Firewood - help a newbie out

Hiya permies community

I'm on half an acre in a cold climate and have been for a couple years, and while we have solar and split systems our most effective and least energy-consuming source of heat is our wood fire heater.

We have a bunch of trees on the property, some of which drop large branches, take heavy pruning, and a couple which I've cut down to make room for fruit trees. I collect sticks for kindling as we prune and as they drop, and have amassed a variety of sizes of sticks and logs which we store in a large shed in preparation for burning.

As anyone does when they're new to something, I've also come to the realisation that there's a lot I *don't* know. We've stored kindling in loose piles and found rodent poop and dead rodents underneath, and I don't even want to know how many are living in there now. We've also got a bunch of logs that are way too big for the firebox, and despite some attempts with a hatchet have had a world of trouble splitting it. It seems Australian hardwoods are a bit harder to split than what I'm seeing on youtube videos - and maybe I'm doing it wrong.

I've got some questions that I'd love to ask if anyone's willing to explain some things to me:

1. How do you split your wood? Is there a way to do it if you don't have super strength? Is it easier to split when it's new or dried? Is there a cheat way to cut it?
2. How do you store wood so that it doesn't house rodents? We have heaps of space in our shed but not like... a storage system. I'm sure there's an obvious, easy, affordable answer but the best I've seen so far is $200 at our local nursery for a metal ring
3. What would you tell a newbie who is just starting out with their firewood collection and storage? What have you learnt along the way that made your life easier?
4. What sort of trees would you plant for future firewood, in a bushfire prone but cold climate?

Any wisdom is much appreciated

We've been heating with wood for the last eleven years and love it. It creates such a nice heat. I'm in Canada, so the types of trees may be different than Australia. For splitting, we use a wood splitter for everything. It makes things a lot easier and we got ours for around $400, I think. As far as storing, we store ours outdoors, stacked, and in a shed. As far as I know, we haven't had any rodents in the wood but there have been a few ants. Of course, the cold of winter kills off a lot of things, too.

We use a combination of hardwoods (ash, oak, birch and tamarac) for the long burn, and then  usually jack pine for starting the fire. Wood is much better when it is seasoned, which means waiting a season to use it so it dries out. On average, we use about 4-5 cords of wood over the course of a winter season (approx. 5 months.) For hauling, my husband uses a wheel barrow to haul it from the pile to the house. We have a storage area under the stairs which are close by our woodstove.

Maybe you could make a kindling cracker?



We're in the process of making a rocket mass heater which I'm hoping I'll be able to run mostly on sticks I can gather myself and cut with a pair of loppers. But we do also have an electric log splitter, shown here being tested on a particularly hard-to-crack cushaw that the boys decided to have a bit of fun with after I'd failed to open it in the kitchen...

Emery Brown wrote:Hiya permies community

I'm on half an acre in a cold climate and have been for a couple years, and while we have solar and split systems our most effective and least energy-consuming source of heat is our wood fire heater.

We have a bunch of trees on the property, some of which drop large branches, take heavy pruning, and a couple which I've cut down to make room for fruit trees. I collect sticks for kindling as we prune and as they drop, and have amassed a variety of sizes of sticks and logs which we store in a large shed in preparation for burning.

As anyone does when they're new to something, I've also come to the realisation that there's a lot I *don't* know. We've stored kindling in loose piles and found rodent poop and dead rodents underneath, and I don't even want to know how many are living in there now. We've also got a bunch of logs that are way too big for the firebox, and despite some attempts with a hatchet have had a world of trouble splitting it. It seems Australian hardwoods are a bit harder to split than what I'm seeing on youtube videos - and maybe I'm doing it wrong.

I've got some questions that I'd love to ask if anyone's willing to explain some things to me:

1. How do you split your wood? Is there a way to do it if you don't have super strength? Is it easier to split when it's new or dried? Is there a cheat way to cut it?
2. How do you store wood so that it doesn't house rodents? We have heaps of space in our shed but not like... a storage system. I'm sure there's an obvious, easy, affordable answer but the best I've seen so far is $200 at our local nursery for a metal ring
3. What would you tell a newbie who is just starting out with their firewood collection and storage? What have you learnt along the way that made your life easier?
4. What sort of trees would you plant for future firewood, in a bushfire prone but cold climate?

Any wisdom is much appreciated

I find a good entry to splitting reluctant logs is a splitting wedge and small sledge hammer. They are an easier tool than a splitting maul, less dangerous and better for stubborn wood. It's what I use for Jack pine and knotty red pine which resist hand splitting with a maul.  The hydraulic splitters are awesome and if you had a lot of woods I''d say for sure but at half an acre best to spend a little more time on manual tools. As to critters in woodpiles that seems to be a universal thing. Hopefully not the poisonous varieties.
Cheers,  David