Anyone burn standing dead elm trees

[mizzou]

What is it with the mushrooms anyway? I got about four cords of it in the yard that I haven't split yet, big stuff like 36", and some of it was covered with little tiny orange mushrooms.

Not the ones we were talking about. :msp_scared: Don't eat them.

 

[stihly dan]

If it is standing dead, with no bark on it, how do you know its elm.

 

[Cpjlube]

If it is standing dead, with no bark on it, how do you know its elm.

Usually the bark is laying in sheets at the base of the tree. Or you can get a pretty good idea when cutting it. At least the red elm.

 

[greendohn]

What is it with the mushrooms anyway? I got about four cords of it in the yard that I haven't split yet, big stuff like 36", and some of it was covered with little tiny orange mushrooms.

You get to chompin' on them kind of 'shrooms and folks will think ya' got the Mad Cow Disease !!! LOL.
You'd get to wearing Grateful Dead T-shirts , dancin' to music no one else can hear and consorting with lil' hairy midgets!! OH, Dear Lord,,where would it end???

 

[DSS]

You get to chompin' on them kind of 'shrooms and folks will think ya' got the Mad Cow Disease !!! LOL.

You'd get to wearing Grateful Dead T-shirts , dancin' to music no one else can hear and consorting with lil' hairy midgets!! OH, Dear Lord,,where would it end???

I do like to get jiggy with it from time to time.
I tried making soup with them but it tasted like dog toenails.

I was just wondering if anyone else had seen that. Its not every tree, out of the four trees I have piled under the snow, only one trunk has these mushrooms. I had some elm a few years ago that had them too. Kinda strange.

 

[Blazin]

I do like to get jiggy with it from time to time.
I tried making soup with them but it tasted like dog toenails.

I was just wondering if anyone else had seen that. Its not every tree, out of the four trees I have piled under the snow, only one trunk has these mushrooms. I had some elm a few years ago that had them too. Kinda strange.

I cut a big standing dead elm last weekend, it only had one small patch of bark down at the butt and it had them orange schrooms on it. Don't know what the deal is, but it burns like a mf'er

 

[Whitespider]

If it is standing dead, with no bark on it, how do you know its elm.

Mostly by the shape... and the way they fork.
I can tell it's a standing-dead elm from several hundred yards away, especially American Elm. They look kind'a like a flower vase... with dead flower stems sticking out of it and drooping over. American Elm forks with a pronounced "V" shape, whereas Red Elm forks with more of a "U" shape. If it's dead, near all the branches "fork" rather than "branch" away from the parent limb, has no bark (or bark is falling off in large sheets)...you can be about 99% sure it's elm.

 

[haveawoody]

Was burning dead american elm earlier this season and dead rock elm now.
Most of what i burn is one or the other and some lowish btu wood at the start and end of the season.

Just below freezing is an ideal time to split up any elm rounds you forgot.
Not to cold to be out splitting but cold enough for elm to split like ash.
Standing dead elm usualy isnt to bad to split an anytime but a little cold on it sure helps.

 

[beerbelly]

If it is standing dead, with no bark on it, how do you know its elm.

Elms grow in the shape like an umbrella..sort of? Little help here!:msp_biggrin: Kind of a unique shape. One of those things you just know! Oh, Oh....here's how...Google elm images! Man..I am like the Guru of wood descriptions, eh?

Or like what Whitespider said!

 

[bucknfeller]

I burn it whenever I can find it, they are a little sparse around here. The ones I've cut burn alot like black walnut, maybe a little harder to split, and leaves less ash. But as far as burn time and temp I think they're pretty close.

 

[AIM]

Red elm will almost always have a long split up one side of the trunk or big branches.

 

[1grnlwn]

We finally chewed through the last pieces of elm round in the lot. I do have one large double side by side with crotch, I will just noodle. Worst splitting stuff I have ever seen. If you try to split it down the middle it just sinks the knife in to the secondary and stops. We did develop a way to twist the pieces off but it is a two man job. This was a half dead tree and was BIG. The base was 6' x 4' the 3' thick trunk piece weighed about 2500 lbs. We drug this wood home last summer in 105 deg heat. Big mistake on my part. About half of the splits look like they were done with dynamite. Oh well all I have left is some giant 4' rounds of oak and a little walnut. If oak was any easier to split it would fall stacked already .

