If you don't have a boiler, furnace or stove, how long should you cut the logs?

[heatingcostssuck]

I'm in the decision making stage. It will probably be 8 or 9 months before I get something to burn in.
What length would you do, in order to accommodate seasoning in a situation like this?

I searched for length, nothing clear came out.

 

[osagebow]

I'm in the decision making stage. It will probably be 8 or 9 months before I get something to burn in.
What length would you do, in order to accommodate seasoning in a situation like this?

I searched for length, nothing clear came out.

We can make an educated guess based on location, sq feet to be heated and other info about your house. You'll get solid stove recommendations also.

 

[heatingcostssuck]

We can make an educated guess based on location, sq feet to be heated and other info about your house. You'll get solid stove recommwnndations also.

Sorry, to be clear, I don't mean what stove should I get.

I have plenty of wood that I could be preparing for burning. In order to help being prepared for seasoned wood when I do get the wood burning device, what is an effective length I should cut the wood to now that would accommodate the possible different sized fireboxes?

 

[KD0AXS]

16" is the "standard" firewood length. Most stoves can take logs a little longer than that, but it really depends on how large of a stove you plan to get. My stove can take 22" logs E-W and about 19" N-S, but it's a big stove.

If you're not sure, I'd probably try to keep them around 16".

 

[velvetfoot]

16"

 

[Applesister]

16" is an industry standard. Stoves rarely go smaller. If you cut and then change your mind you can sell the wood and that size(length) will fit just about any size stove.

 

[Applesister]

Three x 16" = 48" which is the standard measurement used in a cord of wood. 4' x 4' x 8'.

 

[Applesister]

3 three facecords...at 16" x 4' x 8'
I'll probably get a bunch of people arguing that fact...
But too bad...

 

[heatingcostssuck]

So, I was heading outside in my insulated overalls and came to the realization, my old poulan is on its last legs (one of the handle bolts is snapped).

I think it's time to start saving for a new chainsaw.

 

[osagebow]

I have plenty of wood that I could be preparing for burning. In order to help being prepared for seasoned wood when I do get the wood burning device, what is an effective length I should cut the wood to now that would accommodate the possible different sized fireboxes?[/quote]

Ok, I also meant if you knew youyou needed a bigger stove based on what you need (Ex. big drafty house in Minnesota) you might go 20". Say 3.0 cubic feet and up, vs. Heating a basement in TN.

 

[weatherguy]

First year I go several cords of 18" wood, the stove I ended up buying fit 16", I ended up cutting all the ends off. Better off to get 16", if you end up with a bigger stove the smaller ones can still fit.

 

[newatthis]

If the splits are "too short" you can maybe load north-south in the firebox, i.e., too short doesn't exist.

 

[firefighterjake]

16 inch ... many stoves may take longer wood, but at 16 inches you should be pretty safe no matter what stove you buy.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

I'd go with the consensus. 16"

 

[Gboutdoors]

You can fit a 16" split in a 18"-20"-22" stove but you can't fit a 18"-20"-22" split in a 16" stove! There is no other answer to this

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

15"

 

[Gboutdoors]

15"

Your right or two 7" maybe two 8" or we could go with one 10" and one 6" . I stand corrected there are a number of sizes that would fit a large number of stoves

 

[jebatty]

Cut the logs to a length that will end up with the length you want after accounting from loss for the saw kerf. For 16", cut the log to 98".

 

[peakbagger]

Hard to beat 16" unless you are buying a very small stove, but 95% of the stoves out there will be happy with 16" My old defiant could take longer wood but I kept it at 16" as shorter wood does dry a bit quicker.

 

[Woodfarmer1]

24" if your leaning towards a boiler or furnace as that is also the length of most wood splitters and maybe around 18-20" if your thinking wood stove.

 

[Sconnie Burner]

I'm in the 16" camp. My stove will take an 18" log but it's tight to the glass and if I'm off by a 1/4" it won't fit. Leaves some room for error. Plus the glass stays clean with a gap at the end of the log. If you go with a big unit you can always load e/w behind the n/s logs for a great combo burn. Fast heat to warm-up the stove and house then long burn when the e/w logs start burning.

 

[heatingcostssuck]

Thanks all, looks like the majority say 16" It also makes that easier to carry back to the pile

 

[Sconnie Burner]

Measure 16" out on your saw bar and then make a mental note so you can just use your bar to measure as your cutting. Way faster than using a tape measure!

 

[thinktwicez71]

So, I was heading outside in my insulated overalls and came to the realization, my old poulan is on its last legs (one of the handle bolts is snapped).

I think it's time to start saving for a new chainsaw.

before you know it you will have a chainsaw addiction. before I started burning wood I didn't own a chainsaw. first I bought a nice stihl 361 , then I bought and fixed up a stihl 026 , then a few months ago I bought and restored a monster stihl 066 . im done for a while tho haha.