How small diameter do you burn?

[Spike60]

The quick answer to my own question is I burn down to 3". Below that is kindling, so some of that gets burned also. I've always done some of the 3 and 4 inch wood when cutting at home. But when cutting at other locations I never bother with it, subscribing I suppose to the "it ain't worth the trouble" theory. I know it wouldn't go over well if wood that size was sold to a customer. Also, I have a quadrafire indoor stove. I know this practice wouldn't make any sense for you outdoor boiler guys.

But on my own property I'm saving more of it for the stove, vs it going in the firepit, or just left to rot. Pretty easy work. No heavy lifting, no splitting, can cut it up with the smallest saw I own. Just toss them in the trailer behind the quad and enjoy the being in the woods.

Since I'm no longer in the store all day, burn time doesn't matter. In fact a 4" round will generally burn longer than 4" split. Not a problem to feed the stove more often if I'm home during the day. Either way, being home more often means I'm using more wood no matter what size it is. Might as well use these smaller rounds instead of letting them go to waste. Helps keep the property neat and clean too.

Anybody else burn the small stuff?

[doc henderson]

yes.  it is nice to have a variety of stuff in the IBC tote, and then on the rack, and in the wood box in the house.  bigger stuff for overnight after the fire is going with a bed of coals.  we have been using a plastic wheeled tote for in the house.  load it up and it rolls across the patio and can be slid up the stairs.  put in its spot and all the dirt stays in the tote.



 

[peakbagger]

When I was cutting on someone else's property, I tried to cut down to 3" and tried to make the resulting brush piles as flat as possible. I also cut when the leaves were off to further reduce the volume of brush. Cutting on my own land, I probably cut downto 4", unless its not straight like crown wood on beech. I have a wood boiler in my basement with 500 gallons of thermal storage that has a bottom grate so there is no coal bed to relight the fire between fires, so I have to restart the fire every time I need to heat the storage tank up and having some small stuff mixed in with the big pieces to light it off.

There is a good chance I will have a third party clearing a right of way on my woodlot, I wrote into the lease that any hardwood over 6" will be hauled down to a landing while everything smaller will get chipped and spread in the woods. I think that may result in a few years of firewood. 

[dairyguy]

I have no hard limits.   For premium BTU species I will go down to 2 inches maybe even 1 inch and more like 3 and a half for others.   At these small sizes an even bigger factor is how convenient it is to cut out a straight (ish) piece at least 16 inches long.   

[Stephen1]

All I burn is the sawmill cutoffs, I keep the hardwood bundles for myself and split it all down to 3" . Some of the hardwood bundles will have a bit of pine in them which work great for kindling. I bring all my broken and short stickers home for kindling. I have to start 1-2 fires per day in the Masonary heater as there are no coals left after the fire burns out. I like those totes doc, where did you get them?

[brianJ]

I have no hard limits.   For premium BTU species I will go down to 2 inches maybe even 1 inch and more like 3 and a half for others.   At these small sizes an even bigger factor is how convenient it is to cut out a straight (ish) piece at least 16 inches long.

I cut small rounds out of branches to make them easier to bunch up in a neat pile.     Usually that doesnt need to be as small as yours but smaller than most people.

[doc henderson]

I got the first one at Walmart, then could not find them there so now Amazon.  Sterlite is the brand and 40 gallon.  they last 3 or 4 years depending on how the wood is "thrown" into them.  I have thought about putting a thin bit of plywood in the bottom.  that is where they fail from wood hitting the formed bottom over and over.  It can be full and slide up the concrete steps and rolls nice.  I do not use the lids.  I got a 2 pack still in the box.

[doc henderson]

I now have a chop saw out by the splitter and can cut the smaller stuff and toss it in the crate without splitting.  cutting small stuff in bulk with a chainsaw tends to bind or kick it into my shins. 

[NE Woodburner]

When cutting out in the woods I probably don't go much smaller than 3" or 4". I cut into sections that I can skid out and cut any remaining tops so they lay close to the ground. This year I have been cutting diseased or hazard trees around the edges of my lawn and near my house and driveway, so I've been cutting much smaller wood - even down to 2" just to have it look neat. Like Doc mentioned, cutting small stuff with a chainsaw by yourself can be frustrating and dangerous. I started using my cordless electric chain saw for this. It can be run with one hand and I can hold the small log with the other. I found it to be reasonably productive to cut small branches into long lengths with my gas saw as I am cutting larger logs into rounds. Once I have a pile of the small stuff I cut with the battery saw and throw the pieces right into my tractor bucket. It's surprising how fast you can fill a bucket.

