# Chinese Elm as firewood



## im2tall (Dec 10, 2007)

I have a firewood business selling strictly pine. I have someone offering me Chinese Elm to sale for resale. How does it burn? I heard it stinks. Any thoughts on its value? (Pine sells for $150-165 a cord here.)

2Tall in Gods country
Wyoming


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## PA. Woodsman (Dec 11, 2007)

I burnt some years ago and wasn't very impressed with it-didn't burn very well or throw much heat.


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## StihltheOne (Dec 12, 2007)

I have burned tons of it. Compared to the pine that we usually burn, it has more heat, this at the cost of more ash as well. The wood is considerably harder than pine and next to russian olive and cottonwood, about the only thing available here, it really is pretty decent. I just piled my old earth stove to the top with it a little bit ago for the all nighter. There is an odor, not horrable, however it does smell a bit, much worse is burned if it not really dry. There a few people that really like it. It sells for about 150-160 per cord, about the same as pine around here, although it is not as readily available.


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## KsWoodsMan (Dec 13, 2007)

im2tall

Seasoned , it does make better heat then Pine, by my experience.

Chinese and American Elm, here, are considered a "trash wood" for firewood though. They are tough trying to cut it, very tough to split, lots of dirt/sand/ash to clean up, only burns hot just before it starts to rot, does not coal well, makes little or no heat when wet/green and quite susceptable to rot if exposed to the elements. 
The smell of it is far better than Cataulpa or Tree of Heaven(Paradise). It doesn't throw sparks, has a bright flame and once it is seasoned it won't break your back trying to carry it.

Red Elm is as desireable as good Oak around here. Easy to split, straight trunks and branches, high BTU's, nice coals and fragrance.


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## Bowtie (Dec 31, 2007)

Anyone have pics of good red elm? I just cut up a bunch of what I believe is red elm today, not sure, but it is REALLY good firewood!


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## Bowtie (Dec 31, 2007)

Ok, I been researching, and Im sure what I been burning is red elm. Everyone around this part of Kansas says all the red elm is gone, but Im gonna have to call Bullflops on that. I will take pics and post tomorrow (if my internet is working:angry2: )


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## Dok (Dec 31, 2007)

im2tall said:


> I have a firewood business selling strictly pine. I have someone offering me Chinese Elm to sale for resale. How does it burn? I heard it stinks. Any thoughts on its value? (Pine sells for $150-165 a cord here.)
> 
> 2Tall in Gods country
> Wyoming



Do you have a pic of what these trees look like? Could be the same thing I've seen here but different local names. If you could link to a pic of a living tree with leaves that would be best.
Dok


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## aandabooks (Dec 31, 2007)

The red elm I cut earlier in the year at the neighbors was dead standing until the wind blew it down one day. The outside turns grey and has the small designs on it. Just the way most elm in my experience has. When you split it will be stringy with a red tint. The white elm is lighter by weight, outside of the wood stays brown/white specked with the designs. The wood when split is white and stringy reminding a person of cottonwood just heavier and better burning.

Matt


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## Bowtie (Dec 31, 2007)

Sounds exactly like the red elm I been cutting for firewood. The American elm I been cutting is wite , but not usually stringy. I think Im on the right track.


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## aandabooks (Dec 31, 2007)

I had the red elm identified by a guy at work. He has spent the last 30 years heating with wood and sometimes I don't even have to show him the wood just describe its characteristics. He identified Basswood/Ironwood like that for me. I checked in a book and he was spot on.

Matt


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## Bowtie (Dec 31, 2007)

I have a "Native trees of Kansas" book, but isnt much help as this had no bark and obviously no leaves. From your description its same wood that Im cutting. I been harvesting this stuff from my families land for a few years now not knowing what it was for sure. I just knew it was good firewood!


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## aandabooks (Dec 31, 2007)

For what I burn, i put it right behind well seasoned red oak. White Oak might move up to the top next year when I get some of that seasoned for burning.

