipper will take goes in the chipper. Anything else gets cut and stacked. I don't have a lot of other disposal alternatives (can;t even have a bonfire legally).

Steve

 

[nshif]

Anything less than say 1-2" goes in the slash pile to be burned. Anything above that goes to the wood pile. great for starting a fire from dead cold or just a " take the chill off fire " And if its free and deleivered why not burn it.

 

[BrotherBart]

I salt the stacks with small pieces as I go along. There are those nights in late January where it is a blessing to come across a couple of those little pieces when you are out there lugging in some splits. Of course some of you guys that dry your wood to the point it is dangerous to smoke near it don't have to worry about that stuff. Open the door, toss a split in and leap behind the couch to keep from getting singed.

I bet that Eric tosses some of those big chunks in from halfway across the barn.

 

[Eric Johnson]

That's a pretty good description of the reloading process, BB.

For a cold start, I fill the firebox with wood, then stand back and toss in a lit match. You gotta be quick about closing the door, or the whole place goes up in flames.

January in Virginia is probably about like a warm April up here.

 

[BrotherBart]

January in Virginia is probably about like a warm April up here.

That is why I am as far North as this Texas boy is ever going to live. Of course when winter gets here my tune will change just like it always does. When the freeze today, turn to slop tomorrow cycle starts and goes on and on and on I wish it would just freeze and stay there.

Heating with wood here is a groan because of the temp shifts. Last winter was the worst nightmare ever. Went through as much wood as usual but too hot too many times. New stoves were part of it but weird high temps played in it a lot too.

We got one of your winters one year in the 90's. A guy at work went out to go to work and all four tires on his Nissan Maxima were flat. The alloy wheels had shrunk and broken the beads and let the air out of all four it was so cold. I laid in bed at night and listened to the loud thunks from the aluminum gutters contracting. Plowed the driveway at one in the morning at 2 degrees.

Old Brownie was cranking for all she was worth (surface temp 1,000+*) and it was still cold in this joint. I don't need anymore of that stuff. You guys can have it.

 

[wg_bent]

Interesting subject in a way... The other day I was burning some pieces of brush in the back yard in my makeshift pizza oven. It's really not a good pizza oven but it is a hell of a good brush burner. peices of wood up to about 2" can be broken in half on my knee easily or cracked on a near by stump, and into the oven they go.... Then I start thinking... That is a hell of a big stack of brush I have there... I'd be able to heat the house for a couple weeks on that pile... Of course I'd need to add a piece of wood to the Osburn once every 5 minutes. A whole load of that would melt it.

But in the oven... who cares. if it cracks.. I have more pavers I can use.

I think the min size that seems worth it is anything that you can split once. I'd say around 3"

Otherwise it's kindling, and I don't really use all that much kindling in a year.

 

[kevinlp]

I made a kindling "box" by using a pallot and screwing 1x2 on each corner and then wrapping green plastic fencing around the four posts to make a 4x4x4 box to fill with kindling. The trees in our yard drop many branches and I had a huge pile of branches from previous years. Pencil size stuff to 1-2" diameter. That box is full plus more still piled on the group that I will use for quick fires during the shoulder months.

 

[Eric Johnson]

January in Virginia is probably about like a warm April up here.

That is why I am as far North as this Texas boy is ever going to live. Of course when winter gets here my tune will change just like it always does. When the freeze today, turn to slop tomorrow cycle starts and goes on and on and on I wish it would just freeze and stay there.

Heating with wood here is a groan because of the temp shifts. Last winter was the worst nightmare ever. Went through as much wood as usual but too hot too many times. New stoves were part of it but weird high temps played in it a lot too.

We got one of your winters one year in the 90's. A guy at work went out to go to work and all four tires on his Nissan Maxima were flat. The alloy wheels had shrunk and broken the beads and let the air out of all four it was so cold. I laid in bed at night and listened to the loud thunks from the aluminum gutters contracting. Plowed the driveway at one in the morning at 2 degrees.

Old Brownie was cranking for all she was worth (surface temp 1,000+*) and it was still cold in this joint. I don't need anymore of that stuff. You guys can have it.

One time when it was 40 below, I boiled a pan of water on the stove and then got the kids away from the TV long enough to demonstrate what happens when you toss a boiling pan of water out into -40 temps. It kind of explodes. Neat. Another time a colleague came back from a trip to Japan and gave me a liter of Sapparo beer in an aluminum bottle with a screw-on cap. After I finished the beer, the kids and I heated the vessel up on the gas range, put the cap on tight, and tossed it out into the cold. Pretty cool implosion. We're talking redneck Mr. Science, here.

