Who uses a LOT of kindling?

[Swamp Yankee]

Splitter trash,

Run 50+ cord thru a 4-way and large piles of kindling from slivers to inch inch and a half pieces from the splitting operation is generated. Look for the older stuff, greyish brown and load up grain bags with the stuff. Keep it dry in a shed or in the basement as needed and you're good to go.

Got so much of the stuff I tell my customers to come and get it for free, just bring their own bags and boxes.

If you look at the pic you can see what I mean if you look at the stuff on the ground around the splitter and skidsteer. The second pic is of the treelength pile. All wood to be processed has been placed on the same area for several years. Underneath that pile is 6 to 15 inches of splitter trash and saw chips. As I cut the pile back more older seasoned dry trash is exposed. the other benefit to this pad of stuff is when I cut the pile I have a real nice thick buffer smothering the stones and rocks protecting the chain when I cut through.





Take Care

 

[Marine5068]

I use a fair amount. I don't own a large operation like some on here so I get my kindling from stuff people don't want such as Pine, Spruce, Poplar, Aspen and lots from tops of loggers cuts.
Most loggers around here leave their tops on sides of back roads where I can clip off smallies and keep the 1-2" diameter pieces.
It keeps me busy and out of trouble....lol.

 

[CaseyForrest]

I used to use kindling.

This year I've found my homemade firestarters eliminate the need. I can light 1 (2 in the fireplace) and load with normal splits and the fire takes off. They burn long enough to get everything going.

sent from a field

 

[isaaccarlson]

I am going to comment because we don't use much kindling. We put in some splits and a handful of noodles or a couple of small bits of wood like splitter remnants and light it. It takes right off and heats up quick. I might use a small cardboard container if we have one around, but only to get rid of it. A small pail of fire starting material will last us nearly all winter, if not till spring. I still have some birch bark next to the stove that we didn't use from last year, maybe a couple handfuls. I only use one or two slivers the size of my finger, so it lasts a while. If I peeled all the bark off a birch tree as I split it, I would have a lifetime supply of fire starter.

My mother in law on the other hand can burn up two or three whole newspapers and not have a fire going. I don't know how.

 

[USMC615]

I am going to comment because we don't use much kindling. We put in some splits and a handful of noodles or a couple of small bits of wood like splitter remnants and light it. It takes right off and heats up quick. I might use a small cardboard container if we have one around, but only to get rid of it. A small pail of fire starting material will last us nearly all winter, if not till spring. I still have some birch bark next to the stove that we didn't use from last year, maybe a couple handfuls. I only use one or two slivers the size of my finger, so it lasts a while. If I peeled all the bark off a birch tree as I split it, I would have a lifetime supply of fire starter.

My mother in law on the other hand can burn up two or three whole newspapers and not have a fire going. I don't know how.

Last paragraph...lol. I know that feeling all to well with a gal friend from Ft Lauderdale. Go figure.

 

[zogger]

I use a fair amount. I don't own a large operation like some on here so I get my kindling from stuff people don't want such as Pine, Spruce, Poplar, Aspen and lots from tops of loggers cuts.
Most loggers around here leave their tops on sides of back roads where I can clip off smallies and keep the 1-2" diameter pieces.
It keeps me busy and out of trouble....lol.

Tell ya whut, it's easy to build your stacks with stuff that doesn't need any splitting...skipping that whole step saves time and work. I stack anything that will fit in the stove door, split the rest.

 

[USMC615]

First, I gotta say I like that wood rack that's also a workbench. you have there. Great combo. Gonna have to build one of those items for my back deck. Gal pal of mine get's it on the firewood deal. And she's really the one who made me think more about the branch wood for kindling. She has a big wood furnace for the house and a real neat wood fired hot tub by the waterfalls on her property. (was in that tonight in fact. Need to post some pics of that thing for you guys.) She has plenty of land and I help her out with the firewood stuff. So, she rounded up a bunch of kindling and I'm thinking, Geez I got this stuff all over the place myself. Might as well use it up.

Spike...this wood rack is only 6 ft long. Kinda got 4' for the splits, 2' for the kindling/fire starter action. Of course the fat lighter gets the kindling going to start it all. This rack can be built to any length with treated lumber. Longest treated lumber here is 16'. I kinda wish now I would've made it 8' long, but no biggie. Obviously if ya build it more than 8', add a couple more upright verticals, front to rear 2x's, evenly spaced down the length for the support and avoid any sagging up top. And add the backsplash to it as well. Stuff rolling off the backside of the top sux, lol.

 

[Henry and Wanda]

Hello,
At my last house I built a 3 car garage on the end of the house. The house was sided in lap cedar and the wall that I put the garage against had to be stripped of the siding. Man, that was the best kindling ever. You could cut it in 1 foot lengths and then split it with a hatchet....like butter !!!! It would light up with just a match and burn like crazy. Now at the new house I just use construction lumber cut-offs.....they work pretty good but nothing like the cedar. I wish I could find an endless supply of the cedar. We don't use that much kindling now since we are both retired.....we are home a lot and rarely let the stove go out!!!!

Henry and Wanda

 

[sunfish]

Bob, we use a lot of kindling here. Stove a bit too large for the house so have to let it go out almost daily. Use a lot of small limb wood, fat lighter and any small dry stuff that can be split up small. I also use a squirt of diesel fuel.