I still won't bother with the small stuff once I'm back to cutting in the woods again.

[cutterboy]

I like to burn small diameter wood in my kitchen cook stove and also, when I cut down a tree I like to use as much of it as possible so I will cut down to 2" or so.


 

 
When I cut along the edges of fields I cut a lot of small trees.


 

 
Small diameter wood has it's own place in the barn.


 

 
Small stuff does take time but it's worth it to me.

[B.C.C. Lapp]

Ill cut stack and burn down to 2 in. for our stoves.   Waste not want not and all that.   I dont sell anything that isn't split.  Sell the best, burn the rest.

[John Mc]

One one of the properties I cut, it's a requirement that anything under 3" be left in the forest to rot. It turns out that the vast majority of nutrients are in the smaller branches (which makes sense since most of the activity is near the surface of the trunk and branches).  So I started doing the same thing on my own property as well. I don;t get hung up on exactly where the cut-off is: sometimes I cut down to 3", sometimes I stop at 4".

It's also rare that I lop the slash down low to the ground. I'll do it near the house or major trails just so things look nice. Other places I leave it: it helps protect the regeneration from deer browse.

[Don P]

Look up "ramial wood" for more on that. Mike Belben was into it for awhile and wrote some on here about it. I found a report from experiments at VA Tech. My understanding is they are talking about pencil sized and below but it all has nutrients and organic matter. There is no waste either way I guess, some is slower release.

I guess I tend to go down to about 3-4" all depending on handling distance.
This morning looked like sweet birch and walnut to start and a minute later i threw on some apple and poplar till it got to a split oak and locust sized fire.

Now that I'm north of the fatwood line, I use a lot of pinecones, which are sorta almost as good



 

[Andries]

. . .  Pretty easy work. No heavy lifting, no splitting, can cut it up with the smallest saw I own. Just toss them in the trailer behind the quad and enjoy the being in the woods.

Funny how we come across someone else doing exactly the same thing, but many miles apart. Quad and trailer, battery saw, the pooch running alongside and picking off the trail and road 'encroachers'.
With the white birch, the tip of the saw is run down the length of the trunk, then blocked to 16". Saves having to use the splitter.

[John Mc]

With the white birch, the tip of the saw is run down the length of the trunk, then blocked to 16". Saves having to use the splitter.

Cracking that bark is a big one for White Birch, especially if you won't be splitting it.

[upnut]

If you've ever burned brush piles you realize how many BTU's there are even in the small stuff. I cut down to crow's nest material in hickory or hard maple, probably down to 4" in the rest. When my Woodmizer log tongs won't engage its probably too small.

Scott B.

[SwampDonkey]

2" for hardwoods and 3" for softwoods. I even burn alder or striped maple. Striped maple is just as heavy as red maple. Stripe maple is very shade tolerant and does not grow any faster than red maple. You'd think it might grow fast like aspen, but nope. I have a clump on the lawn in full sun on old garden ground, doesn't grow fast at all. I'll find one 6-8" on the stump end once in awhile. Out in back wilds I'll find big ones more often growing with large hemlocks.

[Larry]

My shop is 1,500 square foot of very well insulated space. I heat it 24/7 with the wood stove.  It takes very little wood to keep it warm but the downside is on mild days it is easy to over heat it and have to open doors/windows.  For that reason I burn lots of small 2" stuff.  On a day when I know its going to warm up I'll start the fire and throw on a few small sticks.  Probably enough heat to last until evening.

The house is much larger and not as well insulated.  When I fire up the stove (seldom) I don't mess with little sticks.

[Magicman]

I cut down to what is convenient for me to handle which is usually 2"-3".   I do love that small "limb wood" for the morning startup.   ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I will say it depends on convenience for me. If I am out in the woods taking trees I am sure not cutting down to 2" or less, I may go to 3" witjh the goal being to get the brush to a smaller size for rotting, but then I may brush piles for the critters unless the property owner has other ideas.
When I am cutting around the house, well then I have to get rid of everything (I don't have a woodlot, just a small parcel). So either it is going in the woodstove on on a brush pile to burn at the right time. So I usually take just about everything but the small branches under 2".
It all makes BTU's. in fact I could beat you all by saying I burn it all the way down to chip size. ;D This afternoon I did my annual cleaning on my dust collection system. The lower barrel gets the larger chips and the finer stuff heads back upstairs into the collection bag. That collection bag got emptied onto the compost pile and the stuff from the barrel I shoveled into the woodstove in shifts. It put out a surprising amount of quick heat. ;D :D I took the rest of it and put it in buckets for burning later, all mixed, softwood, and hardwood, whatever.
My planer chips get bagged and over the course of the winter I use them for morning fire restarts in both the house and shop, they burn nice and even for a long enough time to get the main wood going well. It's a quick process. No paper or pine cones (which I don't have anyway). I do keep my ERC chips separate and offer them to folks for closet bags or air fresheners or whatever, but rarely get takers.