Before I had the luxury of a garage, it was pretty entertaining to take the battery out of our Mazda 626 every night when it was cold, so that we could get to work the next morning. One morning it was so cold out that the pressure in the propane tank disappeared. No morning coffee that day.

So now you know what you're missing, BB.

 

[BrotherBart]

One time when it was 40 below, I boiled a pan of water on the stove and then got the kids away from the TV long enough to demonstrate what happens when you toss a boiling pan of water out into -40 temps. It kind of explodes. Neat. Another time a colleague came back from a trip to Japan and gave me a liter of Sapparo beer in an aluminum bottle with a screw-on cap. After I finished the beer, the kids and I heated the vessel up on the gas range, put the cap on tight, and tossed it out into the cold. Pretty cool implosion. We're talking redneck Mr. Science, here.

Before I had the luxury of a garage, it was pretty entertaining to take the battery out of our Mazda 626 every night when it was cold, so that we could get to work the next morning. One morning it was so cold out that the pressure in the propane tank disappeared. No morning coffee that day.

So now you know what you're missing, BB.

Get that new boiler installed and working! NOW!

 

[wg_bent]

January in Virginia is probably about like a warm April up here.

That is why I am as far North as this Texas boy is ever going to live. Of course when winter gets here my tune will change just like it always does. When the freeze today, turn to slop tomorrow cycle starts and goes on and on and on I wish it would just freeze and stay there.

Heating with wood here is a groan because of the temp shifts. Last winter was the worst nightmare ever. Went through as much wood as usual but too hot too many times. New stoves were part of it but weird high temps played in it a lot too.

We got one of your winters one year in the 90's. A guy at work went out to go to work and all four tires on his Nissan Maxima were flat. The alloy wheels had shrunk and broken the beads and let the air out of all four it was so cold. I laid in bed at night and listened to the loud thunks from the aluminum gutters contracting. Plowed the driveway at one in the morning at 2 degrees.

Old Brownie was cranking for all she was worth (surface temp 1,000+*) and it was still cold in this joint. I don't need anymore of that stuff. You guys can have it.

One time when it was 40 below, I boiled a pan of water on the stove and then got the kids away from the TV long enough to demonstrate what happens when you toss a boiling pan of water out into -40 temps. It kind of explodes. Neat. Another time a colleague came back from a trip to Japan and gave me a liter of Sapparo beer in an aluminum bottle with a screw-on cap. After I finished the beer, the kids and I heated the vessel up on the gas range, put the cap on tight, and tossed it out into the cold. Pretty cool implosion. We're talking redneck Mr. Science, here.

Before I had the luxury of a garage, it was pretty entertaining to take the battery out of our Mazda 626 every night when it was cold, so that we could get to work the next morning. One morning it was so cold out that the pressure in the propane tank disappeared. No morning coffee that day.

So now you know what you're missing, BB.

I've heard of people in Minnesota entertaining themselves that way too. I went to college in Plattsburgh, and had similar stories. One day one of the guys I shared an apartment with was using a propane torch to defrost the kitchen sink. It seemed sort of normal at the time.

 

[bcnu]

Kevin, I see a wood burning term that's new to me. What are the shoulder months? Hope it's not a typo because it sounds intriguing.

 

[begreen]

fall and spring months when you're not heating full time.

 

[colsmith]

We burn almost any size. We keep the small stuff in those wired together boxes made of THIN wood that corn on the cob comes in. When splitting we put small splintered pieces in, or when lopping smaller branches we put those in. When the box is full, we close the wire latch and add the box to the stack. We use those mainly for kindling when restarting fires in the morning, but if we get too many boxes piled up we stick a few pieces in whenever. Wood is wood and it all burns and makes heat. We do have a chipper shredder now (thanks, sis!) so probably will be chipping more of the really scrawny branches in the future.

 

[kevinlp]

bcnu, begreen hit it right on the head

 

[Shane]

Sold stoves for 8 years and never heard the term "shoulder months". Maybe it's because here it's hot or it's cold. Learn something new everyday from this forum.

 

[bcnu]

So, if the cool months are "shoulder" what do you call the really cold months?

 

[jpl1nh]

So, if the cool months are "shoulder" what do you call the really cold months?

Winter

 

[n6crv]

Hibernation!