how is gum for firewood?

[rb_in_va]

Thread title says it all. I have read that it is hard to split, but how is it to burn?

 

[habanero]

When I was a kid, Dad and I harvested many trees that he called gum-but I have no clue what they really were. As I recall, that wood was kind of a pink color and had a sweet smell to it (probably why he called it gum). That stuff split real easily, but it had all grown up in a pretty thick timber. So all the trees were real straight without a lot of branches.

 

[maual8pounder]

RB I burn't some gum and it seemed to do pretty good.Actually I have some split and seasoning for next year.Also it seemed to split OK for me I use a maul to split with.

 

[Greenthorn]

I have plenty of gum trees that grow on our property, every so often, a big one decides to lay down, so I just cut em up and burn em. We call them redgum or sweetgum around these parts. Kinda weird tree...the ones that grow around our river bed have a real thick almost alligator type of bark - almost looks like an old ash tree on bark - this one seems to cut up, split really easy. On our hills this sweet gum has a totally different texture - bark looks like pissoak and splitting is about like splitting sycamore - stringy twisted and hard to split. Guess it is the water difference?? I am sure they are the same tree by the shape of the leaves and of course the gum balls that are on them. I have found that the easy splitting river bed tree do not need much cure time - about 8 months and burns up pretty fast but plenty heat, now the hard splitting ones - need at least a year to cure (IMHO) and it burns really good almost like red oak and puts out lots of heat. I would not hesitate to burn either one of them, both seem to put out very little ashes. Now I am getting into some old mulberry I split up last year - has anyone ever burned this - jes ol' petes - this wood is great. I wonder if I am the only one with this experince on mulberry?

 

[charlesfarm]

Never known anybody that burned the stuff, but redgum is great for musical instruments! I made a mountain dulcimer from a kit we bought in Branson, MO. I chose redgum for the soundboard because of the sweet, mellow sound it produces. Maybe you could take some of the bigger stuff to a sawmill and see if you can sell blocks of it to instrument shops that make their own soundboards.

God bless,
Chris

 

[rb_in_va]

RB I burn't some gum and it seemed to do pretty good.Actually I have some split and seasoning for next year.Also it seemed to split OK for me I use a maul to split with.

Yeah, I'll have to get a maul.

 

[Husky137]

I've never burned it but my gum loses its flavor on the bedpost overnight.

 

[rb_in_va]

I've never burned it but my gum loses its flavor on the bedpost overnight.

:jester:

 

[Husky137]

That wasn't very helpful, was it?:jester: For some reason that song popped into my head.

 

[rb_in_va]

Here is a good chart I found that compares different woods based on different criteria such as ease of splitting, smoke production, amount of heat, etc.

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/forestry/420-003/table2.html

I found a guy that has about 6 cords of white oak to give away, but it's an hour away, and I can only haul 1/2 cord at a time!

 

[Peacock]

Now I am getting into some old mulberry I split up last year - has anyone ever burned this - jes ol' petes - this wood is great. I wonder if I am the only one with this experince on mulberry?

Mulberry is good firewood. It's closely related to osage orange, and we know how that one is to burn.

 

[rb_in_va]

I should have used the search feature. Sap already answered this question.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showpost.php?p=410902&postcount=4

/thread

 

[Brushwacker]

You might as well forget splitting blackgum which is what grows wild in these parts. I beat a small piece with a monster maul once for about 10 minutes just to say to myself , I could split it. Need to slice it with a good logsplitter or chainsaw. Big pieces I shave the outer layer of wood off first then cut it through the center with the log splitter.
Marginal fire wood here where we have oak and similar hardwoods. I havent burned much elm but I think that it would be a fair comparison.
Will rot in the middle if the bark isnt opened up and allowed to get air to the wood.

 

[rb_in_va]

I just split some 6" and under pieces with an ax. I'm a bad man!

 

[rb_in_va]

Have you tried using old tires to hold up the pieces you are splitting? I never have. Be sure to do a toe inventory before and after splitting sessions.

I've been meaning to get a maul. What are you talking about with the tires?

 

[wahoowad]

gum sucks! I hate a gum tree. I ignorantly bucked one up and brought it home. A pain in the asss to split. Very wet. Moisture bubbles up when the wedge pushes in. I drive past a cutup gum on the way to work everyday and it makes me shudder. Usually folks around here quickly clean up on roadside trees thathave been brought down, but not these gum logs.