[Woodcutter_Mo]

 I'll cut down to about 2" on oak limbs, sometimes smaller especially black jack if it's handy and has good heartwood. The small limbs are nice to start up the stove or toss a few in to give it a boost of heat in the morning. For normal burning, usually no smaller than 4"-5".

[Ianab]

When I was selling firewood for some pocket money I'd go down to about 2" with limbs and mill slabs. People were happy with a mix of both species and sizes, as long as the volume was right and it was dry. Some light pine to get a fire burning quick, and some denser chunks of hardwood for a long burn time. I didn't get any complaints, had repeat customers, and sold out of wood.

I was doing storm and garden / farm cleanup at the time, so I had to get rid of the stuff. It was either drag it to a burn pile, or stack it up to dry and sell when the weather cooled off, and get some $$ for it.

[SwampDonkey]

I like the smaller wood to fit in around the bigger slabs. You can also get a quicker bed of coals to lay a nice big slab on. I believe the small stuff helps efficiency of the burn to. A number of manufacturer videos shows wood split pretty fine down to 3-4" on the thickest side. Even for a furnace. Never seen any of their videos with big half round slabs on the fire.

[Spike60]

I now have a chop saw out by the splitter and can cut the smaller stuff and toss it in the crate without splitting.  cutting small stuff in bulk with a chainsaw tends to bind or kick it into my shins.

Have had more than my share of shin bangers, Doc. Chop saw solution is interesting if near the woodshed. And I do have electric run out there. In the woods it's stand on the wood with 1 foot when using a regular saw. Or carefully hold it with the left hand and cut it with a small top handle saw. Never had a mishap there, but do wear protective chain saw gloves as a precaution.

As I'll be focusing on this a bit more, I want to come up with a different storage set up. Want to keep the small stuff stacked separately similar to what cutterboy shows in his pics.

[Hilltop366]

I'll cut down to 2" on most, spruce trees that grow in the open with large branches I will cut the branches up as I limb the tree, seems to be more heat in the branches than the trunk.

I also ended up with a log holder when I bought a used wood splitter, it is handy if you have a bunch of smaller pieces to block up.

Like this one.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDsEeKth8zk

[hedgerow]

 I am batch burning a boiler into storage so the size of splits doesn't matter to much. I am mostly cutting hedge {Osage Orange}. We still cut down to two inch size or so. If I have a lot of small stuff to cut I fire up one of my buzz saws and let the cutting begin. I don't keep the small stuff separated. It gets stacked right in with the other split wood on my trailers.

[doc henderson]

a 2-inch hedge stick, has almost as much energy as a 3-inch cottonwood.

[SwampDonkey]

I don't separate small stuff in my wood piles either. I like it mixed together. I can grab a few slabs and a bunch of small stuff at the same time from the same stack. I never cut all the wood exact lengths either. If something is a little long I dig out the electric chain saw, one like Jeff's, different brand. I tend to cut the little sticks a little long sometimes. :D

[Klunker]

used to keep 2" or so. I'm cutting all hardwood, Hickory, Ironwood and Sugar Maple the most.
Now I generate so much stuff in TSI (thinning) that I have gone to about 4" or bigger.
The rest either lays in the woods or gets stacked into a brush pile and burned.
Also the tops make good deer deterrents when loosely piled around desirable plants.

[47sawdust]

We have a cookstove, as well as, a parlor stove.I will cut down to 2'' limb wood.
I built a dedicated roller table for cutting limb wood and slab wood. I works very well for us.



 



 



 

[PoginyHill]

Just processed a cord of wood today and wanted to see what the smallest diameter I had was. A bit surprised to note that I have as small as 1 1/2" dia!. Not on purpose. In the woods I cut my firewood to 16 lengths, so I'll cut a reasonable diameter (say 3-4") on the large end and measure out until I get to 16ft or un-usable wood. The small ends tend to get very small, I guess. And it goes into an outdoor wood boiler.

