# Using Bark and Splitting Leftovers



## WarmGuy (Oct 31, 2013)

After splitting about 7 quarts of wood, I have lots of little pieces of bark and other leftovers. Sometimes I load up paper bags with these things and burn them. Any other ideas for making use of this stuff ? 

Thanks.


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## new_wood (Oct 31, 2013)

I save the larger pieces of bark and other leftovers in a can and use when starting fires.


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## Brewmonster (Oct 31, 2013)

Quarts??


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## Augie (Oct 31, 2013)

Mine goes into the compost pile. with a little Urea during the year It will be broken down into great soil by the following year for my maters.


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## USMC80 (Oct 31, 2013)

split so much this year (about 13 cord) that I have tons of bark, small kindling and cookies left.  Its really all i've been burning for the shoulder season.  Haven't even broken into my stacks yet really.  I also use a lot for cold startups or if there is a little coal bed left.  Just throw it right on


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## lml999 (Oct 31, 2013)

WarmGuy said:


> After splitting about 7 quarts of wood, I have lots of little pieces of bark and other leftovers. Sometimes I load up paper bags with these things and burn them. Any other ideas for making use of this stuff ?
> 
> Thanks.


If you used small bags, you could hand them out for Halloween.


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## red oak (Oct 31, 2013)

Brewmonster said:


> Quarts??



At least he didn't say face quarts 

And I use the bark for kindling/firestarter.  I collect a few boxes and let it dry out - it does fine for that.


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## Backwoods Savage (Oct 31, 2013)

WarmGuy said:


> After splitting about 7 quarts of wood, I have lots of little pieces of bark and other leftovers. Sometimes I load up paper bags with these things and burn them. Any other ideas for making use of this stuff ?
> 
> Thanks.



For sure you meant cord of wood. My wife usually picks up the pieces after splitting. As for the bark, if we use it, then it goes into low spots in some of the trails in the woods. You can burn the bark if you like but you get lots of smoke and ashes for a little bit of heat. On the other hand, those tiny pieces you get, let them dry before you bad them and then you can use them as kindling wood.


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## Nico1986 (Oct 31, 2013)

I like to use the splits scrap for kindling usually pack a couple garbage pails of it or some plastic tubs and leave it on deck. I've burnt the bark in past and still do when it's not that cold out. And also have used it for compost the bark breaks down fairly quick and give u a nice soil for ur garden.


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## My Oslo heats my home (Oct 31, 2013)

The bark goes bye bye when I cut and split. I have no real use for it as a by product. I will however keep all the wood, use it for shoulder burning. Scraps, shorts and uglies will make the stove this month and next. This year I had my highest amount of collected wood scraps, 3 pallets, 3 ft high.


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## Charles1981 (Oct 31, 2013)

I throw it all on a huge tarp, drag it into my pole barn, and then use it to start fires.


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## osagebow (Oct 31, 2013)

I split on a old 6x6 rug and have the boys fill up buckets with good kindling. I use the bark and the rest for mulch.


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## Paulywalnut (Oct 31, 2013)

Bark goes to the landscape salvage dump. Ugs and cookies  I stack on a stone wall on my property.
They season a little quicker there. Great for early season burning. Pain to store though really. Hate to
just chuck them.


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## PDXpyro (Oct 31, 2013)

Saw a local CL firewood ad about a week ago in which the prospective seller was referring to "pints" of wood, and used the term three times in the ad!  Wish I'd saved it...

I can decipher the likely meaning of a "quart," but pint still has me, er, stumped.


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## MrWhoopee (Nov 1, 2013)

I see you're in Northern California, so I have to ask what kind of bark?

For general splitter debris and dribblings:



 If it's Doug Fir bark, try this:



Doug fir bark makes a great, hot barbeque. Burn it down just like hardwood or briquettes, once the flame is out, your ready. No flavor, just lots of heat.


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## Bigg_Redd (Nov 2, 2013)

WarmGuy said:


> After splitting about 7 quarts of wood, I have lots of little pieces of bark and other leftovers. Sometimes I load up paper bags with these things and burn them. Any other ideas for making use of this stuff ?
> 
> Thanks.




1) compost it

2) burn it (inside or out) 

3) rake it out thin and smooth and let nature take it's course

4) leave it were it lies

5) meh


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## PA Fire Bug (Nov 2, 2013)

I use it for mulch.  It lasts much longer than typical mulch which as been ground into smaller pieces.


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## Brewmonster (Nov 2, 2013)

Another vote for mulch.


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## firefighterjake (Nov 2, 2013)

Some splitting scraps I'll bag up and use . . . either in the fire pit to get things going or I'll save it for kindling in the woodstove later on.

Bark . . . typically whatever drops off is left there on the ground whether it be while splitting or moving it from the drying stacks to the woodshed . . . I figure it will just help nourish the soil and perhaps help to keep down the grass near the stacks and in my work area. That said, I don't go out of my way to peel it off either.


