Splitting red alder for easy breathing stove (t5)

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mar13

Minister of Fire
Nov 5, 2018
507
California redwood coast
I'm hand splitting my red alder now for either winter 20/21 or 21/22. Some of the larger rounds are 16-18 inches in diameter. The largest rounds are being quarter split, but some of the middle size rounds I'm thinking that maybe I should keep them as half spits since I'm anticipating my stove may run hot, especially with alder.

I'm flying blind here, because this coming winter will be my first with the T5 (or any EPA stove), so I'm unfamiliar with what to expect other than what I've seen on these forum posts. I have 15 feet of new double-wall inside stove pipe , a foot in the roof, and ~5 feet (still need to measure) of outside chimney - straight shot. Too little draft was never an issue with my VC. Mild (30s-40s) climate. I'm thinking any half (circle) split that'll fit endwise inside a 7"x10" rectangle should make it into the stove without much difficulty and give longer burns. I have plenty of oak and eucalyptus that I had split smaller for my older stove.

Any opinions? I'm thinking of sticking with bigger splits as I can always split them smaller if needed - just more difficult to stack.

In other news, I know of a couple ~100 ft eucalyptus trees being cut. (It'll be tricky as they back up to some apartments.) Maybe the owner will be generous, albeit I wouldn't be able to even budge the lower trunk rounds.
 
Red alder makes a good amount of ash that covers the fuel and slows the combustion. If I was you I would be aiming for nothing bigger than a 6x6.