Man, that cracked seam sounds like a headache, glad the junkyard fix worked out.

Two inches of water in a garage is barely a puddle, seems like you panicked and paid the Friday tax.

Wrist size is the right call but nobody talks about the moisture part. Splits that small dry out way faster, and dry wood catches quick and burns hot without smoking. Wet wood chunked big will smolder and give you that dirty smoke. The guy in Lockhart is probably splitting small for both reasons, not just the coal bed. Small dry pieces let you add a little at a time and keep the temp flat instead of dumping a big log and waiting for it to catch. That steady 250 is really about feeding small amounts often, not splitting tiny for the heck of it.