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To Split, or Not To Split

Started by DR_Buck, November 24, 2014, 06:41:26 PM

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DR_Buck

That is the question. 

How many of you with outdoor furnaces actually split your wood?   For the 5 years I've had my CB-6048 I pretty much have cut my wood to a size I can pick and fit through the furnace door.   Every once in a while I would get a hold of a pretty good size log the I would cut to about 24" and then split on the hydraulic splitter.   Otherwise the splitter was rarely used.

Now things are starting to change.   I very recently acquired a firewood processor and splitting is now quite easy.   

Getting back to the question ......  From a standpoint of burning efficiency do you think there is an advantage to using larger chunks or  split firewood?   I have a fairly large pile of split wood that I am now feeding the furnace with, but have not had enough time to see if there is an advantage or not.   

What are your thoughts?
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

beenthere

In the end, it is the moisture content of the wood that you burn that affects the BTU's per volume of wood you put in your burner. After the moisture is out, then it is just a matter of pounds of dry wood you toss in. IMO

A given percentage of Moisture content (oven dry basis) of say 12% (or whatever),  makes no difference if the wood is round or split.  Likely does make a difference in getting that round or split wood down to that 12%.  ;)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Brucer

Every time you spit a piece of wood, you increase the surface area without increasing the total amount of wood. Given an unlimited amount of oxygen, the smaller pieces will burn faster because there is more surface to burn.

If your furnace/stove gives you a lot of control over the amount of oxygen the fire gets, it won't make much difference. If you don't have much control over the oxygen feed, you can control your burning rate by varying the size of the pieces.

If you're trying to dry the wood quickly, the smaller pieces will dry more quickly (because there is more surface for the moisture to evaporate from).
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

WmFritz

This topic sounds like the  3 year argument I've had with my boy.  :D
He's in the unsplit camp... or the big split camp anyway. He has it in his head that the rounds and big splits burn alot longer then the under 6" splits I insist on. He's right...it does, but I can't make him understand that it wastes wood when he's boiling the water out of it first.
~Bill

2012 Homebuilt Bandmill
1959 Detroit built Ferguson TO35

bandmiller2

Some woods ,beech for example, must be split to dry well. I split enough so I can easily handle the chunks, you get a much longer burn from rounds or large chunks. When you really need the heat smaller split stuff puts out. I hate to see some split "stove wood" for an outdoor furnace. Its natural when your making up firewood to get a size mix. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

r.man

Am I the only one who wants to know about Dr Bs processor?
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

WmFritz

Quote from: r.man on November 25, 2014, 02:49:46 PM
Am I the only one who wants to know about Dr Bs processor?

Nope! I think he's kept us in the dark on that one.  ???
~Bill

2012 Homebuilt Bandmill
1959 Detroit built Ferguson TO35

Reddog

Quote from: Brucer on November 25, 2014, 12:31:35 AM
Every time you spit a piece of wood, you increase the surface area without increasing the total amount of wood. Given an unlimited amount of oxygen, the smaller pieces will burn faster because there is more surface to burn.

If your furnace/stove gives you a lot of control over the amount of oxygen the fire gets, it won't make much difference. If you don't have much control over the oxygen feed, you can control your burning rate by varying the size of the pieces.

If you're trying to dry the wood quickly, the smaller pieces will dry more quickly (because there is more surface for the moisture to evaporate from).

+1

Saved me some typing  :)

doctorb

I am Dr. B's processor.  I use 10 cords +/- per year.  I purchase half and usually get the other half from downed trees on my property.  I have a lot of locust, so I am getting really good firewood that splits easily.  I will burn anything that comes down, as long as it's not an evergreen, and I have enough time to season it. That being said, I had a back operation this past June and have done minimal splitting since.  Fortunately, I had everything for this winter and 75% for next winter already up and split.  I do have a splitter, but the larger stuff is split the old fashion way.  I like(d) the exercise and it keeps me out from under Jenny's feet.  While I have purchased uncut length logs, it's just too hard to handle by hand.  I have also purchased rounds cut to length.  I think from this point on I am purchasing split firewood and still going to prep what comes down around me.  I've got a couple of cords of locust down by the barn sitting in rounds, just waiting for me to swing at them. 

With regards to split or not to split, if you have a gasifier stove, you should burn dry fuel for optimal performance.  I've never burned wood that was not properly seasoned in my OWB, so I have no first-hand experience with using unseasoned (> 20% WC) wood in my furnace.



My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

NWP

Green, dry, split, unsplit, big, or small. If it fits through the door it gets burned. My motto is kind of like the ad campaign that the postal service has. "If it fits it ships". Only in my case if it fits it burns.
1999 Blockbuster 2222, 1997 Duratech HD10, 2021 Kubota SVL97-2, 2011 Case SV250, 2000 Case 1845C, 2004 Case 621D, John Deere 540A, 2011 Freightliner with Prentice 120C, 2012 Chevrolet, 1997 GMC bucket truck, several trailers, and Stihl saws.

landscraper

So, I'm an OWB user and a processor owner too - here's my thoughts on it.  When I first got my OWB several years ago I fell right into the "I can burn anything!" category and proceeded to feed mountains of green rounds into it to heat my house.  As I clambered up the learning curve I caught on to the wet wood=wasted btu concept.  Also, the wife complained a ?few? times about loading 24" long red oak rounds into the OWB.  So I started splitting alot of wood ahead of time.  Then as I started accumulating lots of dry split wood people started wanting to buy it from me.  Most of them are woodstove/fireplace people.  So, now with the processor I split the wood the way a paying customer will want it (16" x manageable size), and I just get my firewood out of that pile.  The exceptions are:  I split some pine for myself (fall and spring wood) into big quarters when the log is >14", otherwise keep it round; and I keep any standing dead locust in rounds up to about 12", or any standing dead limb wood in rounds.  Those are my cold-night logs.  Otherwise I try to get a good mix of hefty quarter splits all the way down to smaller pieces and I want the wood as dry as reasonably attainable.   My moisture meter gets used alot now. 