[Ianab]

That's the thing, pick up a ~6" limb and think "good firewood" but the other end is maybe only 1.5". At that point you have already picked it up. so you may as well process it as you have to do something with it.

[stavebuyer]

I am spoiled. Living in the epicenter of the Oak-Hickory forest-belt, with an abundant supply of both, my wood pile is 100% split from rounds at least large enough to quarter and will be 95% oak and hickory going forward as the Ash salvage is about over with. I cut up an occasional Red Maple and pile it separate for the "shoulder season" fires. I get plenty of kindling from the sharp wedge on the Super-Split kinetic. I process a few finely split pieces for fire starting. I find it quicker and easier to split on the waste high table of the kinetic splitter than to cut and pick up limbs for fire starting. The split stuff  dries quicker than small rounds and the loose bark falls off going through the splitter. Less bark means less mess and less ashes to clean out of the stove.


One of my boyhood jobs was picking up sticks from the hayfields. I didn't much care for the task then and still don't lol.

[SwampDonkey]

I'm spoiled to, all kinds of wood from thinning, not enough time to keep up on it and no end to the wood. :D

I don't like big tops left, I like stuff close to the ground, so I take it down small. I cut 8-9 cords. Once the shop is up this summer, I will probably add at least 3 cords to the pile. I buck and split where it falls, so an armload of 2" or a couple half slabs is about the same volume. Never was a big deal, don't see it as such now. ;D

I'd rather pick up wood than weed by hand between rows of field potatoes, any day of the week. Or pick rocks for that matter. :D

[thecfarm]

I have a FIL that says he could found something better to do then pick rocks.
But he's not the one that has to mow around 100 rocks enough. Move 100 rocks out of the way, mowing time gets faster.  ;)
But he only owns a 250 foot lot with one tree to  mow around.  ;D
I take the brush down small. Always have, But that small stuff takes time!! When going into the stove too.
As you all know I have an OWB that will take a 54 inch long stick. I have filled that before with small wood. Better plan on doing that for a while!!!!!
I use to wheelbarrow in small wood at my other house.
But if leaving wood in the woods, I cut it short. That way it gets on the ground and will rot quicker. And I can drive my tractor through it without thinking that something might come through the radiator.
When my father was alive we would go in the woods with a trailer and pick up small wood. With 2 of us it went kinda fast.
I have a never end supply of dead wood and blow downs. Never can keep up with it.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, but your rocks are already on top. My rocks are plowed up in the fields. :D  That's why Deersdale was never settled and farmed, boulder fields. :D

[thecfarm]

True.
We never did much plowing as I was growing up. Good thing or I would still be picking rocks from plowing.  :D
My father did work on the lower end of the field. And it looks it too. No rocks on the surface and a stone wall pushed up with a dozer.
He told me the rock just about sat on top of the ground. The dozer would come up against them and off the rocks would go.
Not like the ones that I have dug out on The Farm. 

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah it's funny. Up north of here, on another river, no surface rocks unless it's river shores. Or a place we call Rocky Brook for example. But there is a hill the shape of a cone, called bald peak. The top of that thing is like a huge rock pile you'd see hand picked. No boulders just hand picking size. All loose to. You have to crawl across it, you can't stand up or you'd be on your but with every step. :D On the very peak is a chopper pad made of wood because they have a tower up there to look after. There isn't a single plant of any kind growing in those rocks, just lichens.

[thecfarm]

There are fields just 5 minutes from me with no rocks and not a stone wall in sight and flat.  ???
My Father would say when we saw a field like that, they need some rocks to damage their equipment.

[SwampDonkey]

My grandfather used to work for a potato farmer in Maine, so this was 80 plus years ago. Most of the stuff was held together by hay wire as any wooden parts were rotted away or old bolts broke off. Every time he drove a harrow over a shallow spot, over ledge, there was parts laying about. :D

[crazy4saws]

I laughed when I read this post title. My brother routinely says "leave the small stuff" to which I reply "you're leaving behind BTUs". It's usually 2" for us. If it's convenient and straight, we go smaller. Laying limbs and smaller trees across the Gator elevates the work space, keeps the saw out of the dirt, and reduces picking up pieces off the ground. Top handled saw is a must for this set up. This small stuff gets stacked in IBCs and used in the Fisher stove.

