Is Debarking Firewood a Good Idea?

You may think, why would anybody even consider to get rid of the bark that’s on their firewood?

I think the primary reason why homeowners want to do so is because it might make the wood season faster. I certainly cannot confirm if that’s exactly true, but i guess it does make sense as there is now less material covering the wood.

Whatever the goal may be, is doing so actually any good?

Not really

Removing bark from firewood you’re willing to burn is pretty much worthless. Why? Well to start with, it’s going to take up a bunch of your time.

Imagine debarking a cord of wood – that’ll probably take longer than cutting and splitting the wood, combined! So, do you want to do it? I guess it depends on the amount of wood we’re talking about.

Times when doing so makes sense

I will say this – if the bark on the wood you’re currently splitting with a maul, or cutting up with a chainsaw feels like it wants to go, sure, hack away the excess with an axe or so. Just don’t get too carried away, because as i already said, there is no point in getting rid of it entirely.

Bark uses

Eventually, the bark from the logs you’re processing will build up to a point where you’ll need to think of a way of how to get rid of it.

I already talked about it in one of my articles on why you shouldn’t burn the bark (link to the post) as it is, in other words, as a primary fuel source in your wood stove or what have you. That being said, it comes of great use as a fire starter.