Small rounds

[parsimonious]

What is the consensus on small rounds? Say two to four inches round. They seem to small to split yet seem too big to toss.They can be quite hefty but I never see them in other peoples stacks.

Do they dry out okay? or does the 360 bark cover stop them from drying? I cut down alot of sugar maple and those trees have alot of small branches and I end up with piles of the stuff.I'd like to use them(not this year) but will they be okay drying them with the rest of the split stuff.

 

[ohio woodburner]

stack em and burn em. i stack anything wrist size or bigger. i usually split them when their 6 in in diameter or bigger

 

[cptoneleg]

stack em and burn em. i stack anything wrist size or bigger. i usually split them when their 6 in in diameter or bigger

Yes +1 10-4 don't waste

 

[LLigetfa]

Split 'em. I split everything that can be split. Stacks better, dries faster, lights easier, doesn't roll against the glass in the stove.

 

[fossil]

4" diameter, I'll split. Maybe even smaller if it's well behaved (straight grained, clear of knots). Smaller than that gets stacked as small rounds to get old and dry along with everything else. Fuel is fuel. Rick

 

[ohio woodburner]

Split 'em. I split everything that can be split. Stacks better, dries faster, lights easier, doesn't roll against the glass in the stove.

just dont stuff it full of 2 inch splits :gulp:

 

[Thistle]

Most anything 5" & under I leave round.Once in a while I'll split a few in half to have a mix of sizes.Anything 1 1/4" or bigger that's sound gets hauled in & used for fuel.

 

[LLigetfa]

Split 'em. I split everything that can be split. Stacks better, dries faster, lights easier, doesn't roll against the glass in the stove.

just dont stuff it full of 2 inch splits :gulp:

My wood monger doesn't deliver anything that small so there's little chance I'd have enough on hand to fill the stove.

 

[oldspark]

Split 'em. I split everything that can be split. Stacks better, dries faster, lights easier, doesn't roll against the glass in the stove.

You are loading it the wrong way. :lol:

 

[red oak]

stack em and burn em. i stack anything wrist size or bigger. i usually split them when their 6 in in diameter or bigger

Exactly right. You could split those small rounds but it is certainly not necessary, especially if you're giving it a year to dry.

 

[LLigetfa]

stack em and burn em. i stack anything wrist size or bigger. i usually split them when their 6 in in diameter or bigger

Exactly right. You could split those small rounds but it is certainly not necessary, especially if you're giving it a year to dry.

You make it sound like a year is a long time. I say if you are only giving it a year, then best split it so it dries better.

 

[red oak]

stack em and burn em. i stack anything wrist size or bigger. i usually split them when their 6 in in diameter or bigger

Exactly right. You could split those small rounds but it is certainly not necessary, especially if you're giving it a year to dry.

You make it sound like a year is a long time. I say if you are only giving it a year, then best split it so it dries better.

I guess it depends on where you are. My small rounds are all limbs and branches off of dead trees and they are always dry after a year. Many of them could go in the stove right away but now that I'm ahead on my wood supply I give them a year to dry out. It will certainly dry better if split, but to me the effort isn't worth it.

 

[oldspark]

Are we talking about a certain type of wood in a round that wont dry in a year because I can get rounds dry in a year if it is the correct type of wood.

 

[weatherguy]

I got about a cord of rounds 5 inch and smaller that I scrounged. They're all too long for my stove so Im going to trim them and stack them for next year, Ill throw the cut offs into a bin and burn them next year in shoulder season.

 

[bogydave]

I save them when I can. Good to fill in-between large splits & get a full load in the stove.
Make good cook out fires; hot dogs & smores at the fire pit.

 

[NH_Wood]

I save all the small rounds and stack separately. They become my shoulder season wood and small loads burn awesome - especially small oak rounds that have been stacked for a couple years. I can get the Manny to about 350* on a medium loads of these rounds - they take off well and burn hot. I like all BTU's! Cheers!

 

[Got Wood]

I certainly have plenty of the small ones now due to the Oct snow storm clean up. Depends on my mood on splitting them - they certainly do season better if split but I am far enough ahead where that isnt an issue so some get split some not. I probably gathered close to a 1/2 cord of these over the past month of scrounging. I made a separate temporary stack for them and as I am stacking regular splits I mix these in. That way when the time comes for burning I will have a mix of sizes all in the same spot.

 

[velvetfoot]

It depends on how the wood splits too. If it splits easy, no big deal. If not, you have a bunch of splitter trash.

 

[firefighterjake]

2-4 inch rounds . . . I tend to leave them in the round . . . they burn fine . . . I should mention however that in my case I let them season outside for a year and then put them into my woodshed for Year 2 before I introduce them to my woodstove in Year 3 and end their suffering.

 

[cptoneleg]

Seems to me that on standing dead trees the limbs, 5 or 6 inch seem to dry real good , trunks and larger limbs seem to not dry and after some time start to get Punky.
So it seems the same should hold true on stacking and drying. So I usually don't split 6" and smaller.


On Oaks anyway.

 

[Manitoulin Maples]

I started "striping" branches and smaller diameter rounds this year with my chainsaw. My buddy has been doing it for years and swears by it. I can't see how it won't help...it's so simple and was new to me this year. Using your chainsaw, you angle the tip of the bar (lower quadrant of course, not the kickback zone) to your limb and basically zip off a strip of bark along one side, leaving a stripe basically. It allows the rounds or limbs to dry faster and removes the need to split the smaller stuff.

 

[oldspark]

I started "striping" branches and smaller diameter rounds this year with my chainsaw. My buddy has been doing it for years and swears by it. I can't see how it won't help...it's so simple and was new to me this year. Using your chainsaw, you angle the tip of the bar (lower quadrant of course, not the kickback zone) to your limb and basically zip off a strip of bark along one side, leaving a stripe basically. It allows the rounds or limbs to dry faster and removes the need to split the smaller stuff.

You are aware that wood not split dries mainly from the ends?

 

[Manitoulin Maples]

I started "striping" branches and smaller diameter rounds this year with my chainsaw. My buddy has been doing it for years and swears by it. I can't see how it won't help...it's so simple and was new to me this year. Using your chainsaw, you angle the tip of the bar (lower quadrant of course, not the kickback zone) to your limb and basically zip off a strip of bark along one side, leaving a stripe basically. It allows the rounds or limbs to dry faster and removes the need to split the smaller stuff.

You are aware that wood not split dries mainly from the ends?

Of course. It's the same as a regular split from a big round - it dries faster when split because there is more surface area without bark. It's the same concept with the small rounds, remove some of that bark by striping it on one or two sides and it offers more surface area for moisture to evaporate.

Here's a video of what I mean, fast forward to 2:16 http://youtu.be/4uKmQK0iV0o

 

[oldspark]

I knew what you ment just dont think it will help that much especially when compared to spliting, I like small rounds and just let them dry longer if need be.

 

[LLigetfa]

I started "striping"...

I've heard of some folk doing that with Birch. When wood is harvested by mechanized equipment, the bark is often torn up pretty well.