I cut a over ten cord of sweet gum 3 years ago split stacked. Uncovered. For the most part
it is 50-60% punk. Some has turned to dirt.
it is 50-60% punk. Some has turned to dirt.
Sweet Gum truns to dirt
- Thread starter johnsopi
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JustWood
Minister of Fire
I got about 150 cord of gum in the very back of my yard that I couldn't get to for quite a while and its punk too. I can get to it now so in the spring it will go in the grinder and make mulch. It wasn't processed yet so no big deal.
bigtall
Member
Unfortunately, we have a lot of sweet gum down here. That was probably the first tree that I learned to identify when I was a kid, so that I knew to stay away from it. It took my one bad day to learn. When out and cut up two truck loads of rounds and brought them home to split. Uggh. Just can't split wet gum by hand. I have even tried letting them sit out for a year and it is like hitting a block of wet clay. Now, I will take them down so that the other species can grow. I will cut them up and lay them aside for a couple of years to use in bonfires.
JeffRey30747
Member
Yes, I have too many sweetgums on my property too. The master plan is to cut every one of them in my front yard along with the beeches and elms (about 1-1/2 acres) to thin it out so I can mow and keep them from multiplying so readily. They will go bad quickly if not kept out of the elements so they will go in the shed as soon as they are split/sheared apart by the hydraulic splitter. Right now, my father and I have too many dead and downed oaks to get processed before I can get started on that project. Sweetgum also has the added "benefit" of regenerating from the stump easily once cut so that it can be difficult to eliminate them by simply cutting them down. Several of the larger multi trunked examples that I have here appear to come back after my property was logged about 1980.
just one thing to add - definitely want to get it off the ground or it will go punky asap - BUT, you might want to let it dry a little bit before you put it in the shed, unless your shed is well ventilated because sweetgum is REALLY wet when green, and we found that if you put it straight in the shed, it can mold. once it drys some, its fine, and my dad has half a shed full of nice dry hard sweet gum to burn this year.
oh yeah, seems to split a little better when its green also - but can still be brutal
oh yeah, seems to split a little better when its green also - but can still be brutal
bigtall
Member
It is a good idea to cut them down and get rid of them. They will spread rapidly and completely choke out the other trees in an area. If you own land and have a lot of them, they are a major PITA.
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