First of all, you need some softer woods to get the fire going... Pine is great for it and seems that there's always a construction site around with a pile of 1-bys that are easily split with a hatchet... About 6 to 8 pieces roughly 18" long and split to 1 to 2 inches will do fine... If you have woods around you can also roud up sticks which will also work... You'll nedd to put the oak or whatever hardwood you are burning on top to get it burning and once everything is going then all will be well...

Hardwoods gburn the best... Yeah, some are stinky but that's part of the deal... Oak is very good and available almost everywhere... Locust is very good... Hickory and ash are good... Gum??? Not so good and hard to split... Poplar is junk... Good for starting fires but burns hot and fast...

Cords (4 feet X 4 feet X 8 feet) will run you around $120 to $150 depending on where you live... Be careful when buyin' wood becuase some of it isn't dry, imspite of what the guy tells you... If water sizzles out of the end of it when it is burning it wasn't dry... Also, quantities are deceptive... Lotta sellers sell you a "load" which is a pickup truck full (8 ft. bed) and telll you it is a cord.... It isn't... A level pickup load is a little more than a half a cord.... Yeah, it looks like a lot of wood until you stack and measure it...

Hope this helps...

B~