 

[medic8852]

we cut alot of elm, seems to burn well, starts good, usually leaves a nice coal bed. just finished up this one a couple weeks ago...View attachment 275852View attachment 275853View attachment 275854View attachment 275855View attachment 275856
four seperate "trunks" into one. dropped each one in a different direction and had 2 splitters going to finish it off. Only problem i had was finding the brick, the mason jar, and the boat seat cushion that was grown into the center of the trunks.
All in all it made alot of good firewood for the landowner, which he split with me. plus i got to run my saws.

 

[Hellbent]

I burn quite a bit of it since it is very common in my area. Lots of standing dead ones without the bark. It's what I go looking for if the woodpile is running low. When I need heat overnight I'll mix it in with really hardwoods and when I'm awake I will burn it straight.

In the Midwest you can find a lot around old homesteads and farms. I have been told by old timers that elm was planted in huge numbers after the dustbowl to control wind erosion because it grows so fast.

I think you should try to experiment with it and see what works best for your situation.

Hellbent

 

[Steve NW WI]

Count me in on the elm lovers' side. It's about half of what I burn in a normal year, depending on how many dead ones I get every year out back.

It can be a pain to split, but hydraulics really help with that, especially with a tall skinny wedge to slice through it instead of forcing it apart like some of the fat wedges on some machines.

 

[timbrjackrussel]

If it is standing dead, with no bark on it, how do you know its elm.

Take 2 pieces of 4" diameter limb wood about 16" long and bang them together hard. If it sounds like bowling pins when you make that big strike, it's standing dead Elm. Well it was standing, but it's dead and certainly elm.

 

[haveawoody]

timbrjackrussel,

Bet that's rock elm sounding like two bowling pins hit together.
Love when i clank a couple pieces of dry rock elm toghether.
STRIKE

With the tornado a while ago and deep old woods all around Goderich i bet you don't even have to drop them to get them.
I did some cleanup in the area after that tornado and large trees thrown everywhere was an understatment.

 

[Rsquared]

I cut one down back in October that a storm got to. I had no idea what it was, but it seemed seasoned when I cut it down. Ended up with about half cord. I just started burning some the last couple of weeks. It burns awesome!! Wishing I had some more now. I am glad this site is here. Just learned the identity of another wood species...

 

[Whitespider]

In the Midwest you can find a lot around old homesteads and farms. I have been told by old timers that elm was planted in huge numbers after the dustbowl to control wind erosion because it grows so fast.

Most of those were Siberian Elm, and some experimental hybrids... mostly in Nebraska, Kansas, parts of Oklahoma, Colorado, South Dakota and Texas. The area, known as the "High Plains", had few if any natural trees before settlers plowed up the sod... the Siberian Elm was selected not only because it grew fast, but also because it could survive in the arid, hot, windy, conditions of summer and cold windy winters.

Now the Siberian Elm is nothing but a nuisance tree found (in greater or lesser numbers) near everywhere between the Mississippi and the Rocky's... even considered an invasive species in some areas. We can thank FDR for that, he went against recommendations from the Soil Erosion Service (eventually the Soil Conservation Service) that he started... yeah, he thought he knew better than the expert service he created. The "Service" wanted to educate farmers to use soil conserving methods (which they did) and not further screw with the natural order of things like plant trees that didn't belong there (although some wind-breaks were recommended in specific circumstances). But FDR, being the big government, big spending, progressive he was, needed something done NOW! So the government paid to plant over 200 million trees, from the Canadian boarder to central Texas... many of which didn't survive the first year (but the Siberian Elm flourished and became the nuisance it is).

As far as firewood... Siberian Elm ranks somewhat below the American Elm (IMHO), and no where near Red Elm.

 

[mizzou]

Got a question. Is red elm killed by dutch elm disease?