I am working on a tree that was standing dead for years, so the wood is dry. I know it will still start/burn a bit better if I split it, but I was wondering what size dimeter to split down to. If you had wood you knew was dry, what size and under would you leave in the round? I was thinking 4" to 5" and smaller. I burn in an Avalone 1250, which is a mid size wood stove.
Posted Feb 6, 2022, 10:55 PM UTC
I try to give my wood 3 years to dry after splitting so I go pretty large, normally 7-9" across a side.
Personally, I wouldn't assume a large tree that's been standing dead is dry inside either without checking a split with a moisture meter. Big logs can take a loooong time to dry out.
Split it, stack it and burn it in 1-2 years.
Some wood like sugar maple or white oak isn't dry after 3 years. If all you burn is pine then yeah, 12 months after splitting is enough.
3 years to season white oak? Really?
Yeah. Really. It might be always need 36 months, but I've found it isn't quite ready, testing by moisture meter, after 2 years. And my stacks ate in a decent location that get good airflow, full sun, and are top covered
https://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/seasoning-white-oak.30370/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/white-oak-seasoning-time.88505/
Ok.. the handling of firewood is the most time consuming part. There is no right or wrong answer here… there are just too many factors. If you want to burn it tomorrow, split it smaller. If you want to burn it next season split it larger. You really just gotta get a feel for it, through experience.
Yeah, trying to be efficient about my handling time. Lots of factors, I know.
My rule of thumb is if it’s bigger than 5 inches or so, it gets split. If it’s birch I might go down to 4 so it doesn’t start to rot inside the bark.
I dropped a standing dead oak a couple years back. It was nowhere near ready to burn except for the wood near the top of the tree. I was surprised how much moisture was still in the center of the bigger rounds. It had been dead long enough that most of the bark was off it.
If I can't hold it easily by the end with one hand, it gets split again. Every few rounds I'll leave some big ones for all-nighters.
I've been cutting on a red oak that has been down at least 7 years (I bought my place 7 years ago and it was already down when I bought it).
When I split the wood, it looks like someone misted it with a spray bottle while I had my back turned.
I was really disappointed because I thought I had a whole oak tree's worth of wood that I could burn the first year I had my stove. Nope, not even close.
Yeah, no bark at all on this one. Not sure what it is though. Seems kind of middle of the road for hardness.
Dont split anything smaller than 9 inches in this situation.
I sometimes use larger rounds for a long, overnight burn to ensure i have plenty of coals in the morning, Especially if they have a small fork in them which makes splitting a chore. But usually, I try to split anything larger than 4 or 5 inches.
Not idea, here in the northeast i've yet to find anything standing dead that was worth burning. Its all rotten here.
Occasionally stuff that has fallen over will be worth it, but it can't have been on the ground for any length of time.