splitting elm

[svk]

Been splitting a pile of mixed species rounds this week that includes both American and red elm.

Since this stuff has been aging in the sun it's all faded grey. I can easily identify an Elm round from other species but until you get into it, it's not immediately apparent which one it is.

If the Isocore maul bounces off it, I know it's American and toss it into the noodle pile. If it splits or the maul sticks then I know it's red elm.

I'd say red elm splits about as difficult as sugar maple. Not impossible but not easy like ash or red oak either.

 

[Nosmo]

I know this is an old thread (2010) but I am still burning a lot of elm. I have no problem splitting it. Well elm doesnt really split it has to be torn apart and my splitter handles it quite well. Once seasoned it puts out plenty of good warm heat in my stove.

 

[Jeff Lary]

I am waiting to drop an American Elm later this winter. Right now we have about 3.5' of snow so I am going to wait till it settles out some. The tree is about 120' tall and the first 60 - 70 ' of it has no limbs. I have been watching it for a few years as the foliage has gotten less each summer . Last summer there were no leaves at all. I have 2 others to drop as well but much smaller about 12" on the stump and 30' tall each. Love the Elm burns hot and long but to be honest most wood burns good in the Blaze King.

 

[Nosmo]

Good luck with that big ole elm. Talk about wood burnin' - it all will burn and put out heat but some wood does it a little better. I was out splitting some pecan today. I was in a tee shirt. It was 77 degrees a while ago around 1:30 pm. We've been having weather that ain't like winter at all.

 

[old guy]

Wet or unseasoned elm is like cable. Dead standing is like splitting rocks. The dry stuff doesn't "spilt" it breaks.

I like elm, but IF I had to break it by hand, I would burn box elder or cottonwood first. :hmm3grin2orange:

I too would pass it up if they want to get picky and have you haul away the branches. It isn't so "free" then. Alot more invested at that point.

Cottenwood is really unsplitable.

 

[Weesa20]

Just took down 3 winged elms- real bad leaners that were shading the garden too much. We'll see how it splits but believe it to be stringy. Heavy too.

W

 

[Wood Doctor]

Cottenwood is really unsplitable.

Do you really believe that cottonwood is unsplittable? I split nearly 15 cords of big cottonwood rounds every year for campfire wood bundles. Just wait until the bark falls off. Don't try to split it green. It's similar to elm in this way.

 

[Nosmo]

A neighbor had an old cottonwood cut up by a tree crew. They took it down and left the trunk standing. That old tree must have been at least a hundred years old. The trunk is still there - just guessing I'd say its about 30". Anyhow I was given all that wood which was 7-pickup loads and 5-trailer loads. No problem splitting all of that and it took 2-winters to burn it all up.

 

[Jeff Lary]

When I first moved in here 1982 we had a hugh Elm out in the edge of the field that was dead. I had a small Jonsered 510 sp the tree was too big for me to tackle so I asked a guy at work. He had a large Stihl have no idea what actual size of it. He dropped the tree it was 49" on the stump and had 4 cord plus in it.

 

[square1]

That old tree must have been at least a hundred years old. The trunk is still there - just guessing I'd say its about 30".

30" cottonwood? Probably a seedling the spring before last

 

[jd548esco72]

i sometimes pick up downed elms for firewood --green they don't seem to want to split-- generally i just rip them with the saw --

 

[old guy]

I cut a 48" cottenwood once and the grain was so twisted and gnarly it would just ball up on the splitter blade and the blade would push the ball and adjacent grain all the way thru the block. No more cottenwood fer me. Elm splits pretty easy

 

[sbhooper]

You are on the money, wood doc. I cut, split and burn gobs of elm. It needs to be cured well to alleviate some of the issue, but it can still be tough. Cottonwood is terrible if it is green, but cure it well and it does OK. It just burns too fast for me, but it WILL heat!

 

[Wood Doctor]

You are on the money, wood doc. I cut, split and burn gobs of elm. It needs to be cured well to alleviate some of the issue, but it can still be tough. Cottonwood is terrible if it is green, but cure it well and it does OK. It just burns too fast for me, but it WILL heat!

Yes, and that is why people love it for campfires. So, my campfire bundles are usually about 80% cottonwood. It's easy to light, burns well, and eventually you can split it once that bark has fallen off almost by itself. Much of the grain is straight, but that depends on the tree. There is easy-split cottonwood and snarly cottonwood, but I have run into that with elm and ash also.

In addition, nobody has ever told me that eastern cottonwood is an endangered species. My logger friends average about 15,000 bd ft a week all year. Most of it is cottonwood and some elm that is used for pallets. The smaller top branches wind up being mulched for landscaping, so very little is wasted. The sawmills are rejecting ash these days thanks to the emerald ash borer.

 

[sbhooper]

I hauled 11 semi loads of cottonwood out of the state land by my house with my tractor, when the state did a tree clearing project. The Putnam brothers took it all east to make pallets out of it. Man, there was a lot of big wood there!