By Larry LaVan
I’ve heated with firewood for nearly 50 years. In doing so, I knew my aging back would need to find a better way to do things, so I started cutting my logs into two-inch slices. Listed below are the major advantages of this:
1. As I mentioned already, it is much easier on my back. Plus, the rounds are light enough that mom and the kids can help. It makes for great family time.
2. You don’t need to skip over knots or pieces that would be hard to split.
3. As the wood dries, it will naturally split halfway through.
4. Just lay your dried pieces over two other pieces and tap with a hammer to finish splitting.
5. Since the pieces are thinner, they dry much faster, which is helpful if you were late getting started.
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7. You can build a much smaller fire in the fall and spring when you don’t need a lot of heat.
8. You will generate more sawdust, but it will be useful in the garden to keep weeds down or on the compost pile.
9. As you probably have already figured out, this method will require more cutting, which will require more chains for your chainsaw. You can buy them when you get rid of your log splitter.
