Stupid elm.....Never again

[mybowtie]

Took down some dead elm for a client, Took the bucked rounds home to split. Should have put a add on craigs list and sold the rounds, and put that money with the money I got from removing 'em toward a few cord of CSD. Took me 4 1/2 hrs to split a little over 2 cord. Not a single peice went easy.

Have another client that has two 25" dead elm that I committed to taking down. :bang: Those will be on CL, or loaded into my buddys tub grinder

BTW- I have a timberwolf TW-1. I can usually split a cord an hr... if its not elm

 

[andydodgegeek]

Good wood, I would noodle it all. To heck with a splitter, I would rather run a chainsaw anyways.

 

[turnkey4099]

Took down some dead elm for a client, Took the bucked rounds home to split. Should have put a add on craigs list and sold the rounds, and put that money with the money I got from removing 'em toward a few cord of CSD. Took me 4 1/2 hrs to split a little over 2 cord. Not a single peice went easy.

Have another client that has two 25" dead elm that I committed to taking down. :bang: Those will be on CL, or loaded into my buddys tub grinder

BTW- I have a timberwolf TW-1. I can usually split a cord an hr... if its not elm

Elm and hydraulic splitter go together "reasonably" IF you have a sharp hatchet right there. Nothing I hate worse that having to turn a round over and run it through again tocut strigns.

Harry K

 

[Nosmo]

Elm

Elm is the wood I gather up more than any other. The reason -- get my wood right here in town from neighbors. Most elms are either dying or have died in my area.

Don't mind cutting or splitting it either. I consider myself somewhat lucky to be able to gather what I burn within a few blocks of my home.

Nosmo

 

[aaron]

I scrounged some American Elm last year. I pass on any Elm now. Worst splitting experience I have had the displeasure of.

 

[Garmins dad]

buncha wood snobs.. :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[3fordasho]

Cut down two smallish american elms over the weekend, one about 14" the other smaller. Bark was gone from the small one, and coming off in sheets on the bigger. My Supersplit blew through it in no time. Once the bark starts falling off it's like a different tree.
If I'd cut them live I'd be fighting every piece with the hydraulic splitter....

 

[mybowtie]

Cut down two smallish american elms over the weekend, one about 14" the other smaller. Bark was gone from the small one, and coming off in sheets on the bigger. My Supersplit blew through it in no time. Once the bark starts falling off it's like a different tree.
If I'd cut them live I'd be fighting every piece with the hydraulic splitter....

These had some bark on em, but when the tree hit the ground, it wasnt there any more..

 

[JeffHK454]

Yep, Elm is a pain but I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to get some. I have six or eight standing dead on my property now that I've been avoiding dropping just because I don't feel like screwing with the tangle of wood fiber.

I've considered making a special wedge just for Elm with like 10" wide wings to push that stuff apart..

 

[haveawoody]

mybowtie,

Your in prime rock elm territory.
Worth the effort when you burn it.
Like white oak on steroids.LOL
Just look for jaged or hairy underneath leaves or saw resistant wood and you have rock elm.

Once you find rock elm everything else will seem like softwood in burn quality and hardness.

If you using a splitter try not wasting time with tearing out the piece you are splitting, just go as far as the splitter goes then put another piece on to push the first through.
Then splitting times are almost identical to anything else.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Took down some dead elm for a client, Took the bucked rounds home to split. Should have put a add on craigs list and sold the rounds, and put that money with the money I got from removing 'em toward a few cord of CSD. Took me 4 1/2 hrs to split a little over 2 cord. Not a single peice went easy.

Have another client that has two 25" dead elm that I committed to taking down. :bang: Those will be on CL, or loaded into my buddys tub grinder

BTW- I have a timberwolf TW-1. I can usually split a cord an hr... if its not elm

Ship all the elm to me. I cut this last week and have 20 more cords on board:

Now I wait a month or so until the bark falls off. Splits like a charm. Fabulous firewood.

I also love that Makita 6401 with a BBK. otstir:

 

[Steve NW WI]

TW1 is a nice machine, but like most commercial splitters the wedge is way too short for dealing with elm.

My splitter has an 18" high skinny wedge on it, elm or anything else doesn't stand a chance.

 

[superwd6]

Get you're self a bigger chainsaw and split them with it. And get full chisel chain not the semi crap everyone with an under powered saw tells you to get:chainsawguy:oke:.

 

[haveawoody]

Wood doctor,

Dito for me.
Anyone that hates elm please send it my way LOL

Nice noodle job on the red elm by the way

How is the Makita vs others?
Looked at but didn't try one yet

 

[Dogsout]

Your elm badge is in the mail. Also a little well deserved rep.

 

[Whitespider]

I've considered making a special wedge just for Elm with like 10" wide wings to push that stuff apart..

I like a wider wedge with a sharp edge for splitting elm.
Having the wide wedge mounted on the beam rather than the ram helps also. When I'm splitting elm many rounds hang-up on the wedge at the end of the stroke... not quite finished. I just slap the next round on the beam and it pushes the previous one on through, finishing the job. The wider wedge opens the round more, tearing more of the strings. And, of course, I keep a sharp hatchet handy.

 

[haveawoody]

Dogsout,

LOL a little like the boy scouts badge but lots more work.
Now maul and elm is alway a recipe for elm hate

 

[haveawoody]

Whitespider,

Dito for me.
I think some people start to hate elm when they stop and tear out that last bit by hand.
Throw another chunk on and let the splitter do it like your splitting is my thought.
Black locust can be the same tearathon so same technique works well with it.

For me doing the same thing takes little to no time more than splitting anything else.
And same for me if the wedge is dull elm can be a royal pain, a sharp wide wedge and it's just another round to split.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Great Saw

Wood doctor,

Dito for me.
Anyone that hates elm please send it my way LOL

Nice noodle job on the red elm by the way

How is the Makita vs others?
Looked at but didn't try one yet

Thanks for the support. Elm needs to be dried out before you try to split it, simple as that. Don't try to split green elm. Let the bark fall off. After that, it splits surprisingly well, especialy red and American elm.

Those Makita 6401 Pics I posted is a "tar baby" that was saved when the original owner ruined it by cutting asphalt. I bought an NWP 54mm Big Bore Kit for it and worked with another engineer to rebuild the engine. Hours were spent cleaning up the whole inside that was black as coal. The bar and chain were also in a mess. We saved it from the landfill.

Now it runs like gangbusters, perhaps as powerful as a Stihl MS 650. I'm having no trouble with it and have concluded that it was time well spent. Together with my three Stihls, I can now handle about any cutting job that I want to take on. Sachs Dolmar makes this saw, and they have a winner in my book.:msp_biggrin:

 

[NDtreehugger]

Ship all the elm to me. I cut this last week and have 20 more cords on board:

Now I wait a month or so until the bark falls off. Splits like a charm. Fabulous firewood.

I also love that Makita 6401 with a BBK. otstir:

That looks like red elm.

I get all the American Elm I can get my hands on, everything 8" and small fits in the stove.
some 8" and bigger gets split.

Red Elm is a treat easy to split.