What’s your ideal way to load your stove?

[ChadMc]

Ok....I’ve noticed after burning for a few weeks now my splits for the 20/21 season are little bigger then normal. Only thing I can think is when I was splitting this wood was right around the time I got a fiskars and I changed my habit a little. Anyways, the big splits don’t allow me to load the stove as much. Where before I could packed maybe 7-8 splits. Now depending on my ash level I can fit 4-5 of my bigger ones. The gaps are bigger between obviously. One observation though is I have been having some killer overnight burns!! The other night was a cold one and 4 bigger splits kept it toasty and huge pile of coals in the morning. When I woke up I think I said “damn” out loud at about 530am haha. I understand it’s cubic inches of wood in the box but like I said the bigger ones leave more air gaps but have been burning amazing. Burning all ash and cherry right now, just curious on what everyone’s ritual is for a good overnight load??

 

[Grizzerbear]

I like a good size round at the back bottom of the stove and then some good size splits to fill in the rest of the bottom. I then fill the top row with some medium to small splits to leave as little air space/utilize as much of the fire box as possible. Makes for a good all night burn for me. I load e/w but north south would actually be better I believe for completely filling the box without worrying about one rolling into the glass. That being said I ain't cuttin 15 in wood. Same overall concept though.

 

[kennyp2339]

I like fatter vs thinner but I do keep a pretty even mixture from 3-7" diameter stuff for that purpose, I try the wood Tetris game every reload.

 

[Lakeside]

I start a cold stove with a top down fire starting method. Works great and helps a lot with get good draft right from the start.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

I use a mix. Whatever it takes to fill the entire box with wood. When splitting I try and square off the heart wood as much as possible. Square splits stack real nice leaving little air space. My splits average 4”. This works best for utilizing the entire firebox on my Encore.

 

[shortys7777]

I fill it in like a puzzle depending on whats inside at the time. I am finishing up some spruce that is huge chunks before the real cold gets here. I fit 4 in and don't worry about it because it keeps the house warm enough. Couple more weeks I'll have ash and oak. Some larger sizes and I use the small ones mixed in.

 

[johneh]

Load it anyway it works for you
I prefer the door open into the firebox

 

[BigJ273]

Big knotty pieces burn all night long

 

[BIGChrisNH]

I pack as many large splits as I can and fill the spaces with smaller pieces. The Englanders firebox is 3.5 cu. feet so it can swallow plenty of wood. The bigger the splits the slower and steadier they burn, and the more coals left in the morning. I always load north/south in my stove too.

 

[Diabel]

One of my stoves is easy, in most cases 8 good size splits does the job. The other requires some engineering!

K

 

[jsab9191]

I usually split a variety of sizes although if your in need of dry wood fast smaller will dry significantly faster, and dry wood is my ultimate goal . If you are already on a three year plan a mix of large and small is nice.

 

[awicherr]

I have a bunch of cherry i got off of someone who had an out door boiler big chunks. He was moving but not taking the wood so i have 1/4 splits of 18 inch rounds that get packed in at night with a bed of coals left in the am. dry ash chunks put on them to get the flames going again topped with some maple splits then the wife tends the fire till i get home. Splitting oak last year i kept this in mind so next year i will be doing it with oak hoping i wont have to tend the fire in the mornings and let the wife do it when she gets up

 

[NickW]

Big on the bottom, smaller on top (not like a good woman...) if a good coal bed.

On a side note, my NC30 needs a "tunnel of love" to circulate and burn well. I've started to change my splitting theory. Instead of quartering logs, I split wider flatter pieces. Split off 1 side 4" thick, rotate and same, rotate and same, split what's left in half if it's too big.

 

[WoodBurnerInWI]

For my stove, I notice that I can load more wood in N/S and so I this year everything I cut has been 16 to 17 inches to make sure it will fit behind the andirons. My stove takes up to 22in logs so anything larger than 19in just gets loaded E/W. During the morning reload I have a lot of coals left over from the overnight burn and I too feel I can't stuff as much in the stove as I would want to, but I try to cram at least 7 to 8 pieces in. Like has been mentioned here, I too put the largest/biggest split right in the back and layer big splits on the bottom and medium splits on top of that.

 

[MMH]

I’ve played around a bit; N/S is usually best for number of pieces for me. But I’ve done all N/S, all E/W, E/W on bottom and rest N/S, rounds, splits, etc I think as long as your keeping the house warm and easy reloading in morning then it’s fine! I try to leave as little gap as possible for my night fires but as you said the bigger splits make that challenging at times, in these cases I’ll throw small splits or medium ones inbwteen the larger ones to reduce these gaps etc.

 

[aansorge]

For my Blaze King I have ended up liking the following the best: partial fill twice a day. By partial I mean one leather satchel full. I load the stove on top of a 1/4 full load which is still fully in the active zone. I like this method because it is so quick to get the next load going as the stove is so hot. I pretty much just throw the wood in, close the damper within a minute, and I'm done.

 

[MAD MARK]

On a side note, my NC30 needs a "tunnel of love" to circulate and burn well. I've started to change my splitting theory. Instead of quartering logs, I split wider flatter pieces. Split off 1 side 4" thick, rotate and same, rotate and same, split what's left in half if it's too big.

This is exactly how I have been splitting the past 3 years now. Gives you that "top layer" for the tunnel.

 

[sweedish]

I prefer n/s load, seems to be more even burn, although by adjusting the coals you can have a pretty even burn with no large unburned pieces in the back. Me and my help more often than not the wood was cut too long for the n/s sadly.

 

[stoveliker]

As full as possible...

 

[stoveliker]

I try to split as square or rectangular as possible. Less gaps than with triangle+1 rounded side.

 

[johneh]

I have found over the years the best way to fill my stove
Is with the door open tend to get more in that way

 

[Mutineer]

From what I've heard over the years down here in Ohio, those folks up in Ontario like johneh used to like to load down through the chimney, a little messy and hot but they raise 'em tough up there. Then one of them up there said, eh- can we open the front door and load it that way, eh? The rest is history.

 

[johneh]

From what I've heard over the years down here in Ohio, those folks up in Ontario like johneh used to like to load down through the chimney, a little messy and hot but they raise 'em tough up there. Then one of them up there said, eh- can we open the front door and load it that way, eh? The rest is history.

Dam boy, you almost good enough to be a Canuck
All you need is a plaid shirt
Or maybe Stompin Tom

 

[Mutineer]

I've said for years that when I grow up I want to be a Canuck.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Ok....I’ve noticed after burning for a few weeks now my splits for the 20/21 season are little bigger then normal. Only thing I can think is when I was splitting this wood was right around the time I got a fiskars and I changed my habit a little. Anyways, the big splits don’t allow me to load the stove as much. Where before I could packed maybe 7-8 splits. Now depending on my ash level I can fit 4-5 of my bigger ones. The gaps are bigger between obviously. One observation though is I have been having some killer overnight burns!! The other night was a cold one and 4 bigger splits kept it toasty and huge pile of coals in the morning. When I woke up I think I said “damn” out loud at about 530am haha. I understand it’s cubic inches of wood in the box but like I said the bigger ones leave more air gaps but have been burning amazing. Burning all ash and cherry right now, just curious on what everyone’s ritual is for a good overnight load??

I have 2 kinds of wood and as its brought up to the house is separated. I have 2 racks by the stove 1 is for overnight and all the splits in that rack are already split square to rectangle. This allows me to pack the stove with little gas if I have a gap at all. Its the key to 12+ hour burns the other rack is day burning which is pie or triangle shape and ugly. The overnight ones are bigger like 4x5 or 5x5 inch stuff Im a top load stove