How is elm to burn? It seems very hard to split and cut. I have some wood that I think is elm that I was splitting the other day. It was very stringy and hard on my 30 ton splitter!
Elm?
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It burns awesome. Its not terribly common up here in the northeast after the Dutch Elm diesease. But I can still find them in swampy areas standing dead. Not fun to split by hand but nice in the stove.
jeffman3
New Member
We burn allot of elm, and it is great. 
It is very hard to split by hand, (many trips to the chiropractor later, I bought a 28 ton splitter.) With the splitter it isn't a problem. It really is great in the stove. I have found that dry elm splits pretty good if it is straight grained, but the knotty stuff is another story. If it is still stringy I would check it with a moisture meter. Elm hold allot of water when green, and can take a while to dry out. Just make sure it is good and dry and you will be very happy with the results.
It is very hard to split by hand, (many trips to the chiropractor later, I bought a 28 ton splitter.) With the splitter it isn't a problem. It really is great in the stove. I have found that dry elm splits pretty good if it is straight grained, but the knotty stuff is another story. If it is still stringy I would check it with a moisture meter. Elm hold allot of water when green, and can take a while to dry out. Just make sure it is good and dry and you will be very happy with the results.Thanks! Does anyone have pics of elm wood? I would like to compare to see if I have elm or not. This wood also has a strange odor.
Marty
Feeling the Heat
The more I read about Elm, the more I think that's what the mystery wood I have a quarter cord of is... here is a pic of a split:
http://www.forestry.umn.edu/extension/forest/fireworks ready firewood/split elm 1.JPG
http://www.forestry.umn.edu/extension/forest/fireworks ready firewood/split elm 1.JPG
Looks like it to me. Is the bark "shotguned"?
You can just about forget about hand/small splitter splitting "Y" pieces of elm. They just laugh at you.
If they are dry and a few year dead (with a good crack down the side), you can get them easy. Without that, just a lot of swearing.
You can just about forget about hand/small splitter splitting "Y" pieces of elm. They just laugh at you.
If they are dry and a few year dead (with a good crack down the side), you can get them easy. Without that, just a lot of swearing.
savageactor7
Minister of Fire
As other have stated, tough to split, stringy and twisted wood fibers. Once dried, I think it burns real well, and is sometimes under-rated
I have about 12-15 pieces of this in my wood I bought this year and boy is it a pain to split (4 lb maul and wedge). I've managed to get through some of it, but I'll need to borrow a splitter to get through the rest. I've found the shorter the rounds (i.e. 10-12" rounds) the easier it is to split. I'm very glad to hear though that my work is worth it in that it burns well!
I was able to get some pieces that were fairly clean, like the picture posted earlier. It seems this was a result of getting lucky finding a decently straight grain. The wedge is a necessity and after cracking one end I've had some success turning the piece over and going at it from the other end. Once in half, I've found it gets much easier...
I was able to get some pieces that were fairly clean, like the picture posted earlier. It seems this was a result of getting lucky finding a decently straight grain. The wedge is a necessity and after cracking one end I've had some success turning the piece over and going at it from the other end. Once in half, I've found it gets much easier...
If I can give you one suggestion that may help (other than a hydraulic splitter), is to peel off of the edges, kinda like peeling the layers of an onion.
Gark
Minister of Fire
Elm burns real nice, but refuses to split. Have resorted to 'splitting' it with the chainsaw.
Way too many cuss words splitting by hand. Hold your saw bar at 45 degree angle to the round's
centerline to avoid clogging the saw's clutch housing with "curly fries". Quite satisfying to
take it apart with the saw after pounding it for 20 minutes (no results) with the maul.
Way too many cuss words splitting by hand. Hold your saw bar at 45 degree angle to the round's
centerline to avoid clogging the saw's clutch housing with "curly fries". Quite satisfying to
take it apart with the saw after pounding it for 20 minutes (no results) with the maul.
Gark
Minister of Fire
Oh yeah, cutting elm rounds into disks about 3" thickness with the saw works
too. The disks dry faster than normal splits if stacked with alot of airspace.
For woodburners without a hydraulic splitter,
too. The disks dry faster than normal splits if stacked with alot of airspace.
For woodburners without a hydraulic splitter,
I primairily burn elm (red elm) it is easy to find for me standing with the bark off it cuts nice and is a little hard to split but I have a hydraulic splitter so no problems my guess is that with the dutch elms diesese there will one day be no elm
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