What size do you cut your firewood?

[MattB]

This thread is aimed at guys selling firewood.

What lengths do you cut and sell?

How small do you split it too?

I try to sell it the size I like to burn it. 3.5"-4.5" to a face.

I ask because those huge firewood processors I see on youtube look like they kick out a lot of pieces I would want to re-split. Anyone have any thoughts on the processors?

There's a big difference in labor if you're selling 18" wood with 6" faces or selling 14" wood with 3" faces.

Can you charge a premium where you're at for the small stove wood?

 

[Big_Al]

I usually cut all mine at 16" length & small enough I can pick up with one hand. Seems to be the length most people want & I can fit 6 rows in my truck. I've only had 1 person ask about shorter pieces, I passed on the deal. They wanted 12" length by 3", probably could have charged more but not worth it. Always have more demand than I do wood anyway.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

95% of what I sell is 16". I've never really measured the split size, it's just something I eyeball. Some stuff I run through the splitter 2 or 3 times all depending how large the log was. A log around 16" across or smaller is about perfect for my processor's splitter to not have to resplit.

The other 5% would be 18", 20" and 24"... as well as 12 or 14". Or I've had some folks want rounds which I don't do (my back can't handle lifting the rounds out of the processor splitter trough). I put the 4 way splitter head on and just "chunk" them.

I don't charge extra but I have thought about having a deposit put down on custom length. I almost got stuck with 2 cords of 12" this summer, ended up a drunk slammed into the telephone post and knocked out the customers phone for several days.

 

[farmer steve]

i do 16" for everyone. it's easier to put 16" in a big stove than 20" in a little stove. i use an old arrow cut to 16" as my measuring stick when sawing. i mix a few smaller 2-4" rounds in each load. i would say if you do custom sizes you should charge more.

 

[square1]

16" & able to pick up & throw on the trailer with one hand.

What are your thoughts on offering OWB size (say 36" x whatever you can lift)??

 

[jrider]

I cut 16" for the wood I sell. It will fit most stoves and its easy to get a 4' long stack by taking 3 pieces and putting them end to end. Customers usually eat it up,when you tell them that.

As for owb wood, 30" if its 8" diameter or smaller. If its bigger and needs splitting 22" as my splitter will only split up to 24" long and I want to be sure a slightly crooked cut will still fit. Nothing much more annoying than picking up a big piece only to find its half an inch too long.

 

[Icehouse]

In this area the wood is all cut to 16" unles ordered otherwise. Mostly quartered or halved on the split, most all folks that burn wood have a chopping block and want to split their own wood to size. I cut my own to 13" cause I load my stove wood end ways, keeps it from falling against the glass door.

 

[zogger]

16s. Of course I wind up with a lot of shorts and longs and doglegs and crotch pieces.

If someone wanted custom cut, sure, whatever they want, deposit first.

Way back we cut a variety, from long fireplace wood down to 10-12 for wood cook stoves, and that was split small.

The best loot was perfect round white birch, around six inch diameter, that went to rich folks in expensive apartments/homes to sit in a brass basket next to the fireplace.

 

[Icehouse]

I've got two friends that have OWB's and can burn 32" wood, I tried to convince them to order 16" cause it would be easier to load. After last year of burning and cutting themselves on the smoke door they have ordered 16" for this year. One unit is in a restaurant and they other a motel. Last year they burned what ever people sold them, mostly green wet wood, a stuff like cottonwood, seemed to heat their buildings but boilers were always out of wood. This year they demanded dry quality wood and are bragging about how long a burn they get and less creosote with no burns or cuts. See even Californians can learn

 

[Jere39]

I cut between 16-18" without a measure, so 90% of what I cut is within half an inch of 17". I split by hand, and probably end up like most of you with a size easily handled with one hand. It looks like this when stacked:



I've got one problem customer, who wants 10" stuff for a very small, old wood burning stove he uses in a carving shop. He gets exactly what he wants, he taught me everything I know about most of life, he's my Dad.

 

[460magman]

i use the mingo with 18 inch wheel and 16 inch wheel

 

[Deleted member 83629]

20'' for my stove it will hold its made for a 24''

 

[Red97]

16" if I am buying, Same as mentioned if you can stack it one handed on top of the pile.

If I am cutting and loading the OWB I like 24-30" for my stove It will hold 38-40" piece if I stack it in the right spot.

Mostly small pieces this year 16-18" one handers, I travel for work so the girlfriend fills the stove.

 

[Icehouse]

I cut between 16-18" without a measure, so 90% of what I cut is within half an inch of 17". I split by hand, and probably end up like most of you with a size easily handled with one hand. It looks like this when stacked:

View attachment 390369

I've got one problem customer, who wants 10" stuff for a very small, old wood burning stove he uses in a carving shop. He gets exactly what he wants, he taught me everything I know about most of life, he's my Dad.

View attachment 390370

Good looking wood piles

 

[Wood Doctor]

Ditto on 16" to 19" without a measure, except the chainsaw bar. I save the longer ones for folks with fireplaces and the shorter ones for wood stoves. I usually get 400 logs into the pickup, packed about like my avatar, four rows deep.

However, one customer was using a potbelly stove that he salvaged from a railroad caboose. All the logs had to be 14" or less. I packed in 500 logs on that load, five rows deep, cab high. He drove his Ram 1500 to my place and unloaded my truck into his that had no sideboards. Needless to say, he had to make two trips to haul it all away.

 

[autoimage]

I cut to 18 so when I stack 2 rows on a pallet with 1' air gap but my sales are very part time and all fireplace buyers almost every customer has remarked they like the smaller splits I give

 

[Wood Doctor]

I cut to 18 so when I stack 2 rows on a pallet with 1' air gap but my sales are very part time and all fireplace buyers almost every customer has remarked they like the smaller splits I give.

Smaller splits are really appreciated by fireplace customers, primarily because they are easier to light and burn with more flames, something that they cherish. What few wood stove customers I have tend to want bulkier logs that burn longer, and flames mean little to them. Extended burn time is far more important to anyone seriously heating their house with wood.

Then there's another factor. Ladies have a hard time loading in big logs. They like splits that they can lift easily. Over half of my customers are females, and many do not have a hubby at home or any hubby at all, for that matter. That's society today.

 

[blackdogon57]

14" for everyone. Most people around here have newer stoves that seem to have smaller boxes. This length seems to keep most people happy. I also use 14" in my OWB though I make my splits much larger.