What the heck is this!!??? Wood (if it is wood) ID, please.

[Intheswamp]

While the mason worked on the chimney I decided to try out the new splitter. Everything was going along nicely splitting that barkless water(?) oak when I grabbed a big round of barkless "something". I think it's made of anti-matter or something! It pulled the motor down on the 22-ton splitter worse than that oak ever thought of. Twisted and knarly and ugly and stringy and stinky and.....

Splitting a round of the "something"...

The other end of that round...

A pile of several miserable rounds of this twisted stuff...

 

[blades]

ELM perhaps

 

[nrford]

Elm+1, me thinks Grey, aka American Elm

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the wonderful world of elm. Usually when the elm dies and the bark falls off is when we cut so that we don't get that mess. Still occasionally some of it is still twisted. Perhaps this tree was more in the open which will cause more twisting. Elm burns good if it isn't all gnarly like that but when it get stringy, it can burn quite fast. And yes, it can make the old splitter groan a bit.

 

[Intheswamp]

I don't think I want any more elm...it killed my splitter!

After the first round I checked the others...no discernible medullary rays. And Dennis, it is a good possibility that this tree was in a somewhat narrow head of woods between a dirt road and an open field. Twisted, twisted, twisted...

Ed

 

[Jags]

Baahaaha - BAHAHAA - its elm.

 

[Thistle]

American Elm,sometimes called P*ss Elm or "Water" Elm in mixed company lol

 

[oldspark]

American Elm,sometimes called P*ss Elm or "Water" Elm in mixed company lol

I hate to be picky but Piss Elm is Slippery Elm.

 

[FireNewbie]

If you have more of that elm, let it season in the round off the ground for a year or two before splitting. It will split easier and not be so stringy.

 

[maxed_out]

try to do that without hydraulics.

My elbows and shoulders would be so knocked out.

 

[Joe in MI]

My grandmother's property, right across from my parent's house, is lousy with elm. Most, if not all of it, died off from dutch elm disease years ago. Growing up my dad worked a ton, and was always strapped for time and cash, so cutting the already dead-standing elm trees was an almost weekly thing for a while. As I posted in another thread, my dad also split wood with a 3 pound camp axe, with wedges and sledges as a backup. I HATE ELM. HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT! I remember being almost reduced to tears as a teenager, working for what seemed like forever on an 8 inch round of elm with an axe. Even when it was split all the way through, you couldn't get the two halves apart. And then, when you finally get it done, you turn and look at the rest of the huge pile...............bad memories, man. Bad memories.

BTW - I bought my dad a fiberglass handled splitting maul a few years back. He uses the hydraulic splitter now, though.....the splitter that died when I was about 8, and which he waited until I was grown up and moved out to fix........revenge for all those "hey dad there's something under my bed" wake-ups, I guess......

 

[midwestcoast]

Ouch! Nasty. For the record not all Elm is like that. I've had a few cords of Slippery Elm now that split fairly well with the Fiskars (other than the knots & crotches of course).

 

[amateur cutter]

Yep Pi$$ Elm. I burn it when I can get it easily. As Dennis said, let it season in the round if you can. As stringy as it is, it "noodles" pretty well if you've got a decent size saw. I'll usually quarter it up with the 064, or halve it depending on size, let it season & then split as necessary. Save the noodles for fire starting, & keep the chain sharp. IMO it's worth the extra fuel to save the misery of splitting it. AC

 

[Thistle]

Ouch! Nasty. For the record not all Elm is like that. I've had a few cords of Slippery Elm now that split fairly well with the Fiskars (other than the knots & crotches of course).

Yup. Dont see it much anymore (at least where I cut at).Still a few smaller scattered trees growing around here.Dont think we'll see them get big like the old ones used to though.

 

[smokinj]

Baahaaha - BAHAHAA - its elm.

+1

 

[Intheswamp]

Do all of ya'll *really* think it's elm?......just kiddin', I'll take ya'lls word for it...it sure seems to fit the description I think I have only one round left which I will gladly let season in the round. I think that pile of string is going to be some outside wood...I'd be forever trying to poke the strings, fuzz, and splinters in the door of the F3CB.

Hmmm, I could chip it up, package it in "cute" little cloth packets with pictures of unicorns and fairies on them, sell this as a fragrance sachet(?) with the name of "Ode de'Slipper Elm" on it, advertise them as "The Fragrance of the Fairies" and as all natural and all organic fragrance packets. Sell them on eBay and in those aggravating stands in the aisles of the malls....target upscale malls and convenience stores that have bars and bullet proof glass at the checkout counter. Once the novelty wears off then sell them on the "As seen on TV" rack at Wallyworld. Probably become a millionaire in just a day or two....only downside would be all the time involved appearing on the Jerry Springer and Ellen shows.

Ed

 

[Intheswamp]

Baahaaha - BAHAHAA - its elm.

+1

Well, I'm glad ya'll are in agreement on this!<grin>

I don't guess I should tell ya'll that these were the biggest rounds I had...that I about busted something wrestling them out of the clear-cut tangle, stumbling to the truck with them, and looked proudly upon once they were stacked in the backyard (kinda like gazing proudly at the nice 10-point buck in the back of the truck).