P.S. I want to know what kind of processor DR_Buck has too.  Mine is an old Brute (pre-Built-Rite).
Firewood is energy independence on a personal scale.

DR_Buck

My processor is kind of a secret.  At least I was sworn to secrecy to not divulge my source.   However, ever since the first time we saw the Logrite Woodinator  several years ago we wanted one.   I just couldn't justify it since I wasn't looking to go into the firewood business.     But now with retirement from the day job fast approaching we decided maybe we should make the jump and get one.   Surprise - Surprise !!!   I find out unfortunately Logrite is not currently manufacturing them.   However, as rare as they are to find, I was able to locate, arranged a deal get my hands on one.   


This thing is sweet! 8)







My plan is to offer a wood splitting (processing) service similar to my mobile sawmill business.    Take to where landowner or homeowners have downed trees, even in their back yards, charge an hourly rate and make firewood out of their logs. Since the Woodinator has it's own log loading and chunk lifting built in, I can take it onsite to make firewood without needing any other handling equipment, and it won't damage any yards by rolling it across them.
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

WmFritz

I'm impressed!

I also know now who I can trust with a secret.  ;D
~Bill

2012 Homebuilt Bandmill
1959 Detroit built Ferguson TO35

Small Slick

I am wondering myself about the need to split. I'm building a cabin and don't readily have access to a splitter so I've been cutting my rounds short her than needed. If most of the drying comes from the ends I figure if I make the ends closer together they should dry faster. It's a recreational place so I don't have some of the same needs as others might.  Any flaws with this logic? 

John

beenthere

How short?  And which species?

Always can split the bigger, short ones with a hand splitting maul. Or just another chainsaw cut to reduce their size.

I see no "flaws" in your logic. ;)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

VTwoodworker

I am in my 6th season heating with my e classic 2300.  And I am firmly in the split camp for my application.  I do burn 75% soft wood because that is what I have.  I completely understand the argument for larger blocks to last longer and this works for more conventional stoves and boilers.  It does not work for me in the e classic.  I have found for the gasification to work efficiently there needs to be more surface area of wood.  I split my wood to something close to 6" on the widest side.

I can get away with putting larger "night chunks" on top during a reload but put seasoned split wood on the bottom 2/3 for best results.  This provides the best efficiency for my unit.  For me it comes down to maximizing the btu output for a given volume of wood and not losing energy up the chimney with incomplete burn.

Small Slick

Quote from: beenthere on November 26, 2014, 12:40:02 AM
How short?  And which species?

Always can split the bigger, short ones with a hand splitting maul. Or just another chainsaw cut to reduce their size.

I see no "flaws" in your logic. ;)

Species would be oak and maple mostly. There is so much dead and down wood on our land that I just drove around with the UTV gator and blocked it up and threw it in the back. I should be able to gather wood this way for ten years and never get more than 50' from the trail. Some of the down stuff had surface rot if it had been laying close to the ground.  I don't think some punky wood will hurt anything.

At this time I could split the bigger stuff with a hand maul. And also keep some for the night long burns once the cabin is finished enough to sleep in. Until I started reading this forum I always thought wood didn't ever dry unless it was split. I'm talking about 16" stove length. I have been cutting my rounds at 10-12" as my stove will take two of those end to end. John.


KyLogger

I generally don't venture over here much, but I am in the anything that will fit through the door camp. Pine, oak, maple, poplar, hickory, you name it. I found that our furnace, a Surflame forced air unit does not like straight hickory, coals up too much. Mixed with other woods it does well. That being said I do usually split my wood and split it rather small for a OWB I cut mine about 16"-18" and usually no larger than 8". I am a logger by trade, so the cut off pile and tops are free for the taking. I work it up on the landing and bring a trailer as needed. Been burning all Chestnut, White and Black Oak this year cause that's what we are cutting in. They are definitely my favorite species to burn. During the ice storm of '09 I burnt almost exclusively green black pine, lots of it down around our field edges. It burnt well but I found I had to load the stove three times a day instead of my normal two. Heck, everything I burn is green, never have time to split it a year in advance. Work it up as needed ;)
I only work old iron because I secretly have a love affair with my service truck!

Andries

There's a gal in Vienna who would vote "don't split".
From the Associated Press this morning:
VIENNA - Austrian police investigating a grenade blast were less puzzled by the explosion and more by where it took place — inside a wood stove that appeared to contain nothing but firewood.
The woman who owned the wood burner also had no clue at first. After all, she only put firewood inside.
Or so she thought.
Police spokeswoman Petra Datscher said Monday a World War II grenade apparently landed on a tree during fighting. It was then enveloped by wood growing around it to the point that it was invisible when the tree was chopped down for firewood and sold to the supermarket where the unidentified 22-year-old woman bought it.
The blast Sunday in the lakeside town of Gmunden shattered the stove's glass panel, but the sturdy wrought-iron stove prevented injuries.


A grenade in the firewood would probably bend any splitter, plus it's operator.  :D
She's lucky, that whole event could've been tragic!
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Ford 545D loader
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