# Gum Tree As Firewood??



## des3516pro (Dec 29, 2009)

:greenchainsaw: I was wondering how wood from a Gum Tree would be as firewood. Has anybody tried it yet??


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## WadePatton (Dec 29, 2009)

if it's the gum we have, then it'll burn fine-probably middle of the range on the scale for hardwoods. 

but don't even think about splitting it by hand. makes elm look like a boy scout. doesn't split really, just twists into clumps and wads.

or maybe you should take the maul after a few big hunks just to be _double dog_ sure it's the _same_ gum i'm talking about (evil laughter)...heck it might be different over there...(chuckle).


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## gwiley (Dec 29, 2009)

I don't split the gum trees that I get (they have the little spikey balls on them in the fall), I just feed the rounds to the OWB unsplit, man I love being able to do that.

Another good use for them is to put a few aside so that your buddy's can show off their splitting skills when they come over. Put a red oak round down, blast it apart and then hand the maul to your friend and point him to a gum round (make sure you have an audience).


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## stihl sawing (Dec 29, 2009)

Got a stove full of now, Burns good but it molds real bad. It gets black mold on it after a while especially if it stays wet a lot. Need a hyrdo splitter to split it. It splits stringy if you do it while it's green. I don't have a lot of it but last year that's all i burned. It's free heat so go for it.


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## myzamboni (Dec 29, 2009)

split it while it is still wet. if you let it dry a few months it is a nightmare.


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## climber17 (Jan 4, 2010)

*black gum*

if its the same as what i cut an entire full cord of you will beat the head of your maul. hydro will be the best way other than pouring the noodles out of it with your saw.:chainsawguy:


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## jrider (Aug 17, 2012)

Old thread I know but man this stuff sucks to split. If there is a tougher splitting wood I would like to hear about it so I will make sure to never get any of it. 

Del, I am right there with you about the 4 way wedge. It just won't do it and when you are used to using a 4 way, going without it seems so damn slow!


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## GeeVee (Aug 17, 2012)

Del_ said:


> Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)
> 
> Nyssa sylvatica - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> ...



Yes Old thread but its popped up at a good time. 

Wouldn't that be a good thing? Great fuel but light weight?

I know this thing Gum...

I let it sit in logs for half a year, then round and spilt at the same time, and it splits better on the hydro. 

You can also ax split select pieces of the new rounds if they are tried right after rounding too. 

I never to split anything green.

I make cribs of 8' logs three by three in big squares....


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## memory (Aug 17, 2012)

The gum I split recently really sucked even with a hydro splitter. Even after you get half way down, it still bogs the splitter down. I was worried it was going to bust a hose or something. It is not stringy but looks like crap after it is split. I would take elm over gum any day even though I don't care to split elm either.


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## redheadwoodshed (Aug 18, 2012)

Since I try to sell all the "good" wood I get, I end up burning gum more than anything.I like it just fine.


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## jrider (Aug 18, 2012)

If any of the kinetic splitter guys wants to post a video of their machine splitting both sweet and black gum, I would truly be a believer.


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## Fred Wright (Aug 18, 2012)

Sweetgum is a real bear to split... it has a high resin content. Our 16-T hydro struggles with it at times. It's easier to split if it's been left to dry a few months in rounds. I tried working it up green once. Never again. It's like trying to split a block of nylon plastic. 

The woodlot here is rife with 'em and tupelo, or black gum. So I cut one or two each year for firewood. Ain't the hottest firewood but it's free. These are forest trees - tall and straight with no limbs or crotches in the trunks. Let the splits season for a year and it's good, lightweight firewood the SheWolf can handle. 

The trunks ain't bad for splitting. It's the smaller stuff, limbs and whatnot that give yas grief.


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## Rudolf73 (Aug 18, 2012)

Yes gum is definitely hard to split. Hydro is about the only option, unless you have a lot energy, a maul and a big hammer. Its the only wood we burn over here because it grows everywhere and burns well. 

I would recommend at least a 25T hydro splitter and it needs to be well built. I have seen gum bend thick steel and then it goes off like a gun shot once it finally splits.


