I'm getting older in age(30 next week), but finally met my hand splitting match. This is on a family farm in SEMO where we do not have a splitter. P*$$ elm that has been standing dead for 3 years. Ran out of fire wood(cooking, bonfire and house) so I finally cut this down. We now have new seats lol. Dragged it over with a tractor. Figured one deer season we'll roll it into the fire.
Finally met my match....
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johneh
Minister of Fire
You have nailed the number 1 reason I bought a splitter
get a lot of fire wood from American Elm that has died from
Dutch elm disease still have some coming up which will die
in the future
Nice seat for around the camp fire by the way
get a lot of fire wood from American Elm that has died from
Dutch elm disease still have some coming up which will die
in the future
Nice seat for around the camp fire by the way
Elm is a %$#@* wood. Don't split from the heartwood, "ring split" it concentrically from the circumference in giving you slabs.
It is a PITA, butt burns fine. At one time up here most tonws and villages were lined with elm bfore the Dutch Elm Disease killed off ALL the Am. Elms.
It is a PITA, butt burns fine. At one time up here most tonws and villages were lined with elm bfore the Dutch Elm Disease killed off ALL the Am. Elms.
heavy hammer
Minister of Fire
My father cut down an elm that size about four years ago. The base pieces were over 36 inch diameter. Had about a cord of it left to split one sat thought it would be an easy project, six plus hours later I finally finished. My father kept telling me to just throw it in a pile and just burn it but I refused to give up. Couple years later I really enjoyed burning that tree. Worked way to hard for that firewood but I figured once I started I just couldn't give up. A couple of the real big base pieces ate four or five wedges, before they gave in, toughest stuff to split by hand in my opinion, very hard to figure how each piece will split. Great wood to burn but it makes you work for it.
Oldman47
Minister of Fire
Nice sculpture. Now plunge cut the back corner of those seats so you don't end up with puddles after a rain.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
I grew up splitting elm. It will teach you much. 
Here's some of the things I learned:
- If you lose your wedges, it is hazardous to use the chainsaw to go looking for them.
- If it's hard to pop it in half... don't even bother. Pop slabs off the outside wherever there's not a branch and whittle it down from there.
- Lost all your wedges? All your parts hurt? Want to cry? Well, just go inside and sulk, and come back when it's 20 degrees below zero. You'll have your wedges back in no time!
- Splitting other wood is easy.
- Every piece is worth splitting!
- Take a minute to plan things out before you start whacking. Use your eyeballs and your brain, and if the wood tells you that your initial plan sucked, don't be afraid to change it.
- If you can talk someone else into splitting elm for you, by all means do that.
- If you can't, it's great exercise and actually kind of meditative. You versus the inanimate log... who will win this battle of wits??? (Sometimes the log, but I'm a glutton for punishment so I always come back for more.)
Here's some of the things I learned:
- If you lose your wedges, it is hazardous to use the chainsaw to go looking for them.
- If it's hard to pop it in half... don't even bother. Pop slabs off the outside wherever there's not a branch and whittle it down from there.
- Lost all your wedges? All your parts hurt? Want to cry? Well, just go inside and sulk, and come back when it's 20 degrees below zero. You'll have your wedges back in no time!
- Splitting other wood is easy.
- Every piece is worth splitting!
- Take a minute to plan things out before you start whacking. Use your eyeballs and your brain, and if the wood tells you that your initial plan sucked, don't be afraid to change it.
- If you can talk someone else into splitting elm for you, by all means do that.
- If you can't, it's great exercise and actually kind of meditative. You versus the inanimate log... who will win this battle of wits??? (Sometimes the log, but I'm a glutton for punishment so I always come back for more.)
Jay106n
Minister of Fire
I grew up splitting elm. It will teach you much.
Here's some of the things I learned:
- If you lose your wedges, it is hazardous to use the chainsaw to go looking for them.
- If it's hard to pop it in half... don't even bother. Pop slabs off the outside wherever there's not a branch and whittle it down from there.
- Lost all your wedges? All your parts hurt? Want to cry? Well, just go inside and sulk, and come back when it's 20 degrees below zero. You'll have your wedges back in no time!
- Splitting other wood is easy.
- Every piece is worth splitting!
- Take a minute to plan things out before you start whacking. Use your eyeballs and your brain, and if the wood tells you that your initial plan sucked, don't be afraid to change it.
- If you can talk someone else into splitting elm for you, by all means do that.
- If you can't, it's great exercise and actually kind of meditative. You versus the inanimate log... who will win this battle of wits??? (Sometimes the log, but I'm a glutton for punishment so I always come back for more.)
I laughed when I threw my fiskars in with a mighty blow and the head just disappeared, nope.
Beer Belly
Minister of Fire
My tree guy dropped off a load of Elm, but called first to see if I had a splitter....he said "otherwise he wouldn't bother"....that stuff is tuff, even with a splitter
Ya,I'm going out to split some Elm because the best time to split this stuff is when it is below zero as it is now.I grew up splitting elm. It will teach you much.
Here's some of the things I learned:
- If you lose your wedges, it is hazardous to use the chainsaw to go looking for them.
- If it's hard to pop it in half... don't even bother. Pop slabs off the outside wherever there's not a branch and whittle it down from there.
- Lost all your wedges? All your parts hurt? Want to cry? Well, just go inside and sulk, and come back when it's 20 degrees below zero. You'll have your wedges back in no time!
- Splitting other wood is easy.
- Every piece is worth splitting!
- Take a minute to plan things out before you start whacking. Use your eyeballs and your brain, and if the wood tells you that your initial plan sucked, don't be afraid to change it.
- If you can talk someone else into splitting elm for you, by all means do that.
- If you can't, it's great exercise and actually kind of meditative. You versus the inanimate log... who will win this battle of wits??? (Sometimes the log, but I'm a glutton for punishment so I always come back for more.)
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
I have no issues with elm . . . and in fact, like it . . . but it definitely helps to have a splitter . . . otherwise I might not have the same amount of love for elm.
Do you mean just whack it on the edges and go around it, leaving the center? Then, do you split the center of just leave the heart hole?
Hasufel
Feeling the Heat
I had to do this with some hickory. Once you chip away enough of the edges you should be able to split the rest right down the center as if it were an ordinary (but smaller) round. Just be careful when you swing at the edge because it's an unbalanced hit so it's easier for the split or the ax head to go flying off to the side.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Sort of, yes. If you go all the way around whacking slabs off the outside, you'll usually wind up with an irregular piece, not a round one- because you didn't get a full sized slab wherever there was a branch. I try to avoid taking a slab near a decent sized branch because then you wind up with an odd "L" shaped split that you have to play Tetris with later.
From there, you can usually see where you can get some easy splits off of it.
I know it sounds counterintuitive, but I get my big splits out of easy rounds and my small splits out of difficult rounds because I whittle down the difficult stuff.
I have never in my life used a log splitter, but it sounds lovely.
I'd probably gain 100 pounds if I had one, though!
barmstrong2
Feeling the Heat
heavy hammer
Minister of Fire
I Have also found with elm let sit and dry for awhile six months in rounds. It seems to split easier. It is still a hard wood to work with but it is a good stress reliever to go out and swing the maul for awhile to get it to pop.
sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
My last elm..and my cousin breaking in his new Echo. It was 90F that day. It was impossible to split by hand and I didn't have a log splitter then. I stacked the rounds in the field in the sun. Going back this summer to split them. It will be mostly campfire wood.
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