At what point is a limb too small to bother splitting? Generally I'll split anything less than 3", but it seems like a 3"branch dries a lot slower than a 3"proper split. Or am I imagining that?
How thin to not split?
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Kenster
Minister of Fire
nola mike said:
A three inch round will dry slower than a similar size split because it has a lot less inside surface exposed. A round of any size is going to dry much, much more slowly than the same size split. A split will have at least two inside surfaces exposed, maybe more, so it is going to dry much more quickly.
The question is... is it worth the time to split rounds (branches) that are three inches or less in diameter? I'm not so sure.
I stack them in a separate pile and give them more time to season. With an extra year in the sun they should be great.
cygnus
Feeling the Heat
Wood doesn't season through bark. If it can stand, I split it. If not, it doesn't go in the pile.
NH_Wood
Minister of Fire
Cheers!
cygnus
Feeling the Heat
lukem said:
Yes, it will...but not through the bark to any degree worth considered 'seasoning'. And, the smaller the round, the smaller the % of surface area exposed for water to escape. For example, a 2" round has about 8% of it's surface area exposed for seasoning at the two ends. A 6" round has 20%.
Often times, the bark will seperate from the wood or crack - and the wood will season through that seperation/crack. Albeit slowly.
Anyway, I really enjoy rounds for overnight burns. Between their shape and probably greater interior MC, they burn very slowly. You don't want a wet one of course, but I'll take an 6-8" round that's been de-barked and sitting around for awhile and toss that onto a bed of hot coals and get a very long burn out of it. Won't be the hottest burn, but it will leave some nice results come morning.
Anyway, I really enjoy rounds for overnight burns. Between their shape and probably greater interior MC, they burn very slowly. You don't want a wet one of course, but I'll take an 6-8" round that's been de-barked and sitting around for awhile and toss that onto a bed of hot coals and get a very long burn out of it. Won't be the hottest burn, but it will leave some nice results come morning.
Kenster
Minister of Fire
cygnus said:
Just have to disagree with this. A two or three inch branch will dry out eventually. Possibly as quickly as a six inch split: a couple of years, maybe? Whether is loses any moisture at all through the bark or just through the cut ends, it WILL season and I certainly wouldn't toss it away. But I don't think I'd spend time splitting a two or three inch stick, either.
tfdchief
Minister of Fire
Kenster said:
+1
I've been burning rather small oak branches for too many years .
They season fine.
white pine branches make excellent kindling in about 9 months just left in a heap until they turn brown and snap easy.
Birch is tough, but I even have pretty good luck with that unsplit as long it is kept from being soaking wet in the rain too much.
Wood Duck
Minister of Fire
I often cut the small stuff shorter than my usual 16 inches. On many trees the small stuff is too crooked to make 16 inch straight pieces anyway, and shorter ones season faster (at least it seems like they should theoretically - I can't say that I have actually noticed any difference between short and long rounds seasoning time). My stove will burn a long time on a tightly packed load of small rounds loaded N/S and I feel like I am making heat out of waste material, which I like. I guess about 3 or 4 inch diameter is typically the smallest piece that I split unless it is straight and splits nicely, in which case I'll split rounds down to about 1 inch for kindling.
Interesting. Guess I thought most of the drying happened at the ends. I have some beech that I'd like to have at least somewhat burnable by this winter. Trying to figure out if I'm best off with thin splits, shorties, or both.
mayhem
Minister of Fire
Consider bark more or less waterproof and you've got it.
The more exposed interior wood, the faster the piece will season. If you leave it as a round it won't season through the bark, but it will season thruogh the ends...takes longer.
Think os taking a wet sponge and you wrap it in saran wrap nice and tight except you leave the ends exposed to the air. The ends will dry pretty quickly, but the middle will remain wet for a long time. Some of the moisture in the middle will keep seeping into the dry ends and eventually the whole sponge will be dry.
If you split in half, you just increased the surface aera of heartwood exposed to the air where the water trapped can evaporate.
Take the same sponge, still wrapped in saran wrap. Cut it in quarters the long way and see how long all that water lasts.
Back to the original question. If I can palm the wood, I don't bother splitting it. Usually this works out to about 3-4" diameter. yes the unsplit stuff isn't as seasoned as the split stuff, but frankly I don't care. I alerady don't have enough time to get my firewood ready so any piece that i can NOT split if saving me time for the real firewood that actually does need it.
The more exposed interior wood, the faster the piece will season. If you leave it as a round it won't season through the bark, but it will season thruogh the ends...takes longer.
Think os taking a wet sponge and you wrap it in saran wrap nice and tight except you leave the ends exposed to the air. The ends will dry pretty quickly, but the middle will remain wet for a long time. Some of the moisture in the middle will keep seeping into the dry ends and eventually the whole sponge will be dry.
If you split in half, you just increased the surface aera of heartwood exposed to the air where the water trapped can evaporate.
Take the same sponge, still wrapped in saran wrap. Cut it in quarters the long way and see how long all that water lasts.
Back to the original question. If I can palm the wood, I don't bother splitting it. Usually this works out to about 3-4" diameter. yes the unsplit stuff isn't as seasoned as the split stuff, but frankly I don't care. I alerady don't have enough time to get my firewood ready so any piece that i can NOT split if saving me time for the real firewood that actually does need it.
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
OK, color me convinced. That's a lot of wood to be throwing away. I'm going to cut it a little shorter, since it'll be for kindling anyway, and stack it in a separate pile for a couple of years. I don't like burning up splits just to get a load going...
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
I like to have a good selection of rounds for the night fires. Sure, they take a bit longer to dry but if you are ahead in your wood supply as you should be there is no problem. I've never measured but guess that perhaps 5" is about the the biggest I'll go so anything bigger than 5" will get split. I also quite often keep the rounds in a separate stack.
mecreature
Minister of Fire
If it will stand up I will split it. I aint going to fuss with it much though.
but it all goes in the stack those rounds burn fine.
but it all goes in the stack those rounds burn fine.
Loco Gringo
Feeling the Heat
Hardwood as small as 2 inches. I hate waste. I love how dogwood checks at the ends once dry and then burns for hours with being such a small piece.
golfandwoodnut
Minister of Fire
I like rouunds for overnight, etc. Maple rounds dry really quick. I will not split it unless it is over 5 inches.
lukem said:
It is NOT that it won't "season" through the bark; that's a nonsense statement. It will not DRY through the bark. Consider the function of bark.
It certainly will dry through the end-grain.
Thus, I don't understand the issue of the "debate."
Is this true though? I think of wood as more like a bunch of straws packed together (the grain). Much easier for water to escape from the ends. so I would think that length would have a bigger effect.
mayhem said:
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
If you are like me, keep a really really sharp axe nearby (like a small fiskars) and simply shave the back down to the wood in at least one patch on each small round. Takes just a moment, the shavings make excellent fire-starter kindling, and the rounds dry vastly faster.
cygnus said:
that dont make sense to me......if all pieces are cut to the same length.exposed surface area % wise should be the same no matter the size....
Todd
Minister of Fire
I use to use that old rule " if you can't palm it, split it" but for me that could mean a 6-7" round. Now I find splitting everything over 4" works best for me. I can fit more wood in the fire box this way and it dries much better.
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