Splitting elm

[jags]

The elm i see here is white inside, That log almost looks like a red oak. Is there different kinds of elm. if so they may have different characteristics.

Yep, by the color, I would guess that we are talking about 2 different flavors of Elm.

 

[Lignum]

Jag, that is when I usually give up for the day, I grab a beer and sit down on a round and shake my head.

 

[jags]

Well, the 5" ram doesn't stop, but sometimes ya end up with stuff that doesn't even look like firewood anymore. More like a cross of a chia pet and a porcupine thats been on a 3 day drinking bing.

 

[Lignum]

Well, the 5" ram doesn't stop, but sometimes ya end up with stuff that doesn't even look like firewood anymore. More like a cross of a chia pet and a porcupine thats been on a 3 day drinking bing.

I usually toss that stuff in a pile that the kids and I use to grill out hot dogs and for when the kids 'camp out' in the back yard.

 

[gink595]

I usually toss that stuff in a pile that the kids and I use to grill out hot dogs and for when the kids 'camp out' in the back yard.

Sounds like me, Thats the stuff that is in the free pile for me and some friends that like to have camp fires.

 

[Lignum]

My kids get the biggest kick out of cooking cheezy metts over a small fire, during the summer and fall that is usually our meal for the night on the weekends.

 

[Ole Farmerbuck]

FarmerBuck, The pics I showed were the nastiest of the nasty, but of the pile I am currently splitting, I will guarantee you that I do not come out with a split piece like you are showing. This is the most ugly batch I have ever seen.:censored: bar none.

Trust me....i'm no expert on this firewood thing. Ive only been at it for two years and about 60 or 70 cords at that. It just looks like yours is still too wet to be splitting. The stuff i split has been dead for years but still hard and never punky in the middle. But i have cut some rounds that the bark had just fallen off, maybe with some help and it was a pain! Thats the ones i put aside for next year. I feel for you splitting that stuff. I think i would leave it outside for next season. Good luck.

 

[Happyjack]

I love Elm as firewood. However, it is a pain in the A%% to split by hand. I use my splitter for it. I think it is the most challenging wood to split by hand.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Naw man....here's elm.

If I didnt already know what Red Elm / Slippery Elm splits like I might just say you had taken a picture of a milled piece of cord wood.

May all your Elm split like Red Elm

 

[Ole Farmerbuck]

Here's a couple more of the elm areound here.

 

[Ole Farmerbuck]

Woops. Same one twice.

 

[jags]

FarmerBuck - this stuff has no bark and has been dead for awhile. I doubt it will get any drier without being split. There is a big difference between red elm (what you have there) and this crap (not sure if it is chinese or american elm). The worst part is trying to wrestle the big ones and having them just "hang" there, thats when the ax gets pulled out.:chainsawguy:

 

[stihl sawing]

The elm i have always dealt with looks nothing like that red elm. We always called it pi$$ elm, don't know why though. It will not split. It looks like that piece that blew up in the splitter. If that red elm splits that good i can see it being good firewwod. The elm here also when dried good feels like balsa wood, Very light and will burn too fast.

 

[Wood Doctor]

The elm i have always dealt with looks nothing like that red elm. We always called it pi$$ elm, don't know why though....

Here's the reason. Years ago in New England I would sometimes find these strange 12" to 16" dia. billets lying by the side of the road, all cut to length--free firewood? So, I would take out my 8-lb splitting maul and give a few of them a whack. After the maul stuck four or five times and the billet still refused to budge, I just said to myself, "Pi$$ on it."

Then I looked around and saw where someone else had done exactly the same thing. The ax marks were still visible. I think the original sawyer left them there as a trap.

 

[stihl sawing]

Here's the reason. Years ago in New England I would sometimes find these strange 12" to 16" dia. billets lying by the side of the road, all cut to length--free firewood? So, I would take out my 8-lb splitting maul and give a few of them a whack. After the maul stuck four or five times and the billet still refused to budge, I just said to myself, "Pi$$ on it."

Then I looked around and saw where someone else had done exactly the same thing. The ax marks were still visible. I think the original sawyer left them there as a trap.

LMAO, That deserves some rep tonight.

 

[Ole Farmerbuck]

FarmerBuck - this stuff has no bark and has been dead for awhile. I doubt it will get any drier without being split. There is a big difference between red elm (what you have there) and this crap (not sure if it is chinese or american elm). The worst part is trying to wrestle the big ones and having them just "hang" there, thats when the ax gets pulled out.:chainsawguy:

I agree that is some bad stuff you have there. But i am pretty sure about all we have around here is Chinese and very little American.

 

[gink595]

There is a big difference between red elm (what you have there) and this crap (not sure if it is chinese or american elm).

American Elm burns alot like Red Elm, maybe not as hot??? And has a little more Ash but personally I like both, AMerican and Red are both heavy and dense feeling when dry. I don't believe I've ever seen/used Chinese, go figure something with the name Chinese in it isn't worth a crap, proably find it at Wal-mart.

 

[lapeer20m]

How did our ancestors burn elm?

I just finished splitting a cord of elm with a hydraulic splitter and I had to work for every single piece of firewood! The pump slowed to high pressure mode as soon as the round began to split it stayed there the entire stroke.

It is so stringy, twisted, and hard to get apart that it takes 3-5 times longer to split than ash.

 

[svk]

If it was too big to burn in the round they probably let it lay. WAY too much effort expended for slightly above average firewood if they had to do everything by hand.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I take really big elm and noodle cut it into 2, 4, and sometimes 6 blocks. Then I let the pieces sit for at least a month or more until well after the bark falls off. Then I split it down to logs. Splits rather well after that.