Sweet Gum is no joke...

[bert the turtle]

Its 24 outside, 77 inside, sweet gum in the stove. Yes it is a bitch to split, but a 12 pound sledge and a couple of wedges is as good a workout as anything I'd do at the gym. No, it doesn't burn as long as oak, but I can load the stove at night and the stove is still warm in the morning with plenty of coals to start the next fire. Most importantly, I'm sure as hell not going to cut down an oak and leave the sweet gum standing.

 

[Woody912]

More of a philosophical question than anything else, but why would some wood like Green Ash (the King's wood) burn beautifully even when green yet year old split Sweet Gum hardly can catch the flame?

Ash is about 30% moisture when green, sweet gum is about 200%

 

[chilly460]

Didn’t realize this thread is still going. I gave up and just noodeled it, I could pound two wedges completely through a 12” round and I’d still have to flip it over and carefully hit it with the maul to split it and get the wedges out, amazing stuff. It’s burning ok but goes quick, fairly light once it dried out, as stated it’s wet as hell when green

 

[Toy4xchris]

This is how I handle splitting gum.

 

[Tree Feller]

I will not waste my time on gum trees. The only way I will consider burning them is if they are small enough I don’t have to split. I’ll burn pine before gum!

 

[Toy4xchris]

I burn mainly pine because that's what I have a lot of on my property and most of it is dead. The gum trees came out of my backyard also and I was not going to pay the guy that took them down to remove them at the time I had not realized what they were and now it just gives me an excuse to spend quality time with my saw.