 

[Woos31]

I grew up using amazing stuff in eastern Oregon, it's solid cured pitch stumps from trees that were logged I'm guessing in 50's and 60's or were in wild fires. Some look as though they're burnt to nothing but inside the charred cover is this stuff.

The amount shown can literally start the fire for you, the shredded broken ends instantly ignite with open flame, a few kindling size pieces of your firewood then full size pieces. I cut a bunch of this every year but since it takes such a small amount to start a fire, a fire wood size round of this stuff off a cured stump can last several winters. My area I've found ponderosa pine and yellow pine are best but fir stumps work too, and this produces the best smelling saw dust you'll ever encounter. I carry bags of the saw dust and strips in my hunting back pack, oh and the saw dust is like napalm and thrown in campfire is like flammable airosole mist.

Sorry for long explanation, just what my family has used for years and really friendly for the ladies to use meaning a small amount can get a rippin fire real quick.

 

[svk]

View attachment 452839 View attachment 452839

I grew up using amazing stuff in eastern Oregon, it's solid cured pitch stumps from trees that were logged I'm guessing in 50's and 60's or were in wild fires. Some look as though they're burnt to nothing but inside the charred cover is this stuff.

The amount shown can literally start the fire for you, the shredded broken ends instantly ignite with open flame, a few kindling size pieces of your firewood then full size pieces. I cut a bunch of this every year but since it takes such a small amount to start a fire, a fire wood size round of this stuff off a cured stump can last several winters. My area I've found ponderosa pine and yellow pine are best but fir stumps work too, and this produces the best smelling saw dust you'll ever encounter. I carry bags of the saw dust and strips in my hunting back pack, oh and the saw dust is like napalm and thrown in campfire is like flammable airosole mist.

Sorry for long explanation, just what my family has used for years and really friendly for the ladies to use meaning a small amount can get a rippin fire real quick.

We do the same thing. The stumps here are over 100 years old

 

[Woos31]

Yessir, my whole family are pyros and when we go elk hunting you can always tell where we've been cuz somebody torched at least one pitch stump HAHA. Always cut a bunch over memorial weekend then again later in the fall of we get deer or elk tags. Don't even have a wood stove at the moment and still hoard this stuff

 

[WoodTick007]

Not a whole lot here. But geographics plays a helluva role compared to you northern folk. My kindling pieces are on the left side of the firewood rack. But I have an unlimited amount of fat lighter. Get a few pieces of fat lighter going, lay a few pieces of kindling lengthwise, start feeding the fireplace with splits front to rear, left to right...criss cross fashion to allow good airflow through the layers. Fire's a going and rollin in 8-10 mins after the fat lighter is lit.

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That is a very nice rack. . .
How long does that kindling last you? I have not used that much kindling in 10 plus years of burning. LoL

 

[beaglebriar]

Cut offs from hemlock boards and pine limbs mostly. Use lots of it early and late... Never a shortage of pine limbs 'round my place.

 

[flotek]

Not a whole lot here. But geographics plays a helluva role compared to you northern folk. My kindling pieces are on the left side of the firewood rack.

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Love that wood rack you built

 

[USMC615]

That is a very nice rack. . .
How long does that kindling last you? I have not used that much kindling in 10 plus years of burning. LoL

That amount of kindling on the left side of my homemade rack will easily last all winter here. I've got wheelbarrow loads of fat lighter in big cardboard boxes out in the shop. Two/three little pieces of fat lighter, two/three little pieces of kindling, then the splits. I use kindling from the same stack for my outdoor fire pit on the back patio and my wood stove in the shop as well.

 

[reddogrunner]

I'll have to take a pic of my jig, but basically it's a big cradle with spacing in it to run the saw through a pile of limbs or branches. It has worked amazingly well and was cheap to build. For kindling I can lay a couple armful of long straight branches in there about a quarter size or less, then I just run the saw through in 3 different locations and I have about a small garbage can full of stuff to start fires with. Rinse and repeat as much as you like. the key is to locate the right dead branches. Usually I can get these no problem in just a few scrounges. Once I get them they go in the barn for a few months to dry. No splitting.

If I run out of those I use the splitter "garbage" they have already referenced. I just Clamp a feed bag to the splitter table and grab the chunks that look best. Take said bag and place in garage and then dump in fire starting bin in house when empty.

If I run out of those or find myself with nothing to do in the house and just want get outside I split 2x4 scraps and box those up and place in the basement.

With the new stove I find myself using less and less kindling as the coals never really go out.....

 

[MarcS]

Easy thing I found is to get a bundle of oak slabs and end up with almost half of it being kindling size. They also band up the scraps from the edger so I get lots of oak roughly 1" square.

 

[ropensaddle]

Pine knot nuff said

 

[svk]

Here are a couple of the old white pine snags that are in the woods by my hunting cabin. They logged here in 1912 and the snags that got burned when they burned brush were sealed with all of the pitch in them. You can split one of these up and they will light with a match. Also smell like a combination of pine sol and kerosine. I usually have lots of carpentry scraps but have used these a few times. There are still dozens of these in the woods 103 years later.