 

 

[SwampDonkey]

Is all the grass on an old field plot returning to woods? Up here ash, red maple, aspen, white birch and spruce usually reclaim fields. Sometimes even fir does and if it's been growing a generation, for the first firs to die and fall down, the ground will get thick with fir because I've thinned some of that for mills and it's like dog fur. But nice walking and working on, just whicked thick. :D

[Big_eddy]

If I'm cutting a tree in the woods, I usually end up cutting down to about an inch in diameter on some limbs, 2" on others.  If I can get a 16" straight section to pick up, then I cut it and toss it in with the rest. I quit at the point where nothing is straight or without a fork, or there are too many other limbs to step over to reach it. But if a 3" limb has landed tangled in other brush, it can stay there.
That said, there are times I go out looking for small wood. We boil syrup, and there is nothing better than "rocket fuel" - I.e. 2" dia dead standing dry ash - for stoking our small evaporator. Takes no time at all to drag 50-100 dead ash poles into the X-X supports and buck them up into 16" lengths for syrup wood. I have at least a cord of syrup wood stacked in the sugar house, and not a piece has been split and nothing would be over 3" diameter.



 

 

[kelLOGg]

I prefer stuff big enough to split but do burn down to 2 to 3 inches if that is what is available. The down side for me to burn small stuff is more ashes. Small diameter has greater ratio of bark to wood so i get more ashes to clean out. My vermont castings stove does not have a grate so fire must go out to shovel it - not too big of a problem in the South.

[SwampDonkey]

I don't cut a large volume, but more for the home than you guys to the south. What I do with 1" stuff if there is ash and maple, is I cut garden stakes 4 or 5 feet long, they last a few years. Some I have had 3 years and still solid, I'm seeing how many years they will go. I suspect 5 will be the limit. The spruce top get cut for rails for wet crossings, even the bushier top gets thrown on wet spots on the trails. Aspen and fir tops down small are most of the waste on the ground. Green fir is heavy, I'd rather not drag or carry those tops. Spruce is much lighter and compact. I find a use for lots of the left overs. ;D

[Hilltop366]

I thought this was a good idea for collecting small wood with a ATV and trailer or Gator. It eliminates cutting on the ground and picking up all those little pieces.

Skip to 8:30 for just the using of the saw holder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPq2Aaq0b0A

[thecfarm]

That's a good idea.
Kinda on the slow side, but like almost any job, another person makes it go easier and faster.

I have hauled out a lot of branches with my 3 pt winch. I lay down a 12 foot chain and pile branches on top of the chain. When I think it's "full" I hook the chain up and winch it in!!. Yes, most times it's kinda sideway, because I pile the branches at about the four foot mark.  But as I said I have the OWB that will take a 54 inch stick, so I  have it made that way. I just unhook the chain and then saw it how ever it lays. Yes, I never saw the last few sticks, but when I get to the bottom of the pile when I bring the wood to burn, I saw the bottoms one than.

[Ron Scott]

A lot of small limb size wood is cut and cleaned up from the ongoing yard tree debris and burned to start and retain the warming fires in our indoor fireplace insert.

[Hilltop366]

Seen this one the other day

I kind of like the idea of hinging the saw near the bar tip better, it looks safer to me because you don't end up with the bar tip up in the air when when in resting position and the log looks more secure against the back rest. I'm also thinking that the motion of pushing down vs pivoting up looks more comfortable. Could use a line and counter weight instead of a spring.

Firewood chop saw - YouTube

[Al_Smith]

Much ado over ashes .My old Lopi glass front which is bottom fire bricks burns it right down to powder .I only scoop it out once a week if that often .Little stuff like two inch stuff gets thrown in the fire pit .The fire in the insert stove never goes out from start to finish ,most of the time .If it gets too hot I turn off the blower and use less wood .
I live basically in the woods and get a lot of blown branchs that get cleaned up with a battery saw .Neat little tool for that task but it's not designed to be an oak slayer .That would be like elephant hunting with a Daisy Red Rider BB gun .

[PoginyHill]

I think Mike Belben has a rig where it's hinged near the powerhead, but cuts on top, so the tip is out of the way when not cutting and the chips are blown away, rather than toward the operator.

[SwampDonkey]

I keep a very small fire for the grow tent, 2 or 3 little round sticks. Don't need no fire heat at all up in the living room or great room on the second floor. Bright sunny day will deliver 85F degrees free of charge. In fact a window will be going up shortly.

[ihookem]

I  cut down to 2" . The reason is, cause I dont like it laying all over the place. SOmetimes I stack the smaller stuff up and cut 10 at a time . it is all BTU's. In the spring time, when I only burn once every 2 days or so,by then , I am sick and tired of burning my good wood so I just go out and find popple branches to make a quick fire to get the floor warm  ( radiant floor)