Chopping wood help please.....

[Diggin It]

I've split some stuff under 4" just to help it dry better. Whole pieces with the bark on don't dry (season) sell. I've also found the bark will help harbor insects and give them a place to work from undetected. Keep it off the ground if you can, moisture and dirt will also invite insects and rot.

Length will depend on the size of your stove. Longer pieces will be heavier to carry of course and Red Oak is very heavy, even in 16-20" pieces

If you plan on doing this in future years, invest in a splitter. Stand alone or 3 point for the tractor is another point of contention here. I prefer stand alone so I can leave it at the wood pile without the tractor.

 

[Deere Dude]

I find that if I cut in logs one year and then cut into rounds the next year or two the bark falls right off. As long as you have a new tough saw already and the first tree I would cut into rounds right now and store in your shed. Logs after a year or two are easier to split with a hydraulic splitter. They don't seem as stringy. I spray BIFEN IT which is a termicide to keep all bugs off my wood pile.

 

[JasperFrank]

I've started making fire wood in a different manner than most. Instead of chainsaw cutting the normal 10-14 inch rounds and then splitting, I cut much smaller 4 to 6 inch thick "Poker Chips." It was something of an experiment. For me the experiment payed off. Splitting is a breeze if the poker chip will not fit the stove, and normally the round will split, with one hit center with the maul, in to three or more pie slices. If the chip will fit with out splitting, I just use the whole chip and stack them in the stove. This seems to slow down the burn rate so I'm good all night with one load. I haven't studied this method in a formal way, but it feels like way less work. Chain sawing this way makes more saw dust, but we use that dust anyway for grounds keeping.

 

[oosik]

The only wood around here is Ponderosa pine. We burned wood the first ten years we were here. I tried my damest to split this stuff with a splitting maul - no joy. Went to a 30 ton hydraulic splitter. The wood stove would handle 16" length.

I would fell a tree - cut to length - split - transport to woodshed and stack. All in a continuous motion. Five full chords a year. I had a two bay wood shed. Burn the wood split last year.

It all worked great. However, it did bring a lot of bugs, bark & ash( Mt St Helens ) into the house. After ten years we converted to pellets. The price of pellets went out of sight. We are now electric heat.

 

[LouNY]

Grew up on wood, cut split and stacked this winter for next year.
Now I burn coal, pick up apallet of 40# bags bring it up to the house,
pour a bag into a 5 gallon bucket.
Shake the ash down once a day, pour in most of a bucket carry the ash pan out to the steel trash can and dump it,
done no creosote, no chimney fires to worry about, usually 24 hours or longer heat from one load.
Heck of a lot less fuss and work then wood.
Lou

 

[turnkey4099]

A few comments.

On covering your stacks. Tops only. The air has to get to the sides of the splits or it won't dry.

Split green or dry? Depends on the species, some (black locust) splits easier the dryier it gets. Some it doesn't matter. Some it splits easier green.

Splitting: If splitting manually Fiskars or not. By all means invest in a "Fiskars Splitting Ax" Be sure it is that one and not the "Fiskars Chopping Ax" Available at Wal Mart currently for $53 IIANM. You will also need a splitting maul and probably a sledgehammer, 10 or 8lb, and a couple steel splitting wedges. No one tool will do everything.

 

[kuschneider]

"Diameter, again, wife wife moans if I get it too big"

Amen brother

 

[Larry Caldwell]

If you are splitting by hand with a maul, split oak while green. If you are using a splitter, it probably doesn't matter.

Split anything too big to fit in the firebox. My wood stove will accept a 24" long by 10" round log, which saves me a lot of work. My wife can't handle that, so just uses little 4" splits, then forgets and the fire goes out.

The bigger the piece the longer it takes to dry and the longer it will hold a coal. If you are faced with a 3' round try splitting shakes off the outside.

I save the little branches for a quick fire. Get up in the morning, toss half a dozen 1.5" rounds in the firebox, open the draft, and by the time I'm out of the shower the stove is hot. By the time I'm dressed for work it has burned to coals, so damp it down. When the sun comes up it warms the house all day, and heats the tile floor. By the time I get home from work the house is still warm, so I dump the ashes and build a new fire.

A fireplace is decorative, not practical. You won't use it much. Glass doors will help keep the heat from going up the chimney.

 

[fishheadbob]

Never make wood your wife cannot handle.
I heated with wood 40 years, my preference was to split before loading onto a wagon as close to the downed log as possible as it only weighed half as much after splitting. I'm also of the opinion that the greater the surface area exposed to air, the better the dry down. Some thinner pieces are nice for starting a fire, some thicker ones keep you from having to load the appliance too often.
Since you have the large equipment shed, use it. I could usually scrounge some pallets to stack on, keeping the wood from ground contact.

 

[LD48750]

As far as splitting size, I quit splitting when I can pick it up with one hand.
I cut dead & down into rounds then split & stack under cover (in barn) and burn that year.
Some of the stuff I drag out of the woods or swamp has been down for 5 or more years.
I really like standing dead 2 or more years old.
Mostly oak around me.