Woody, he likes his splits thin. My thinnest split is 5"-6", but most are between 6" & 8" with quite a few 8+ for over night. I'll stick to 3 years, knowing they are full optimal, and has worked for going on 13 seasons for me. If the posters splits at 1 yr are only 1/2 dry enough, it's a waste, and if he goes with the cat, it will clog the shitsky out of that cat in no time. Not to mention what will be caked on the stack. So like us, and the majority on here, 2 years soso, 3 years primo. Unless one wants to split a bunch of slim splits, or make some homemade kiln. Seems to me, it's much easier to just be 3 years ahead, and be done with any issues.