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[adamant]

how long should it take for wood to season in the round? i was thinking in just halfing the rounds to speed things up..

[Hank]

I wouldn't split round wood(personal opinion) I think it lasts longer. I would say if you have a 8"-10" round log about 6 months it should be seasoned good enough.

[willieG]

i cut wood each winter..and i like to  stay  ahead..i store  my wood inside..dont  split  any and  am always 2 winters  ahead..you will find if  you get  wood  seasoned this long...you  will get  very little  smoke and very fine  ashes

[RX7145]

If the wood is larger than 10inches I will split it once. I think it helps it to dry quicker.

[jcappe]

Was just wondering about how big is big enough to split?   I don't plan on splitting anything unless it is over 12" or so round.  Does the furnace go through split wood ALOT faster than rounds?

[OBXNC]

After going through one hernia operation, I can tell you exactly when to split! Lift it. If it's too heavy for first thing on a cold morning when you're still waking up and scratching your ****, split it. 

[woodywoodchucker]

I may have split too much.If its over 5'' or so i split it.

[ckbetz]

Realize when you're talking about how quickly wood burns or how long it lasts what you really want to focus on is how much heat demand you need for your load and how much you have on hand.  The more efficiently your wood burns the more btus you get out of it.  Burning well seasoned wood will produce a hotter fire, and one where you don't have to cook the moisture out of the wood before getting a complete burn.  If splitting the wood makes it not last as long it could be that you aren't putting the same amount of "weight" into your burner.  This would make it seem like you're burning it up quicker.  One big unsplit log may weigh more than several small ones split, and your btu's come from the amount of weight of wood you have, not the "volume" or space the wood takes up.  That said, split wood may have more surface area and might allow more air to mix with the gases around the wood to burn hotter.  Anyway, I really think it's the lesser amount of weight that would make split wood seem to burn quicker than whole round pieces. 

[Jason]

I split anything over about 8" because I think it burns better.  Just my opinion. 

[bruey]

real easy for me, if it looks to heavy, or feels to heavy, i split it. its just not worth hurting myself over a log.

[mikenc]

If I think I can get it in the stove I don't split it. Like it has already been said not worth hurting yourself over. Seems to last longer unsplit.

[dmorris]

I don't like to split anything under 6". Have only been burning for 2 yrs but seems to me that the rounds last longer! Plus not having to split anything under 6" and cutting them 30" saves alot of time.

[maine owb]

a lot of research has been done on drying and in canada the conclusion was that for wood 24" or less splitting has very little impact on drying time, most of the moisture leaves the ends, when you see checking on the ends this is a sign of drying. Cutting to lenghth is the the best thing to do.

[woodywoodchucker]

I just got a line on some wood cut down and left in tree lenth.It was cut in August, and it burn awsome.I left it all round with some 12'' stuff.The bigger, the better.Last longer in the round.12 to 14 hour burns with temps below 10 degs. Very pleased as this time with the cb5036 or Woody as I have named the boiler.

[Scott7m]

If you can get it in the stove and not strain and potentially hurt yourself don't split it.  I have seen hydraulic log lifters where you can roll a 36-48" long log, about 20" in diameter and slide it in the stove.  Of course these chunk of wood would be impossible to load by hand, but I've heard that one round piece can last 3-4 days.