Stacked rounds how much split?

[Electric B]

I have a 4x8 stack of rounds, the rounds are the size of a 5 gal bucket and smaller.

When split and stacked will I still have a 4x8 stack or will it be less/more than the original stack?

 

[Applesister]

Less...well you technically will have the same amount of wood. It will just take up more of the empty space. And less overall volumn.

 

[TreePointer]

Some folks have experimented with this and concluded, in general, that "ideal" rounds (perfect cylinders) will exhibit up to a 10% greater volume after being split to typical firewood sizes and stacked.

Yes, it does sound counterintuitive, but consider the following:

Although the size of interstitial spaces may be larger in a stack of whole rounds, the number of those interstitial spaces is increased after splitting.

If you split one larger round four ways, you can not restack those same four pieces into the same volume. Even if you stack them together as they were in the whole round (like piecing together a puzzle), the volume will necessarily be larger.