weirds and kindling

[j7art2]

I use a hydraulic splitter, so I get a lot of what can only be described as 'weirds'. That's what I call them anyway. They're all sorts of odd shapes that are virtually impossible to stack well. What do you do with your weirds?

I have a corner in my barn that I toss them all, and got almost a face cord of them this year. When I got to that pile of wood, I brought them all in the house, failing to realize that if I couldn't stack them out there, I couldn't stack them in the house either. Pain in the butt.

Also, what do you do with all your kindling, and how do you let it season? I've got no shortage of it with the splitter, but I don't know what the heck to do with it all.

 

[macattack_ga]

I call'em "uglies".
They get piled on a pallets as best they can and burned in the fall.

kindling? who needs kindling burning 24/7?

 

[j7art2]

Wife is 9 months pregnant right now and if she forgets to feed the furnace during the day, that means I'm starting from scratch. My old dinosaur is a pain to get going. I'm hoping in the fall to change that with a unit above 10% efficiency.

 

[Applesister]

I toss them loose in a big pile in a shed that is on cinderblocks with a wood flooring. When I'm splitting I segregate them from the 15"-16" splits and a cartload gets sent to the "shed".
You are right, they dont stack and I dont bother trying.
My sister just bought that tiny Jotul for her garage. The one with the 8" x 8" x 16" firebox. The exhaust stack is wider than the stove.
She just got a 1/2 cord of these cut offs and unsplitable knots and crotches. It sure makes that little Jotul crank.

 

[Applesister]

Save all your old garbage cans. The ones with the cracks and rusted bottoms and missing lids. I also use bushel baskets(for pine cones). 55 gallon drums, plastic and steel. Old livestock feed tubs and old water tanks.
Waste not want not.

 

[English BoB]

What our sister said.

bob

 

[Hogwildz]

Pile em up, and burn em in the spring & fall.

 

[saskwoodburner]

I like to throw bigger uglies on coals for a coal burn down, or smaller ones to keep the fire machine running when it's warm out.

 

[Firefighter938]

I stack on pallets but I only stack two rows separated in the middle. Normally I throw the uglies in the middle in-between the two stacks.

For kindling I just take a box and start standing it up in the box until it is full. I don't use much this time of year though because normally I have enough coals left to get a fire going. I gave a bunch to my neighbor to get his outdoor fire pit started.

 

[Mag Craft]

The uglies get thrown on a pallet and the kindling put into a plastic tub that I can carry into the garage.

 

[xman23]

We call them "chunky monkeys" It's all wood and a lot of those get a hot fire going real quick

 

[bwise.157]

I use the Holz-Hausen method of stacking, so uglies go in the middle! Never an issue! I have three old galvanized tubs that I fill with kindling from the splitter. I stack them on each other in a corner of the garage, and use as needed. The last couple years though I have only used a partial tub each year. I haven't saved any kindling this year, so i just rake them into the woods.

 

[gerry100]

like others, I throw them in the corner of the woodshed or toss them on top of the stacks. I bring them in a few at a time with regular splits.

Kindling, I pick up off the ground as needed

 

[Longstreet]

For the uglies, I use a pallet with a wire bin on top. I bought a bunch of stone edging last year and have loved these things. You could make one pretty easy I would think.

 

[firefighterjake]

Uglies ... thrown on the t of the stacks. Used in the Fall and Spring when I don't need to get as many BTUs as I would in middle of the winter.

Kindling ... either stuffed in with my wood in the woodshed or stacked in another shed on the property.

 

[bobdog2o02]

I save and toss them on top of the regular stack and burn them as they come.

 

[Smoke Signals]

I use the uglies to hold down the tin that covers my proper stacks.

 

[BrotherBart]

A shakily stacked half cord of shorts, chunks and uglies saved my butt this extra cold winter. On a whim I stacked and top covered them, no easy task, three years ago and because I was short of wood to put in the shed for this Winter last April I mixed them in the stacks in the shed. Since I am home all day they have been a blessing. They have kept my fingers out of next years stacks like happened last season.

Kindling? I take another Super Cedar out of the hall closet. They stack really nice.

 

[Wood Duck]

As I take down a holz hausen I encounter the uglies that I tossed in the middle, and I pile them up. Every so often, when I'll be home all day, I haul a load of uglies to the back porch and spend a day burning just uglies. I get a day of heat without burning any 'good' firewood, which feels like free heat.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

70 gal tubs with wheels and top........that's how we roll......

 

[jwalter04]

Uglies get separated and end up in the suguring arch for maple syrup season.

 

[jaoneill]

I save and toss them on top of the regular stack and burn them as they come.

I do the same. This past fall time was at a premium so I hired a couple of unemployed "worker bees" to move the wood into the mechanical room woodshed for the winter's burn. I know their family burns wood so I figured they knew how to stack. Boy was I wrong. We stack that shed right to the rafters and always toss the uglies up top. These clowns mixed them throughout; what a treat having stacks crashing down all over h*ll and gone all winter.

 

[gerry100]

My "uglies" by their nature have greater cross section and longer drying times. Throw them aside and leave 'em longer

 

[Fred Wright]

The odd pieces and uglies get used to hold wood stack covers in place. Do a pretty good job of it, too. Or you can place 'em on top of your stacks.

Splitter scraps make excellent kindling, we store it in covered garbage cans. The local trash hauler supplies hoppers so we don't need ours for trash and recycling. Keep a tote of the stuff inside, take the tote out and refill it when needed.

Used dog food and feed sacks are great for storing splitter scraps as well.

 

[Jon_E]

Uglies get burned right along with everything else. I've never accumulated enough to worry about where to put them. Splitter scraps or kindling generally gets left on the ground right where I split, although larger pieces I'll put in one of those tubs with rope handles. They get burned right along with everything else, although sometimes I save paper bags full of the better stuff, like fruit woods and hickory, for BBQ.