Just curious what the general consences was on this wood. My local tree company called me a few weeks ago to pick up some big elm. Sure no problem. These guys give me lots of wood so i just got in the truck and went for it..got there and..holy hell this stuff is heavy...made two trips and burned probably 50 bucks in gas in the truck to get it. Wait a week and go to spilt it. No freakin way could i even touch that stuff. I dont have the strongest splitter out there but it isnt a slouch either..it has a 16 gmp pump and a 5 inch clyliner. I attached a picture of my splitter i built...I ended up haveing to haul both loads away again and dump them in a swamp..worst part is my tree guy called again today and said he had another big elm and when i said i couldnt split it he said he had another old fella that didnt mind it..Didnt mind it? How the hell can he make use of it..i have a feeling i lost my free wood from this tree cutter is the worst part about this..errde
Elm...
- Thread starter Toxic2
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Erik B
ArboristSite Guru
Should have tried noodling it first so you could have smaller pieces to split.
Oh i did. I cut 2 or three blockbin half with my 362 and 20 inch bar..still couldnt split it. The only round i was able to split was one i split on the day it was first cut..that one wasnt too bad but after they sat in the sun a couple weeks it would just stall my splitter..im pretty sure this was a standing dead tree too
cus_deluxe
Commie Satan turd
elm is brutal stinky stringy wood that takes a while to dry. It burns and all that but i would avoid it if you dont desperately need the wood. I cut several standing dead-ish elms from a golf course a few years ago. never again.
That is where im at with elm now as well cus...i am three years ahead and have a 10 acre patch of tameracks that i need to deal with that makes better firewood than the hassel that elm was..all i managed to do was waste my time and my gas and put a steel line on my splitter beam where it would push till it stalled..lol
cus_deluxe
Commie Satan turd
yeah i have some still in rounds that is rotting long before it will dry out. Im lucky to live in an area and work at a place where lots of decent hardwood becomes available all the time. im a couple years ahead and have more ash trees than i can cut and work at a golf course that is going to be pruning/removing 800+ trees in the next 10 years....spoiled rotten.
I only cut up to the size I can get inside my Fisher, the big stuff gets traded to someone with a big splitter or an OWB with a big door
blumtn969
ArboristSite Member
You have 10 acres of tamarack and was messing around with nasty big evil elm?
Elm is fantastic firewood once seasoned-burns long, hot, and silent, coals nice, and smoke smells ok. I've cut a decent amount of American elm and more recently some Siberian. Siberian splits ok. American is pretty tough stuff. If it's dried out forget about splitting it and either noodle it or cut it into thick cookies.
I'd never turn down elm despite the work unless I had enough hard maple, oak, or similar readily available.
I'd never turn down elm despite the work unless I had enough hard maple, oak, or similar readily available.
zogger
Tree Freak
It's great firewood, just sucks to split, so you go to plan B. either noodle it to size with regular length cuts, or cut shorties, fat cookies, let it sit a long time, then bust it along the natural cracks.
Back in the day I got a lot of dead elm from the Dutch elm disease, it was tough going with just a light axe and crosscut and bowsaw, but...it beat freezing!
No, it will never split straight, you have to follow the natural cracks, which means seasoning in the round for a long time.
That and sweetgum are the hardest for me to do around here, but none of the elm gets real huge, a 12 inch diameter winged elm is about as large as I find. I take all the standing dead I find and just deal with it one way or the other. That and dogwood rival the oak and hickory here for heating. Luckily most are small enough they don't need much splitting, just cut and stack and wait. If it fits in the door, good enough.
Back in the day I got a lot of dead elm from the Dutch elm disease, it was tough going with just a light axe and crosscut and bowsaw, but...it beat freezing!
No, it will never split straight, you have to follow the natural cracks, which means seasoning in the round for a long time.
That and sweetgum are the hardest for me to do around here, but none of the elm gets real huge, a 12 inch diameter winged elm is about as large as I find. I take all the standing dead I find and just deal with it one way or the other. That and dogwood rival the oak and hickory here for heating. Luckily most are small enough they don't need much splitting, just cut and stack and wait. If it fits in the door, good enough.
Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
Red elm is the bestest.
Good burning stuff, but yea, nasty to split.
I seldom have problems with Elm, my splitter has a thin wedge about 8" deep and then a spreader behind it. 2 cords sitting on the drive that I split green last fall. But like anything it depends on the particular tree - any kind if all twisted up can be a pita. I've had more trouble with Box Elder and some Ash lately than with Elm.
That there be the truth... never snaps, crackles, pops or throws sparks... and I know of no other firewood that coals up like it does.
If it's well seasoned, I cook over American Elm in the fire pit... makes a beautiful bed of long-lasting coals for roasting pork loin, whole chicken, and such.
Knowing when to split American Elm helps a lot... usually if ya' wait for the bark to release it will split much better.
And better yet... if ya' can wait for the thing to die and the bark to release while still standing.
But sometimes ya' just end up with a tough one... the last one I did fought me every inch, an occasional one will hardly fight me at all.
Slippery (Red) Elm, on the other hand, normally splits quite well green... and ya' just never know about Siberian Elm, sometimes it's worse than American Elm, sometimes it's easier than Red Elm.
That must be a local nickname for American (maybe Siberian) Elm... I ain't aware of any Dutch Elm Species, but there is a Dutch Elm Disease.
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bert the turtle
ArboristSite Operative
I just put up about a half cord by hand. Difficult to split- maybe worse than sweet gum. I cut it short for EW loading and then had it it. The sapwood often slabs off OK. The heartwood is another story. My farm store Indian wedge wouldn't even start but my nice sharp Gransfors wedge would. Then it is a simple matter of bashing the hell out of it with a sledge until the wedge is flush then banging a wooden wedge in to free the steel wedge and then finishing it off with the Fiskars to cut the strings.
I need less than 3 cords a year so I can use it for a fitness program. If I needed a bunch it would be a different story. Elm and sweet gum are the two most common hardwood species I am clearing right now.
I need less than 3 cords a year so I can use it for a fitness program. If I needed a bunch it would be a different story. Elm and sweet gum are the two most common hardwood species I am clearing right now.
I'm still waiting to find an AE that splits ok when seasoned. The only ones I have had any luck with are when they are at the cusp of still being solid but almost starting to punk out.
Yep..makes great firewood once you get a method to splitting it. I've seen some good ideas around here about adding a shear attachment to let the wedge go past flush on the foot plate..
