Splitting elm
- Thread starter iowawoodcutter
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StephieDoll
ArboristSite Operative
Split this Chinese elm yesterday.
i'm not seeing any chinese elm in the pic. perhaps you were splitting siberian elm. (often mislabeled Chinese elm) chinese elm, is most commonly known for its unique bark. here is a pic.
Ulmus pumila, the Siberian elm, is native to Central Asia, eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Xizang (Tibet), northern China, India (northern Kashmir) and Korea.[1] It is also known as the Asiatic Elm, Dwarf Elm and (erroneously) Chinese Elm. It is the last tree species encountered in the semi-desert regions of central Asia.[2] Two varieties are recognized: var pumila and var. arborea, [3]Ulmus pumila has been widely cultivated throughout the Americas, Asia and, to a lesser extent, southern Europe.
StephieDoll
ArboristSite Operative
I stand corrected, thank you hupte. Glad you have my back.
mathewsdxt75
Arboristsit lurker
I cut this elm down in the back yard 3 years ago. I am still burning some of it. My 20 inch bar didn't clear from each side but it still came down. 41 inches at the cut. There were a few limbs i split with a maul, but most everything was done with the power splitter. I even cut them shorter to save some work. This tree tore me up. But..... it keeps me warm 
fixit1960
Addicted to ArboristSite
If it splits that bad, could it be American elm instead of Siberian. I have split some Siberian elm and have 2 or 3 more to work up and it isn't half as bad as I remember American elm being. Just asking....
StephieDoll
ArboristSite Operative
If you look at my splits you will see most split very nicly. Most of the unglies are the fact my tree fairy starting cutting it to "firewood leangh" 22"-24".
Sawdust inspector
ArboristSite Operative
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fixit1960
Addicted to ArboristSite
My firewood length would be 3 to 4 feet. My splitter length is 22' to 24". Maybe send your tree fairy over my way. Sounds perfect for me.
the easiest way to tell american elm is my a cross section of its bark. it has alternating layers of brown and white
I'm here...
First-of-all, elm ain't that hard to split if'n ya know when and how...
Second, which ancestors?? As I understand it, some of my ancestors lived in trees and ate nothin' but bananas.
But if'n we're talkin' our ancestors over the last few centuries... well...
They harvested wood for more things than fire... a lot more things. "Firewood" was the leftovers. Red Elm was harvested for ship's timber, wagon wheel hubs, and anything else requiring a high resistance to shock. American Elm was used for bridge planking, wagon beds, and other things requiring high strength plus flexibility in the same material. And there wasn't Dutch Elm Disease... there wasn't dead-standing elm around every corner beggin' some firewood hack with a chainsaw to harvest it. Our ancestors harvested whatever sort'a tree suited their needs at the time, from tool handles, gun stocks and ox yokes to log cabins, barn roofs and building frames... the scraps and leftovers became firewood.
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1project2many
ArboristSite Guru
They didn't. At least not on the east coast. Old poems say it burns poorly, old wood burner's lists say it's poor firewood, and many old Yankees will tell you to stay away from the stuff. People that try it and don't like it usually complain that it doesn't dry even after a couple of years cut n split. Typically it's when they cut a larger green, healthy tree. But standing dead seems to dry well enough, and I've cut smaller AE that died earlier in the season and it did seem to dry ok. OTOH folks in the midwest where there are still plenty of large AE trees seem to enjoy burning it and there seem to be fewer complaints from that area about Elm not drying out. I know I've made a go of it with standing dead but I'm still waiting for another large, green tree to work with.
that's interesting....
i only burn elm that was dead standing....as if there is any other kind of elm around these days....I think it is fantastic firewood. It was 15f below zero today with -40 windchills and elm is what's keeping us warm. I just with it was easier to split.
For large rounds, I am going to build a splitter for the end of my backhoe this year......Actually, i want to build a new traditional splitter, that has the option of removing the I-beam and attaching to my backhoe.
for normal size rounds that are easy to pick up, a splitter on the end of a hoe would be quite inefficient....but for rounds that weigh hundreds of pounds, i think this would be excellent!
like this:
kewl vid here's one i built. maybe give you some ideas?? it splits thru the biggest elm i've been able to find.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=m_xPhwaM-eY
fixit1960
Addicted to ArboristSite
That's looks like it does an excellent job hupte. Very simple yet effective. Great job! Wish I had the Bobcat. Let alone the splitter. Looks like you would have a good side line there, making them for sale. Probably half the price of a commercial one and make a bit of change doing it.
wow, thanx.
there is a couple companies that make this style. one thing i've learned is that I am a terrible salesman. I can weld and fabricate, but when I talk to someone for 5 min. i wanna sell it at my cost. thats why I have an owb that i haven't been able to sell. but thats another story.originally i had the wedge on the beam. but the problem was it would push the round out of my line of work. so I had to reposition the machine every split, and you couldn't just turn the machine. the split wasn't in the right position. plus it would tear up the yard and make your working surface really bumpy. so I had to back up 4 ft, then forward 4 ft, and get in the right position. imho the only advantage to having the wedge on the beam is for single splits. most the stuff i have is multiple splits. I almost never split anything once.
1project2many
ArboristSite Guru
Judging by the curve in the backhoe splitter beam, that tool gets worked pretty hard.