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## Applesister (Nov 2, 2013)

My vote is for saving scraps. Rake up the peelings and bark chunks and wood slivers. stored in cardboard boxes and used for kindling.
Small limbs(twigs) get chipped and mulched. They are spread on trails.
Bug infested and diseased gets burned in a brush pile.


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## HDRock (Nov 4, 2013)

I save some of the splitter scrap, I do not like screwing around with the bark,  some bark stays laying in the splitting area, the rest goes by by ,burn it in the pit or throw it in the woods


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## blades (Nov 5, 2013)

Bark and punky  stuff through the chipper for mulch and other assorted tiny stuff. larger stuff get used fior shoulder season.


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## billb3 (Nov 5, 2013)

Trail mulch.

I figure I'm giving back for abusing the trail with the weight of the tractor.



+1 with too much ash and too little heat for the effort.


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## CTFIRE (Nov 5, 2013)

I lay it down as ground cover and build my Holtzholdens on top of it. Makes a nice sepration between the ground and stack


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## Bad Wolf (Nov 5, 2013)

I usally clean up the spliting area into some trash cans.  On days when I'm home and working around the yard or shop I'll wait until I have a good bed of coals and start throwing stuff in.  It burns like a blast furnace but dosen't last long.  As long as I'm already hanging around I figure I might as well get the BTUs that I've worked for. There have been days when I've rasied the tank temp from 135 to 175 and kept the house warm all on scraps. Its that much less wood I have to burn and I had to gather it up anyway.


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## dmmoss51 (Nov 5, 2013)

I've never thought much of saving the bark... I actually take care to get as much of it off when I split seems that my (red oak) splits dry faster with bark removed as this "skin" was meant to help the tree hold moisture.  Since I do most of my spliting in the woods (hydraulic trailer)  i leave it where it falls and move on.


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## bag of hammers (Nov 5, 2013)

Mr Whoopee - good idea with the bbq - I have an old unit that might avoid the landfill by doing the same.  Dont'cha worry a bit about embers on the deck with the chiminea?  btw - i like the deck railing, and your property looks very nice.


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## MrWhoopee (Nov 6, 2013)

bag of hammers said:


> Mr Whoopee - good idea with the bbq - I have an old unit that might avoid the landfill by doing the same.  Dont'cha worry a bit about embers on the deck with the chiminea?  btw - i like the deck railing, and your property looks very nice.


Don't know about the bark that is available to you, but doug fir bark works quite well.
No, I don't worry about embers, very little popping going on and the deck is redwood. Thanks, the railing is California incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), which is fairly rot resistant and grows all over. Going to build the next wood shed out of it.


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## bag of hammers (Nov 6, 2013)

MrWhoopee said:


> Don't know about the bark that is available to you, but doug fir bark works quite well.
> No, I don't worry about embers, very little popping going on and the deck is redwood. Thanks, the railing is California incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), which is fairly rot resistant and grows all over. Going to build the next wood shed out of it.



nice -  the details like that are much nicer that stuff built from dimensional lumber.  

FWIW - I have mostly sugar maple and yellow birch - my sense is the yellow birch might not work so well - bark seems to stick to the splits even after 2 - 3 years and also seems to have a bit of a not-so-nice aroma when I burn it, compared to other stuff.  Maple bark practically falls off the splits and right now I throw most of it at the outside fire pit, so I could try that.  Good luck with the wood shed.


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## MrWhoopee (Nov 6, 2013)

bag of hammers said:


> nice -  the details like that are much nicer that stuff built from dimensional lumber.
> 
> FWIW - I have mostly sugar maple and yellow birch - my sense is the yellow birch might not work so well - bark seems to stick to the splits even after 2 - 3 years and also seems to have a bit of a not-so-nice aroma when I burn it, compared to other stuff.  Maple bark practically falls off the splits and right now I throw most of it at the outside fire pit, so I could try that.  Good luck with the wood shed.


 If you're burning the maple bark now, you should have an idea of whether it will form coals or not. That's how I discovered that doug fir bark produced good, hot coals.


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## Oregon aloha (Nov 7, 2013)

I use the doug fir bark in my camp fires all summer. It makes great coals to roast marshmallows.
Gotta keep the grand kids happy.


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## bag of hammers (Nov 7, 2013)

MrWhoopee said:


> If you're burning the maple bark now, you should have an idea of whether it will form coals or not. That's how I discovered that doug fir bark produced good, hot coals.



I have burned the maple bark in the past but I usually tossed it in with the dog's breakfast of other junk that I'm burning in the firepit (lumber scraps, old half rotten pallets, punky splits, etc.).  One time I piled enough rain-soaked bark on top to choke the fire and smoke out half the neighborhood (one of those mild damp stagnant winter days).  Fortunately the neighborhood at the time was just me (everyone else gone for the winter).  But it did take off after a while.  I should try a fire in the pit with just maple bark one day and see how it goes.  I suspect I'd get some good coals -I have cooked stuff on a grill using coals raked over from a campfire back in the day, and it worked well, and I have an old bbq that's bound for landfill so I can definitely add this to the list of things to try...


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