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Dimensional/milled firewood

 
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Location: West Virginia
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So, a strange question, but I was staring at the logs I've got to cut up and split for firewood, procrastinating, and a notion occurred to me.

Is there any potential advantage to milling logs into square beams (~6x6) and sawing up from there, so as to end up with flat, rectangular "logs" for burning in the wood stove?

Aside from maximizing storage space, I wonder if it would also allow me to pack the stove more densely at night. When packing the stove up for a night's burn, how important is it that there be airflow between logs? I'm in the habit of raking all the ash to the front and stocking things to the gills for a slow burn.

Labor wise, I don't anticipate it being much more work, if any. All the logs are already right by my mill, I wouldn't need to split logs, and there's no waste, since all the off-cuts would find their way into the stove as well.

Am I missing anything? How would a practically solid block of 6x6s sitting in the stove burn?
 
pollinator
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I think you'd want some of the nice irregular split wood shapes in your burn to let air and gas move around. And I KNOW you'd want that irregular shapes in your woodpile to let air move around and dry the wood so it seasons properly.
 
Rocket Scientist
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Your speaking with a Rocket Mass Heater freak right now so pardon if my answer is just a wee bit biased. 😁
Hot, fast, clean and efficient is the name of the game for RMHs.
Warm, smouldering and dirty makes me want to cough.
Perhaps there is a compromise though. What if you were to mill the logs into useable timbers/boards, then use the scraps in your stove? Certainly not a new idea but just had to ask.

If your at all interested, lots of good folks in the RMH forum that can help you with switching over to a heating system that could really change the way you look at heating your home.
 
gardener
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I can think of one advantage. If the wood fits perfectly together, you can build an upside down fire that burns cleaner than pretty much any other in a typical wood stove. Stack them in as a solid mass of wood and then put the kindling on top to start it. Since the fire burns from the top down, most smoke will be consumed. I'm not sure if it would be worth the milling to me, though. And running it as a batch operation may not be practical for everyone.
 
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I love doing this and here are the things I’ve found.   I run a lt70 and own a tree removal service.   I save black locust logs that are too big to fit in my firewood processor.  Sawing these removes all the thick bark and debris.   5x5 inch posts are milled and then cut 16” which I then palletize.  The space savings is incredible, as I can pack a full cord of firewood on a single heavy duty pallet of around 80cu/ft.  I also supply restaurants that burn firewood, and they love this, although there’s definitely a markup in price.   The down side-  it’s more time consuming, to make up for time, you saw bigger higher grade sticks.  It’s also tougher to get a fire started.  My own two cents- I have the ability to do it, I enjoy doing it and it works for me.  
 
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