Average Size Log/Split for Stove???

[EXCALIBER]

Well while posting in the super split thread I ran into some guys who split their wood to less than 5"x5" and a length of 12" to 16" and they say they start with a diameter log of about 15 inches or so. I found this unusual and was just wondering what the average joe uses. I start with logs that are about 2ft on up in diameter (average I would say was 2.5ft diameter) and cut them to 16" lengths. I then split them to around 6-10 inch diameter, 6 being the smallest size. I was just assuming most everyone was doing the same and was fairly shocked to see people splitting everything 5 inch diameter or less to put in the stove, and starting with such small diameter logs. I then did some research and found that most stove makers say nothing about max diameter of wood for their stoves. I have a Blaze King King model and they recommend max diameter at 10 inch's.

I only cut mine to 16" long in case I want to sell some wood, as I believe this is average length (I can fit a 23" piece). So what is everybody else using for size of starting log, finished split size, and what stove are you feeding?

 

[Bushmans]

Most of mine are 16" in length and less than 4" at the widest part of the split.
I have a fireplace and I need wood to burn hot and fast to make any difference at all. I do keep a few longevity logs around that are 6-8 inches for days when I'm home and the sun is out!

 

[Dusky]

Being I sell the wood to primarily older foks, I try to keep my splits where my clients can pick them up with one hand, thus when I split If I can't lift the piece with one hand (green) I slit it again. This way when the wood dries out I know my clients can handle the wood easily. I get praised alot for how dry my wood is that it can be loaded easily. I burn from the same stacks as my clients. I just ran down to my fire box and measured several pieces and end up with 4 to 5 inches in diameter with up to 7 inches on occasion and 16 inches in length. The logs I cut range from 2 foot to 5 foot in diameter. Typical type: Oak, Jeffry Pine, Cedar, and Eucalyptus. I slpit extra small 2" to 4" diameter for my bundles.

 

[myzamboni]

If i cannot grab the split by the end with one hand, it gets split until I can. The "rule of palm"?

 

[bbxlr8]

I like to have a mix, but generally go for 6" - 8" and try to have bigger ones up to 10" for the overnights. I the pack the smaller <5" all around full.

I am starting to get ahead just now, but I am 2 years into the place and had been going year to year so far. I know that I am lucky with as much Oak/Ash/Hickory/Beech/Cherry as I could ever need on site. Here's another thought though: if I have anything that is iffy that I need to burn sooner, I always err to the smaller end (ex. Ash/Beech)

 

[Tim Carroll]

I try to have 18" long, 20" will fit and 16" is ok. I like a blend of 5"x5" and some larger stuff and I burn mainly red oak but some white & Black oak, ash, hard & soft maple. I feel that it is good to have a blend of sizes to fill the stove.

 

[laynes69]

I'm with myzamboni, If I cannot grab them with my hand then Ill split them smaller. When I had my old woodfurnace, I kept things as big as possible for a longer burn. When I replaced the furnace I realized the splits were not only too big, but didn't season in time. Our furnace will take up to 22" long splits, but I keep things at 16-18". I might keep a 6" round whole, but that's the largest depending on when the wood will be burned. I've burned monster splits and smaller splits and either way it makes heat through the night, it's just things season better when split down. I would say no larger than 6-7" on one side, 5" would be average for us.

 

[greendohn]

for the wood stove i have always tried to split my wood so it comes out like flat blocks. and a couple of my pals around here have taken to splitting that way, also. we call 'em "big books". they stack in the stove very good that way. generally about 3 to 5 inches thick, and about 16 to 18 inches long. the leftovers we bust up smaller to tuck up along the sides of the big stuff.

tree diameter is all over the place as we cut mostly dead falls. usually 16" and up. It's not often i use the 28" bar.

ash, walnut, cherry, hack-berry, locust and every now and then we luck into some oak and hickory.

the OWB i leave about half of the rounds whole up to about 12" diameter and split the other half as small as about 6". i mostly cut to a standard length of about 16" to 18" 'cause it's easier on me and my wood cuttin' buddies when it comes time to load up the truck.

