Split pieces smaller to dry quicker?

[hickslawns]

Might sound dumb, but I don't know so I am asking. I have been splitting like mad lately to get ready for winter. Last winter I plowed nearly every week of the winter and did not get enough wood cut. I am not splitting wood that has been down for awhile just not split. I have been splitting it into smaller pieces in hopes that it will dry and season more quickly. Am I just wishful thinking or will this help? I have about 8 cords split. Probably 2-3 of them were from early spring which I will burn first. I am using a Lil' House Heater located outside but not a true whole house outdoor unit. I know I can get away with a little more green wood then inside the house wood burner or add-on furnace, but not as green as OWB. Should I continue splitting smaller pieces or just split like normal?

 

[icanfixit]

No doubt, splitting it smaller helps dry out faster. If its under the sun all day helps as well. I split up some fresh Pin oak in the spring and had my son split them smaller a couple weeks ago. Left them in the sun for a couple weeks then rotated my stack so they would be on the bottom. They should be ready in December. I try and keep my driest stuff at the top for use first. Best to keep the wet stuff separate for awhile under sun with much air space. I used to get wood delivered years ago and I had gotten wet stuff mixed in. Love how they all say"seasoned firewood". Some use to claim that it means the tree has been down for more than a year, but just recently split. Dont get me wrong, there are good decent guys out there that take pride in selling a full well mixed seasoned cord. When you find one, never look elsewhere and recomend them to your neighbors as well.

 

[CharlieG]

Put the wood on pallets to keep the wood off the ground. Circulating air will help dry it faster, so stack loosely opcorn:

 

[hickslawns]

Other than what was cut in the spring, it is all on pallets. Everything split in the last month is pallet stacked. Good ideas. Thanks

 

[mga]

yea...they'll dry faster....but the draw back is they'll burn faster too.

i grab willow now and then and split it into 1 or 2 inch pieces for kindling and it dries fast. (i use the splitter like a production machine)

one match and that stuff creates a hot fire in a few minutes.

 

[cityevader]

I'm also afraid of my lack of pre-dried wood, I had some white and red oak 2 foot rounds of I cut from a live fallen tree maybe around Feb, and just split it a few weeks ago. Totally not ready for this year...or so I thought!

I laid out one full cord out in the sun on a slope so it could angle perfectly square to the sun, with each row's end propped up on the previous row, so that only a small portion at each end is not fully surrounded by air, and it is already checking and cracking wonderfully. I did go back and flip them all bark-side down.

We don't usually get rain until Halloween, so I figure nearly 3 months of this and presto!

 

[Wood Doctor]

Here's another stacking approach to speed drying:

Crisscross stack the logs about every four feet. You also get the added benefit of a pile that supports itself with no end stakes required.

 

[cityevader]

Here's another stacking approach to speed drying:

Crisscross stack the logs about every four feet. You also get the added benefit of a pile that supports itself with no end stakes required.

This arrangement is the best compromise for space requirements, allowing the most airflow with the smallest footprint. But nothing beats the blasting furnace of the Sun!! The most surface area flat to the sun the better. I've gone out a couple hours after dusk and the wood is still quite warm from heat retention, but of course, not everybody has the area to do this. A single cord laid out flat takes up a lot of space! Something like 30X30feet..But dries FAAASST!! ....oh yeah, not to mention the extra work of carrying and laying out, then later re-carrying and stacking...but it's drying!

 

[woodbooga]

yea...they'll dry faster....but the draw back is they'll burn faster too.

+1. The more of the grain that's exposed to the sun and wind, the quicker the dry time.

We have no choice but to split small for our 100-year-old Century Crawford, which we use for heating, cooking, and baking. They have small fireboxes and can't take a stick of wood as big as other units.

I've split stuff in mid-Sept. that was ready for January.

Depends on the species, too. Oak is denser and requires more dry time, even if finely split. Lighter species of maple (red, silver) and birch dry quicker.

Lots of our wood is dead and downed for a long time, so much comes pre-seasoned, with only non-green moisture needing to get pulled out.

 

[husky455rancher]

it definatly helps to split it small. the first year i ordered wood, well the only time i ordered wood. it was totally soaked, it looked like the guy got it from a pond. i ended up splitting everything twice as small as i normally would. the wood was good enough to burn, some of it was still wet. i know if i didnt split it so small i woulda been totally screwed that winter.

 

[mga]

Here's another stacking approach to speed drying:

Crisscross stack the logs about every four feet. You also get the added benefit of a pile that supports itself with no end stakes required.

so......what do you do with those tires after the wood is gone?