Size of splits

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Tater1985

Member
Jan 26, 2018
46
IN
I have read in several threads that those who have the FP30 say to feed it large splits and rounds for long steady burns. Im a newbie when it comes to seasoning wood and time frames. I have a couple large sugar maples that have blown down last year. My dad and I cut one up yesterday, started splitting it, looks like it will yield right around a full cord just in the trunk alone.

Last year i cut a similar sized maple up in early february and split it into pieces that are around 4-5in on average, some squarish some triangular (like those circled in red). When i split spme of the thicker ones to test i was getting anywhere from 14% to 16%. That was split from say Feb to Nov, so around 9 months, split stacked abd covered.

In trying to get some larger splits for next winter i left some pretty large yesterday (circled in yellow). These will be stored my my dad's polebarn in an old horse stall that can be left open to breathe. Whats everyones thoughts on if these will make it to 20% by Oct/Nov 2019?
I would say they are more "slabbish" kind of splits, like something you would typically split one more time to make to med/large square splits.

Also, what can i expect in seasoning rounds that are left unsplit, maybe 4"-7" diameter? Can you leave them that large and get them dry in one year or will they take two years?
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2018 Pacific Energy FP30
 
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Maple does dry pretty fast, and your ahead of the game by keeping it in an open covered area, I think you'll be fine, what you can do is weigh a large split, write the weight on the split itself then weigh it again in September.
 
Maple does dry pretty fast, and your ahead of the game by keeping it in an open covered area, I think you'll be fine, what you can do is weigh a large split, write the weight on the split itself then weigh it again in September.
I do have a moisture meter too. Wont this tell me the same thing as weighing it?

2018 Pacific Energy FP30
 
I do have a moisture meter too. Wont this tell me the same thing as weighing it?

2018 Pacific Energy FP30
To get an accurate reading you'd have to resplit the larger piece while at room temp and test the fresh face, why waste a big split?
 
To get an accurate reading you'd have to resplit the larger piece while at room temp and test the fresh face, why waste a big split?
Good point. Wouldnt i need to know the moisture content at initial split as well? Really no way for me to do this at room temp either because the logs are coming straight from the woods to the house and being split and stacked.

2018 Pacific Energy FP30
 
Good point. Wouldnt i need to know the moisture content at initial split as well? Really no way for me to do this at room temp either because the logs are coming straight from the woods to the house and being split and stacked.

2018 Pacific Energy FP30
you know its green wood and since your splitting them from logs you can test the split and be pretty accurate unless its freezing outside, what you want to see is a large green split that weight 10lbs drop to 7lbs, then you know your golden and the shed is working as designed.
 
Can't comment on the drying speed of maple, but your split size looks good to me.

I avoid triangles as much as possible. I like to split everything as flat/square as possible. Can't avoid them entirely, but all of my triangles are very small and essentially leftover from making squares.
 
Also, what can i expect in seasoning rounds that are left unsplit, maybe 4"-7" diameter? Can you leave them that large and get them dry in one year or will they take two years?

I would be splitting those.
 
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Those splits look good to me buddy
Sugar maple does dry quickly. I usually will not even split a lot of it unless it is huge, always catches

Mine doesn't. I split it all.