Ideal log length for Sirocco 30.2?

[Hunter8282]

I've been cutting to 16". Is that the ideal log length for a Sirocco 30.2?

Or would be better to go up to 18"?

I don't have the stove yet, but will be installed soon in our new house.

Thanks!

 

[bikedennis]

I like 16". For me works better with ash buildup in my 30.2.

 

[stoveliker]

I think 17.5" is good. Maximizing the load while leaving some space

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

Neighbor has one and likes it around 17 for previous mentioned reasons but won't shy away from 16" if he gets wood delivered. Are you cutting that wood to use this year?

 

[Ashful]

I do mine 18". I do measure them off the log, before bucking. But since my cutting tool is a chainsaw, that's probably 18" +/- 0.5" or more.

I usually use the shortest of the load on the bottom, where they can sit down in the belly nicer than sit up on the front lip, and then the longest ones on top where there's no firebrick and firebox is 1"+ deeper.

I'll throw the gauntlet down and say there's probably no one on this forum who's put more wood thru a BK 30.1 box, than me. I wish there were!

 

[stoveliker]

Yes, there's always some variation, and I do use th shortest ones on the bottom too.
(In fact, with 17" ones on the bottom and a handful of noodles in the gap between the splits on the bottom and the bricks at the front I can light a load in a cold stove if the wood is 16% or less ....)

 

[Tron]

I just eyeball it when cutting. Doesn't really make much difference if it's 15, 16, 17 or 17.499 inches.
Occasionally I have one that's just a bit too long, that'll just go in diagonally on a early reload or something.

 

[Ashful]

I just eyeball it when cutting. Doesn't really make much difference if it's 15, 16, 17 or 17.499 inches.
Occasionally I have one that's just a bit too long, that'll just go in diagonally on a early reload or something.

If you're only having ambiance fires, or if your head load is lower than the stove can produce, then I'd agree it doesn't make much difference. But if you're pushing the stove for all its worth, then 15" splits yield almost 20% less heat than 18" splits. It gets even worse when going diagonal with a single long split, you're basically wasting a whole terrace level of split stacking space, for just one piece of wood.

Other than spring and fall, every load going into my stove is a game of selection and Tetris, packing the thing damn near as tight as I possibly can. These two stoves will never produce enough heat for our house mid-winter, but I'll use them for all they're worth.

 

[stoveliker]

I was going to write the same. Relatively speaking 1.5" is a decent percentage.
Variability in split packing may be larger but this is one variable with decent influence that I can control to maximize burn time. (Working at home I'm not on a reload schedule.)

 

[Tron]

If you're only having ambiance fires, or if your head load is lower than the stove can produce, then I'd agree it doesn't make much difference. But if you're pushing the stove for all its worth, then 15" splits yield almost 20% less heat than 18" splits. It gets even worse when going diagonal with a single long split, you're basically wasting a whole terrace level of split stacking space, for just one piece of wood.

Oh, I agree. Our heat demand is probably nearly as high as yours, and the stove is running on low most of the time anyway. So for me it's a difference of reloading after 12h vs. 14h (I only have pine to burn).
That's also the reason I don't spend the time to play Tetris with the splits. And the diagonal split is just for those few ones that are too long. You know, when you cut up a tree and you just have that little extra left at the end ;-)

Since we're running out of drying space, I will be stacking whole logs for storage. Those will be ca. 2.5m long (8'4"), which the tractor should be able to handle, and I intend to cut them later into six sections, so each split will be about 40cm/16.5". Plus or minus an inch. That's good enough for me.

 

[Ashful]

Some people are going to hate me for this, but I'll even throw away white oak and hickory, if the bit left at the end of the log isn't at least reasonably close to my target 18 inches. I might keep and split the odd round down to 12" length, if I'm stuffing it on top of the stack between the rafters, but that's about it. I'm limited by stacking space and time, never by available wood, so there's no room in this operation for anything less than mostly-perfect straight splits of high-BTU woods.

Always easier to just throw away that last few inches at the end of the log, than to deal with a long round, or two short. My burn pit, where all splitting swarf and waste ends up, routinely sees quartered rounds of oak, ash, and hickory, that are 10" long or less.

 

[stoveliker]

My neighbors love that length.
Problem solved, I got rid of it and they are happy to have it (retired, fixed income etc )

I've already given a couple (2-3) of cords to them this way (not face cords, full.cords) split and delivered to their storage place.

 

[Highbeam]

My princess has similar dimensions and I aim for 16". I mark the log using a 16" mingo marker and get as close as I can to 16". Curves in the log or end cuts can create variation. I like the 16" dimension because I can sell the wood, give it away, and load it into the stove at an angle if needed. I really don't want to have to deal with a log too long to fit after loading it.

Per the manual I shove all the wood to the back wall and that leaves some room up front that could have accommodated 17, 18+ long logs. I guess that's okay, I'm being conservative to avoid risk and provide flexibility years into the future when I burn this stuff.

And lots of cookies get set aside for the fire pit. I'll happily slice off a 6" long round at the end to be sure that the 16" rounds are the same. Those cookies don't go to waste but don't go to the stove.

 

[stoveliker]

I've been cutting to 16". Is that the ideal log length for a Sirocco 30.2?

Or would be better to go up to 18"?

I don't have the stove yet, but will be installed soon in our new house.

Thanks!

So, given all responses, it is clear that "ideal" depends on what the purpose is.
Multifunctional (sell, other stoves), longest burn, least waste of wood, least waste of storage space etc.
Ideal is what suits your need best.

So, what is your need?

 

[MattA311]

I have this stove and cut mine to 18 inches. 17 or even 18.5 also works. I can fit 19 but I don’t really like it being that close to the glass.

 

[Tron]

Do whatever's practical, it doesn't make much difference.
I now cut my logs to around 100" length (2.5m, yeah, yeah...) because that's a length I can easily handle with the tractor and which doesn't require my logging paths to be the width of an interstate.
I then cut that into six section to split, which comes to a bit more than 16". Or actually somewhere between 15" and 17".
Five sections would be a) too long and b) much harder to eyeball into equal split lengths.

 

[Mustard Tiger]

Most of what I have is 16"-17.5". Had 5 cords of juniper delivered this spring and that particular guy cuts everything to 16". Recently had a huge pine tree cut down and had the tree service cut the trunk up into 16"-18" rounds. Measured the rounds and most are 16" to 17".

I just got the stove in April, so haven't had much opportunity to use it, but when I did I was loading it EW. Even though it's not cold enough yet here where I am in Oregon, I've been experimenting with loading it NS and think I like it way better that way. Easier to load, and no concern for logs rolling out or leaning up against the glass, etc.

I don't worry much about packing the stove to the gills. I just need to be able to keep it going for 14 hours because I work 12 hour shifts and still want coals when I get home. I'm sure I'll be fine with 16" splits.