But, the really fun part was carrying those rounds to the nice, new, red and shiney wood splitter (that is now tore up) and carefully placing them on the cradle. Pulling the valve handle expecting to see a nice round of red oak (I'm thinking it's water oak) start to split nicely down the grain...knowing that these rounds will give a days worth of fuel for my little F3CB. Then suddenly my expectant attitude slowly turning into a "what the..." attitude as the wedge groaningly smushes and tears and rips and chatters and smushes it's way through the wood leaving a fuzzball of wood fiber (I *can* detect something of a split of wood under that fuzz, though!). Expecting the smell of red oak to waft my way, it is with surpise and another "what the..." moment that the Ode de' Slipper Elm strikes the smell receptors in my nostrils causing them to shrivel up while yet retaining the smell in them.

Yes, this was definitely a learning experience. Now, if you see some guy down in south Alabama that is out in a clear-cut and he's hacking a piece of wood off a downed log and then bending over and smelling it, then either cutting it up or walking away saying things he shouldn't...that's probably me! :-S (Man, that's gonna add a lot of time to getting a load of wood!)

Ed
Distributor for "Ode de' Slipper Elm" sachets

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Baahaaha - BAHAHAA - its elm.

+1

Well, I'm glad ya'll are in agreement on this!<grin>

I don't guess I should tell ya'll that these were the biggest rounds I had...that I about busted something wrestling them out of the clear-cut tangle, stumbling to the truck with them, and looked proudly upon once they were stacked in the backyard (kinda like gazing proudly at the nice 10-point buck in the back of the truck).

But, the really fun part was carrying those rounds to the nice, new, red and shiney wood splitter (that is now tore up) and carefully placing them on the cradle. Pulling the valve handle expecting to see a nice round of red oak (I'm thinking it's water oak) start to split nicely down the grain...knowing that these rounds will give a days worth of fuel for my little F3CB. Then suddenly my expectant attitude slowly turning into a "what the..." attitude as the wedge groaningly smushes and tears and rips and chatters and smushes it's way through the wood leaving a fuzzball of wood fiber (I *can* detect something of a split of wood under that fuzz, though!). Expecting the smell of red oak to waft my way, it is with surpise and another "what the..." moment that the Ode de' Slipper Elm strikes the smell receptors in my nostrils causing them to shrivel up while yet retaining the smell in them.

Yes, this was definitely a learning experience. Now, if you see some guy down in south Alabama that is out in a clear-cut and he's hacking a piece of wood off a downed log and then bending over and smelling it, then either cutting it up or walking away saying things he shouldn't...that's probably me! :-S (Man, that's gonna add a lot of time to getting a load of wood!)

Ed
Distributor for "Ode de' Slipper Elm" sachets

Ed, I just found your whole problem. You are using a cradle and that is not needed when splitting the correct way; vertically. Darn, some of you southern folks seem to learn slowly....

 

[Flatbedford]

Elm is the devil's wood. Leave it to rot!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Not so Steve! We really like it here. That is, so long as we don't cut it when it is green. We have a bunch we need to get cut soon though else it will just rot. I do like burning the elm if it is handled right. I especially like the smaller limbs for rounds. They hold a fire very nicely. Not as much coaling so we usually mix it.

 

[Flatbedford]

Not so Steve! We really like it here. That is, so long as we don't cut it when it is green. We have a bunch we need to get cut soon though else it will just rot. I do like burning the elm if it is handled right. I especially like the smaller limbs for rounds. They hold a fire very nicely. Not as much coaling so we usually mix it.

I split by hand and don't have the room on my 1/4 acre to keep anything in the round a couple years before it gets split. I have process the most BTU per hour that can take up the least space. Ash or Black Locust is about the best I could ever hope for.

 

[firefighterjake]

No doubt . . . well maybe some . . . I'm not really an expert . . . but it certainly looks like the American elm that I cut . . . and for the record, I like elm . . . a lot. Of course as Steve noted it probably makes a bid difference if you are splitting by hand or by hydraulics.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Strange as it may seem, we used to burn even more elm than we do now.....before we got the hydraulic splitter. Most of it was no big problem though. We just accepted that it split harder but after we learned that there is a time to cut elm and a time to not cut, we turned out very well.

 

[Intheswamp]

Strange as it may seem, we used to burn even more elm than we do now.....before we got the hydraulic splitter. Most of it was no big problem though. We just accepted that it split harder but after we learned that there is a time to cut elm and a time to not cut, we turned out very well.

Dennis, not that I will be seeking out elm in the near (or distant) future, out of curiosity when *is* a good time to cut elm?

And even with more curiosity, how did this affect the way ya'll turned out???
Ed

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Wait until all or at least 90% of the bark has fallen from the tree. Then it splits good and usually you don't get the stringy stuff which makes it burn nicely instead of burning up like paper. I simply won't cut an elm when it is alive.