Matt


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## Old Goat (Jan 1, 2008)

Chinese or what some here call Siberian elm grows in almost every corner of Utah. It is mostly a trash tree but the price is right, Free! If you age it for two or three years or until the bark comes off it will burn well. The bark is the main contributor to the large amount of ash. It is quite stringy when you split it. Some of the old timers here claim that you have to split it green but I prefer to let it dry for 2 years first to reduce the weight, plus I have a splitter. I posted some pictures of my last elm project. The picture with the snow was last Saturday and the saws are sitting on what is left of the stump. My Avatar is this same tree. It burns better then the silver maple and spruce, but it falls short, very short of the black locust.


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## Old Goat (Jan 2, 2008)

I posted some more pictures of some Chinese elm. The power company took down two trees from across the street this last summer and the wood made its way over in front of my place. Our church ended up using this for “widow wood” and it was distributed among some needy families in town. The other pictures are of the church splitting party. Most of the trees in the background are volunteer Chinese elm.


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## WadePatton (May 2, 2011)

Jiminy stinkbombs! I cut up a storm-downed CE today, hauled it home, split one or two pieces === and it smells something like a cross between creek moss and a septic tank. I'm not burning it, I'm going to chuck it offa my trailer into the woods...just can't imagine having a porch-load of turdish wood out there and all my visitors thinking my septic system was backed up...

Too many alternatives...

what the eff with the italian? (methinks) nebbermind, i found the button with which to change the language back. (but it wuz italian, and not that easy to navigate in.) also, wasn't the one in the CP, it was on the bottom of the main page.


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## TMFARM 2009 (May 2, 2011)




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## TMFARM 2009 (May 2, 2011)

there you go!


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## 3fordasho (May 3, 2011)

I've got lots of it around here, very much a weed tree. Splits much easier than american elm. I'm cutting mostly live trees as this stuff does not succumb to the dutch elm bug. Full of water, when seasoned it is a ok shoulder season wood. Unlike other elms it holds onto it's bark very well which is unfortunate because as others have mentioned- it creates lots of ash. Needs a good coal bed to get it going, not something to throw on a few coals and expect it to take off. I'm cutting a 2-3 acre lot full of it, most will be sold as low cost firewood as I like to have my own stash full of better stuff. 

Siberian (mistakenly called chinese) Elm:

<a href="http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d75/3fordasho/?action=view&amp;current=DSC03237.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d75/3fordasho/DSC03237.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


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## Whitespider (May 3, 2011)

The Chinese Elm and Siberian Elm are two totally different trees...

The Chinese Elm is a "landscape" tree found mostly in suburban areas in yards, parks and whatnot.




The Chinese has a more delicate leaf with a finer saw-tooth edge, and the leaves stand on shorter stalks off the twigs.


The Siberian Elm was planted in large numbers along fence rows and as other windbreaks in the mid-west after the dust bowl days.




A larger, hardier tree with thicker, coarser saw-tooth edged leaf, standing on a longer stalk.


As firewood they are on the bottom of the Elm list... American Elm is in the center, considerably better... Red Elm is on top and only bested by Rock Elm. Red Elm (actually the proper name is Slippery Elm) will never have "white" wood, always brownish-reddish, even when rotting.


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## Wood Doctor (May 3, 2011)

*I Have a Log Splitter*

Everybody seems to hate elm regardless of what elm that it is. I don't hate it because I use an hydraulic log splitter and know when and how to split it. It's as simple as that.

Most elm burns with no sparks and leaves behind no chunks in my wood stove. Simple as that. Good stuff, but keep your axe in its holster, or you will soon learn to hate it.


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## WadePatton (May 5, 2011)

well it smells a little more swampy and less septic-y today since the bark dried out. i'll burn this load, but not "seek" any more (this was a storm-damage removal for freebie). i have a plenty of "regular" elm (knot sure which) standing dead and just slipped out of the bark. it'll be down in 4-5 years.


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## Diesel nut (May 5, 2011)

I have what looks to be a siberean elm in my back yard that needs to be cut down. Its kind of an ugly tree. Limbs broke off here and there. Should be a decent amount of wood there though.


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