 

[Hedgerow]

Small splits... 16" long and no
More than 4-5" at thickest point...
I sold about 50 cord last year, and the last to go was the stuff that was 18 - 20" long and 6-8" or so... Everyone can burn 16" wood... Just a few would accept the bigger stuff. Got a guy who buys 10 cord a year of 10-14" stuff 24" long, but he's the exception, not the rule... "OWB"

 

[genesis5521]

If i cannot grab the split by the end with one hand, it gets split until I can. The "rule of palm"?

I do likewise. My rounds are 16" long. I tend to keep my splits pretty (boarding on extremely) large for longer burn times.

Don <><

 

[gregfox]

for the wood stove i have always tried to split my wood so it comes out like flat blocks. and a couple of my pals around here have taken to splitting that way, also. we call 'em "big books". they stack in the stove very good that way. generally about 3 to 5 inches thick, and about 16 to 18 inches long. .

I call them flats and they work perfect in my small stove, less efficient processing than triangles or other splitting techniques, but in a small stove with a lower front air intake the size and placement of load is critical for air flow,heat, and ash/coal management. I do other shapes but ideally I stack 2 flats(2-4X6-10) for a load pending heat needs and the bed of coals I'm on.

 

[EXCALIBER]

Interesting, I did notice most of the guys that are on the east side tend to split smaller. I measured mine and 8-10 inch or so was about average diameter of split. I guess I am not following the "it dries better smaller" thing. If you cut and split your wood at least a year in advance (if not two) how is it not dry by then??? I realize some places will be wetter than others slowing drying time, but still wet after a year? Another question for you guys on the east side, are your stoves on the smaller end of the scale over there? Just trying to figure out if that's why the splits are smaller perhaps.

 

[laynes69]

Our old furnace had a firebox size of a little over 6 cu.ft. It was very inefficient, and would burn through the wood so it was split larger. When we replaced that unit, the new furnace had a 3.5 cu.ft firebox. I found larger splits didn't necessarily burn any longer than smaller splits, and were more difficult to load. Large splits don't get to the moisture level I want in a year, unless it's a softer wood. My brother in law cut, split and stacked standing dead oak in Nov of '10. It's been covered and it's still in the mid 20's on moisture. Hopefully I'll get a couple years ahead on wood this year. Because of the difference in efficiency from the old to the new unit my wood habits changed.

 

[Whitespider]

I also used the "rule of palm" method. If I can’t pick it up and toss it into the trailer with one hand, it gets split again… same with rounds. So I’d say 80% of them end up in the 5 inch range, with some 4 and 6 inchers sprinkled in… maybe an occasional 7 incher. That seems to work out about best; any bigger and they start leaving a lot of wasted air space in the firebox; any smaller and they burn up too fast.

 

[Fred Wright]

When I started cutting firewood, the old boy I worked with taught me this: "If anyone besides yourself will be handling the wood, cut it no longer than 16" and split it no larger than the width of your fist."

Not everyone is ham-handed like we are. If the wood is too large or too heavy for Aunt Tilly to place in the stove, she'll leave it for you to fuss with when you get home from a day's work. And you ain't gonna feel like fussing with it.

I've stuck by his advice. The missus can't put them big, honkin' logs in the stove. She'll leave them for me.

Smaller logs tend to burn better but not for as long a time. If you want more heat and a longer burn, put a large log in the mix. Large logs burn well when there's a good fire under them.

Some folks split kindling from rounds. We don't. If you're felling trees, all that slash left over makes excellent kindling. And it's ready to burn within a few months. Some will have to be cut but most can be broken up by hand. Drag some branches to the edge of the yard and break them up as needed.

We have a US Stove King model, non-EPA. It will take a 24" log but we prefer to cut 18" or shorter.

 

[Southside]

I cut my logs to 16" and split "for sale" wood to 6"-8". For my own use I split down to 3''and less, burns hot and fast in my stove for a quick evening warm up as we both work. Also dies down fast that way too. The Super Split makes it easy to split down to 3". Southside

 

[rmount]

I just checked my fronthall stack. Most are 5" to 6" at the greatest diameter, some are 7" and some 4". Length is 14" to 16". I find if I only have large wood the house often gets too hot and I just end up opening windows. During the day I prefer the smaller splits, you can always add more for more heat when you need it. For overnight burns I'll use 3 or 4 large splits. My trees usually range from 12" to 24" DBH.

