Firewood Diameter/size

[cruzer]

How small do you split your wood?

I have everything from full 2 foot diameter rounds to twigs

How big of a round to you leave? I am thinking about 4-5in diameter is OK to leave for seasoning (ready for use about Dec 1 if left now)

Maybe same size across for splits?

Stew

 

[creaid]

I would say you are right on.

 

[gink595]

That all depends if it is at the start of day or the end, The more tired I get the less accurate I hit. Seriously, I like to have a mix of different sized wood, bigger ones for all nighters and the smaller stuff to get a good hot fast fire going. though I have a free standing stove so I'm limited on size anyhow maybe 18"-20" at the most and 16" perferably, proably around the 5-7" dia. range and some around 8"-10".

 

[tomtrees58]

are you selling it or four you ?? tom trees

 

[aandabooks]

I go with a large mix of sizes. Anything under 8" will stay whole. Splits can get down to 4" at the widest. The door of my woodburner is 13"X13". Some of the stuff barely fits through the door and are used for all night pieces.

 

[acer saccharum]

That all depends if it is at the start of day or the end, The more tired I get the less accurate I hit. Seriously, I like to have a mix of different sized wood, bigger ones for all nighters and the smaller stuff to get a good hot fast fire going. though I have a free standing stove so I'm limited on size anyhow maybe 18"-20" at the most and 16" perferably, proably around the 5-7" dia. range and some around 8"-10".

About the same for me, 5-7". 8" is about the limit that will fit in my stove, especially if there is a good bed of coals.

 

[cruzer]

nope all personal.

I have tons of diffrent size pieces right now....i kind of feel right now that i have to much small stuff so i will probably stay a little bigger for this year. I can alway wack it once more in the winter with the axe if need be.

Stew

 

[Zodiac45]

Depends on what your using too burn the wood. Here in Maine if you bought cut/split wood you would specify "heater" wood or "stove" wood, stove being an old Cookstove like the Glenwood C I have. For that you want to split smaller so that you can adjust cooking temps and of course your "bisquit" wood is always small ash, hickory or some other hot burning type. Heater wood is bigger stuff for space heaters and furnaces. I almost always split everything at least once, just my preference, but if I have some small trimmings or tops I'll "reluctantly" keep em round

 

[cjk]

I had some red oak rounds stacked outside on the ground since last spring. 5-12" diameter pieces about 14" long. I finally got around to split them this week and was surprised to see how wet the wood was. Even the small 5" pieces were still too wet to burn.

I now split everything 5" or bigger in half to dry and stack off the ground.

Oak may take longer to season than the elm and maple I have burned but almost a year and the little ones werent dry:jawdrop:

 

[Saucydog]

MY Rule Of Thumb

If I can't get my hand over the end of the round and pick it up,I split it.

 

[RAYINTOMBALL]

I split everything 4" or bigger. It seasons so much better and IMO burns better. Just my 2 cents on the deal.

 

[aandabooks]

My first year I made the mistake of splitting everything small. Even the 4" got split in half. Not only did I increase my splitting time, I reduced my burn time. Now I keep most of my wood as large and whole possible for better burns. Do have to split some small for versatility in loading the furnace for overnight burning.

 

[dumbhunter]

if t will fit in my furnace it stays whole, even if im the only one that can lift and stoke it. for my garage now thats a different story, 6-7" long and maybe 4" diameter. but when i cut a tree up i take it all, wife will gather the twigs for kindling, the wood i cut mostly is remains from logging, but alot of wood is left behind, preseasoned a couple years and free. most of it i can back right up to and load the 1 ton full, then a mile home to split and stack.

 

[OilHead]

Rule of thumb here is if you cant pick it up with one hand then split it in half.

 

[JBinKC]

I have a various selection up to 8 inches in diameter. Elm or the oddball pieces stay on the large side for obvious reasons. The woods that are easy to split by hand I always will keep under 6 inches.

 

[Wood Doctor]

One thing for sure, ever since I trained LOML to load the stove now and then, suddenly I split the logs down a little further.

 

[bowtechmadman]

If I can't pick it up to heave it into my OWB then I split it. Of course it's just my opinion but I think I get longer burn from unsplit seasoned wood. Older I get the more I have to split...for some reason each year the wood I can lift tends to get smaller.