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## Tazfreak (Sep 13, 2012)

Rudolf73 said:


> Yes gum is definitely hard to split. Hydro is about the only option, unless you have a lot energy, a maul and a big hammer. Its the only wood we burn over here because it grows everywhere and burns well.
> 
> I would recommend at least a 25T hydro splitter and it needs to be well built. I have seen gum bend thick steel and then it goes off like a gun shot once it finally splits.



I bent rear cylinder mount on splitter beam,this was welded right through the i beam,not just welded on top like so many other types, on a piece of grey box 'a gum' limb wood back 25 years ago.I have designed,built h/duty logsplitters since to handle those extreme hardwoods,forks,twisted logs etc.You have to go big in gear if you want to handle the tough stuff commercially day in,day out:chainsawguy:


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## mhrischuk (Sep 21, 2013)

*Can you all confirm this as black gum?*

Just got one tree's worth plus a bunch of white oak


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## Fred Wright (Sep 21, 2013)

Yup, that looks like black gum, or tupelo. The things grow like weeds around here.


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## CRESTLINE (Nov 26, 2013)

Sweet gum is about the only kind of wood we burn. My son and myself cheat a little bit though. We cut the trees into 10 ft logs and then run them through our bandsaw mill cutting them into 3" thick slabs then turn them 90 degrees and make 5" cuts. Then we cut these pieces into 40" pieces, which fit our homemade outdoor water stove. These pieces stack easily on 40" X 40" pallets we made, then we transport the pallets with our homemade log-arch/forklift to the water stove.


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## mhrischuk (Nov 27, 2013)

water stove? you mean a boiler? I would like to see pictures of your setup.


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## CRESTLINE (Nov 27, 2013)

Well I don't call it a boiler, it's a wood fired water heater. I do have some pictures. The first ones are during build and the rest are after we installed it in the metal shed. Also you can see the wood stacked on the pallets to the right.


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## CRESTLINE (Nov 27, 2013)




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## CRThomas (Jul 23, 2014)

gwiley said:


> I don't split the gum trees that I get (they have the little spikey balls on them in the fall), I just feed the rounds to the OWB unsplit, man I love being able to do that.
> 
> Another good use for them is to put a few aside so that your buddy's can show off their splitting skills when they come over. Put a red oak round down, blast it apart and then hand the maul to your friend and point him to a gum round (make sure you have an audience).


I get a kick out of those fellows that split 3 or 4 cord a day with a axe. I can't do that wit my 30 ton splitter much less a axe.


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## Deleted member 83629 (Jul 23, 2014)

holy old thread revival


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## bert the turtle (Jul 23, 2014)

Stringy and extremely hard to split wet. I have a lot of it. Let it sit cut and stacked until it develops good cracks and it isn't hard to split.


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## CRThomas (Aug 6, 2014)

jrider said:


> Old thread I know but man this stuff sucks to split. If there is a tougher splitting wood I would like to hear about it so I will make sure to never get any of it.
> 
> Del, I am right there with you about the 4 way wedge. It just won't do it and when you are used to using a 4 way, going without it seems so damn slow!


 Rock Cherry and gum are about the same stringy can not wrap as bundled firewood to crooked of pieces


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## jrider (Aug 6, 2014)

Never heard of rock cherry


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## TCH (Sep 24, 2017)

CRESTLINE said:


> Sweet gum is about the only kind of wood we burn. My son and myself cheat a little bit though. We cut the trees into 10 ft logs and then run them through our bandsaw mill cutting them into 3" thick slabs then turn them 90 degrees and make 5" cuts. Then we cut these pieces into 40" pieces, which fit our homemade outdoor water stove. These pieces stack easily on 40" X 40" pallets we made, then we transport the pallets with our homemade log-arch/forklift to the water stove.



CrestLine, I'm in High Point looking for someone to cut some branches off a tall sweet gum tree and not finding anything reasonable. Do you know anyone near that might cut it Down or trim low branches for firewood and a non-exorbitant fee?


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## Deleted member 117362 (Sep 24, 2017)

This thread is 3+ years old. May want to start a new post.


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## TCH (Sep 24, 2017)

Duce said:


> This thread is 3+ years old. May want to start a new post.



Thanks, will do.


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