 

[fields_mj]

I use an old Energy Mate wood furnace that I bought used a few years ago for $400. The fire box is 27" deep per what's left of the owners manual, and the door on the front is 10" x 10". The wood that I am burning this year I cut to 23" give or take an inch. This let me get 4 stacks in the back of the bed of my truck. If anyone asks, I just say it's 24". I tried cutting them that long, but I found that the last row always stuck out half an inch too far to be able to close the tail gate. As far as diameter goes, anything 8" and under doesn't get split. Anything over 8" get's an 8" chunk split off of it. Anything 12" and over get's split basically in half. I cut a lot of bigger stuff to (18"~36", and a few a little bigger than that). With those I usually noodle them into 8" slabs. My goal is to have most of my wood 6" to 8" across. That leaves me enough room to fit them comfortably through the door of my furnace. Of course, I get some smaller splits also, and those are good to split for kindling, or just to throw in with the bigger stuff. When I burn it, I use a variaty of sizes at once depending on what kind of fire I want.

This year, since it's been so warm, I've cut a lot of my wood in half before bringing it into the house. Burning pieces that are 11"~12" long has allowed me to use my wood burner in much warmer weather than I normally would have been able too. I will run it until it gets up over 45 to 50 degrees outside. From there the house will stay warm pretty much all day even without a fire. This has worked out so well that I've cut 2 cord of wood 31" long with the plan of cutting that in half before it gets burned in 2 more years. I'll test that out, but most likely I'll go back to the 23" length. I wanted to give it a try thought.

I've found that when it's up in the mid 30's, if I add one 8" diameter long piece, and 2 or 3 decent size short pieces, it burns all night, or all day, gives off a very even heat, and still has a good bed of coals, and even some wood left 10~12 hrs later when I go to fire it again. If it's going to be down in the teens or twentys, I jus stick with the full length stuff.

Oh, almost forgot. I'm burning a mix of red oak, hickory, ash, and black locust.

 

[zogger]

I burn one inch to twelve inches diameter in my stove, so the average would be six inches. With that said, when I split large rounds, I stop at what I can comfortably grab on one end, most of them anyway, so those would be mostly like an easy 4-6 inches. I cut so much small, I don't need to split small, and I cut so much up to 12 inches, I can afford to leave a lot of those in the round to use as all nighterz or all dayers, leaving smaller diameter stuff for more morning and evening heat. It helps having a dual door stove, I *love* having the option of a toploader, good for those beefy rounds that last and last and last plus the oddball chunks you get, the crotches and difficult twisty chunks.

The only small stuff I split is when I am shaving the bark off of larger rounds in preparation for the real splitting, or if I am just practicing with my fiskars, seeing how small I can aim...heh. I'm trying to get to the point I can split..hmm..what to call it...sheets, real thin slices. Not kindling, slices. I mean, they turn into kindling, but...aw heck, it's just fun. Trying to make something like a piece of paper. I only do that once in awhile though, like with perfect ash rounds. I haven't done it yet, but when I do I'll post it.

OK, I know you have to travel some distance to get your wood, I know you wouldn't want to spend the time to cut small rounds like I do, and most guys wouldn't either. I'm just in a position I don't have to travel to go get wood, surrounded by it, so I can take my time and milk trees out..plus I like running small saws. Technically..I would never have to split a thing if I wanted to, to get all my firewood.

 

[Steve NW WI]

If i cannot grab the split by the end with one hand, it gets split until I can. The "rule of palm"?

That's exactly why my splits are "small". I've gotta be able to grab a split with one hand and stack it in my other hand when I bring an armload in the house. I get some bigger ones, but most end up 5x5 or smaller.

My stove takes 24", I cut to 20", this keeps a mostly full firebox and allows for the occasional oops that is a couple inches long.

My average firewood tree is about 16", cut everything from 4" DED killed elms and ironwoods on up to 24" or so oaks and maples, occasionally I'll have a monster to work on, but my 32" bar will take a few years to wear the paint off it. They just aren't common up here. I'd say 3/4 of the wood I cut is 12"-20" DBH.

I have a couple cords cut to 16", as I'm going to be changing stoves, and I may need shorter wood depending on my choices.