Size of firewood splits.

[zogger]

Those look 32" long. How the heck do you split them

Well, guessing...that fiskars in the pics and manly man muscles and good technique.

 

[benp]

Those look 32" long. How the heck do you split them

Either the Fiskars or noodled. These pictures were done with the Fiskars.

I ran into a sassy piece of Norway pine yesterday same diameter as the ones standing in the picture.

First one fought me good. It gave me a hint of cracking so I din't give up. Sucker was dryer than a popcorn fart.

The next two.......Fiskars went "THUNK." That was is it. One more whack and the same. I said nope.

I'll sick the 394 after those two.

 

[MuskokaSplitter]

16"long. Probably between 3-5"wide...a good mix. A few bigger and a few smaller

 

[woodguy105]

Me I like smaller...ish. My figuring is if it's good and seasoned it's gonna burn fine and long if we keep an eye on it. If the splits are big they better be fully seasoned. Nothing worse than dropping a fatty on the coals and NOT getting that good hot burn. JMHO. Smaller ish and a few lunkers in there is my MO.

 

[haveawoody]

I guess this firewood size thing also comes down to what type of wood and what size woodstove you have.
If your burning lots of softwoods then larger size pieces are going to work well, dense hardwood small will be better and bigger chunks for long burn sleeping time.
Location for winter also has a big impact on what you burn, not much point in putting in small splits when it's -30 outdoors for extended periods.

I think each person due to climate location, woodstove size and wood type gets a natural feel for what works well and I think you will find that is a little different for each person.
Your best to pay most attention to people that live semi close to you because they will have to most similar conditions and wood as you.
Pretty much whatever you split as long as it fits in the woodstove will have a use at some point but having the bulk of normal use firewood is best.

 

[kingOFgEEEks]

I cut about 24" long, because my stove will take it. I was splitting down to the ~4"x6" size range so my wife could handle the splits, but when she saw me doing that, she stopped me and said "I can handle heavier pieces than that. I would rather only have to put 1 or 2 pieces in rather than several". So since then, for the most part, anything that will fit through my 11 x 11 firebox door is small enough.

 

[djones]

My burn chamber is 3' x 3' but I usually only fill the back half so my splits are generally 16"to 20" long and easily handled with one hand, maybe a 5"split. My rule of thumb is "if I can't pick it up one handed, split it." Most times anything over 5" dia. gets split.

 

[CRThomas]

When I have to buy firewood I run short fir my bundled firewood business I always split it down to the same size of my wrist

 

[flotek]

Some may call me crazy but I have noticed an interesting phenomenon regarding split length . I get the same burn times if the wood is cut to 18-20" long as I do if it's 22-24 " long .. Anyone else notice this ? I think it's relative to the way my EPA furnace draws air in and the shorter wood tends to be drier

 

[benp]

I guess this firewood size thing also comes down to what type of wood and what size woodstove you have.
If your burning lots of softwoods then larger size pieces are going to work well, dense hardwood small will be better and bigger chunks for long burn sleeping time.
Location for winter also has a big impact on what you burn, not much point in putting in small splits when it's -30 outdoors for extended periods.

I think each person due to climate location, woodstove size and wood type gets a natural feel for what works well and I think you will find that is a little different for each person.
Your best to pay most attention to people that live semi close to you because they will have to most similar conditions and wood as you.
Pretty much whatever you split as long as it fits in the woodstove will have a use at some point but having the bulk of normal use firewood is best.

Ding Ding. Bingo.

Everyone's situation is different.

Some may call me crazy but I have noticed an interesting phenomenon regarding split length . I get the same burn times if the wood is cut to 18-20" long as I do if it's 22-24 " long .. Anyone else notice this ? I think it's relative to the way my EPA furnace draws air in and the shorter wood tends to be drier

Quality is equal to quantity maybe?

 

[beerbelly]

I burn small stuff in my small stove for my small house! Never a long burn time, but in the dead of winter I can get the living room up to 80deg. while the "far" end of the house is about 72. To hot for me, but Wife likes it and if she is happy, everyone is happy!

I light the stove twice a day. Early morning, and when we get home in the late afternoon. I go through a massive amount of kindling, and I have to constantly feed it small chunks of wood. It is a 100 year old small oak stove. Not very efficient but it gets hot & heats the room very quickly. It works for me, and it keeps me occupied while I am consuming my beer at night.

Mmmmmm.....beer.

 

[Ironworker]

For me I have a small woodstove and very well insulated house so the cuts tend to be one of 3 things.
Small stubbie splits 4"x4"x8" to start a fire log cabin sort of style with kindle in the middle and normal splits 4"x4"x16" across the stubbies.
I also make night blocks out of any wood that is painful to split (American elm, shagbark etc ) 14"x14"x16", keeps splitting already tough to split wood down to a minimum and putting one big block in before bed is an easy routine.

Is this correct, you make 14" wide splits?

 

[c5rulz]

Smaller slits work better in our smallish stove.

I like smaller slits too.

 

[haveawoody]

Ironworker,

Yes I make them for night blocks, things that pretty much fill the woodstove as 1 piece.
Put one in just before bed open the air up so the block burns properly and go to bed.
They burn all night and most mornings still going when I get up.
Big night blocks for me are always tough to split things like American elm, shagbark etc, less splitting of nasty to split things is always a good thing LOL.

The trick with such a big single piece of wood is lots of air, without good air they tend to burn quite poor or even go out.

 

[JeffHK454]

I usually try to split in the 5x5 range with the lengths dictated by the tree services ..anywhere from 8" to 2'. I'll also mix in some smaller size stuff and unsplit logs for the times I want shorter or longer burns.

My dad doesn't burn anymore but he still likes splitting (crazy) , when he works up a truck full they're two handers for sure. I appreciate the help but my wife scowls when she sees the 15lbs. hunks.

 

[svk]

On year 2 with my boiler. By doubling the size of the splits I was able to more than double the burn time which is huge for both overnight comfort and wood consumption. I still keep smaller pieces for shoving between/on top of the big pieces for overnight burns and also to start a new fire. Can't wait to get into the hardwood and see how much better it burns.

 

[sawjunky23]

I vary the sizes some, I split some pretty small and I keep some in chunks just under the size of the door, seems to work good for me. I am saving my pennies for an outdoor boiler so hopfully I can spend more time cutting and less time splitting!

 

[sb47]

I like to have a variety of sizes in a cord, This give them a choice of a small fire or some big pieces that will last all night.
But I do tend to make them a little bit bigger then my smoking wood.

 

[zogger]

On year 2 with my boiler. By doubling the size of the splits I was able to more than double the burn time which is huge for both overnight comfort and wood consumption. I still keep smaller pieces for shoving between/on top of the big pieces for overnight burns and also to start a new fire. Can't wait to get into the hardwood and see how much better it burns.

Be interesting to see after a few years if your total cords used drops a lot with larger splits.