Cut your found firewood to consistent length and leave stubs, or split the difference and have odd l

[drdoct]

LOL... after seeing all the pretty stacks I wondered if I was the only scrounger who had to do this. Glad to see it's a problem with y'all too! The city cuts most of my wood but usually to 20" lengths. My stove only handles 18". The first few loads I would try to cut them in half and have 2- 10" pieces, but now I just wack off the end and have a chunk left with the right length. I had a double row fall over this year and most the reason was those short lengths. This year I'm going with a HH to see how it works and then maybe just the old wood stack where you pile it up on end and it makes a little messier HH looking pile. My dad was burning all those chunks in his open fireplace, but quit after 2 rolled out and burned his HW floor. Now I put them in the can and save for later when I just want a warming fire for the night.

 

[CrawfordCentury]

I shoot for 16" but if I had a 2' log, I'd prefer two 12's.

While my stacks aren't too pretty, they're pretty sturdy. Use the same basic technique to build a stack as I'd use to build a stone wall. New England granite ain't uniform, so it needs to be self-reinforcing.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

When I posted pictures of some of my wood piles I was simply amazed at the comments I got about how nice and neat they were. I'd actually given it very little thought and that is just how I've always stacked. I don't stack to make anything look pretty but I don't like it looking sloppy either. It takes no more time and a wood pile does look a little better if it is neatly stacked.

Now for the length. I have always cut in differing lengths and the reason is knots and crotches. I hate having a crotch in the middle of a log. To get away from that, I'll usually end up with a piece either longer or shorter than normal. I've never found this a problem during stacking either.