How small of wood do you split?

[Ken45]

Splitting wood helps it season faster. I used to just split stuff to so that it would fit into the stove conveniently, but now I realize that good seasoning requires smaller pieces to be split.

But how small of pieces is it worth splitting? 4" diameter? 3"? 2"

Ken

 

[burntime]

All different sizes, I do a variety so that I can tailor the wood to match the heating needs.

 

[stanleyjohn]

I split in half no smaller than 3" diameter and split 4 ways at 5 to 7". I also agree with Burntime!!

 

[brooktrout]

Here's how I do it- one large round, say, 18" in diameter, gets split like this- one quarter (overnighter), four eighths, four sixteenths. In the long run, this ends up with a pretty good proportion of splits for using in startups, normal day fires, and overnight burns. Most of the ash gets split smaller, and the maple gets split larger. So I might just quarter a nice knotty maple chunk, but sixteenth a clean ash round. I use the ash for warmer days w/smaller fires.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I split in several sizes. Use the bigger splits to hold fire longer and the smaller ones during daytime. Nice to have a variety. I surely would not want all the wood split small. Even though you can stack it into the stove better, the fire will not last as long and will be a hotter fire.

 

[savageactor7]

With our old non EPA stove we used big splits. The guy that sold us our Quadra fire 4300 said it would burn at max efficiency with smaller splits. So that's what I've been doing the last 7-10 days or so splitting next years wood into small splits. Seems to take forever to make any production but I'm going to give it a shot to see if there is a difference.

The way it was explained ...sure bigger splits will hold a fire longer but you can load up the stove more with smaller splits then just back off your primary air and still burn hot but for a longer period. So volume wise smaller splits in theory will burn longer, truthfully... I dunno. But I'm willing to give this theory a shot unless a couple of you experienced EPA phase II burners tell me otherwise from your experience.

Honestly....I think it's criminal the way I've been splitting down this prime wood.

PS I've only had this EPA phase II stove for about 50 days so I'm still on the learning curve.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

My theory is not based on anything except experience and my experience says larger blocks of wood will hold a fire longer and smaller blocks will burn hotter, therefore, not as long. Also, when cutting back on the draft you definitely want to make certain you have good seasoned wood. It sounds like you will be all set for next winter. Good luck on your experiment.

 

[savageactor7]

^ hey that's my experience too...bigger is better. It isn't easy on my mind doing this smaller splits but truthfully I never bought in to the efficiency claims of these new stoves till I got one...and they are amazing.

I guess doing these smaller splits ...is like an act of faith in some ways. 'they' say it will burn better so I'll give it a shot.

thanks backwoods savage.

 

[Ken45]

That's not really the quesiton I'm asking. Sure, I understand splitting the large pieces. But what do I do with the smaller branches and trees (4", 3", 2"). Is it worth splitting the smaller stuff so that it seasons better, or leave it whole with the bark on, which will slow down the seasoning.

Ken

 

[savageactor7]

No I don't split limbs that small^

 

[begreen]

3" and below, I never split. If it's 4" - 6" in diameter I split it in half to assist drying.

 

[fossil]

I split generally 3 sizes...small for kindling (if I find a nice stright-grained split that behaves well, I'll take that whole thing down to about 1" sticks and fill a plastic bucket full), medium (2"-3" across) for stacking atop the kindling when setting up a fire, and large (anywhere from 4"-10" across) for the majority of the wood I burn. A half-round from a 10" diameter round might go right into the stack, much bigger than that I'll likely at least quarter it. BeGreen's rule of thumb sounds pretty much like my tendency, anything smaller than about 3" diameter just goes into the stack as is. It gets downright scary sometimes to try and split something that small. If I have to hold it with one hand and split with the other, I want to be making kindling with a hatchet rather than splitting with an axe. Rick

 

[Carl]

I don't split much under 4 inch. It is small enough that it should dry very well without splitting. I think the larger the
mass of wood in one chunk, the longer it will take for all the interior moisture to dissipate from it. As others have said,
a good mix works well. I have a smaller 1.45 firebox so anything much over 6 inches won't fit into the stove very well.

The wood I am splitting this year is being slabbed so I can get them into the stove better. I found that quarter splits
just don't stack in my stove well since they stick up too high and I can only get one layer in. With the slabbed splits
about 2-3 inches thick I can get a double layer in which should work for me.

I don't think you need to worry much about smaller pieces drying in one summer. Small mass to them so they can pass
the moisture quickly.

 

[colebrookman]

3" and below, I never split. If it's 4" - 6" in diameter I split it in half to assist drying.

I split similar to BeGreen except as the day goes on and my back starts hurting the splits seem to grow larger and larger. Happens every year.

 

[RedRanger]

3" and below, I never split. If it's 4" - 6" in diameter I split it in half to assist drying.

I split similar to BeGreen except as the day goes on and my back starts hurting the splits seem to grow larger and larger. Happens every year.

Will second both of the above,sometimes regretting the latter when the larger splits are hissing instead of burning nicely during the winter. :coolgrin:

 

[Bill]

I notice some of you make very small splits. I know they would dry faster and would be great for getting a hot fast fire. But for overnight burns I like larger splits. Why do some split so small then?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Smokey, it is probably more to do with firebox size. For instance, I am now splitting my wood smaller after installing the new stove. With the old stove I could put some pretty big stuff in, but the newer firebox is smaller, so, I split smaller now. Heck, I even have to cut some of my wood again because the new stove likes 16" where the old one could take 20" with ease. I also agree with you about larger logs holding the fires longer. Not sure why some disagree with that.

 

[TMonter]

I burn full 10" rounds in my Quad 3100i when I want long burns, and the rest of the time I burn mostly quarter rounds from 16-24 inch wood. I do have a stacked arrangement of smaller splits and kindling for starting a fresh fire.