Dead elm

[lost in the woods]

hey a guy from our hunting camp had a tree fall across the lane at his woodlot and he asked me to clear it in exchange for all the dead/down wood i want. . . today I went up and did the job and discovered it was a dead elm. . . it was a mother to split. . . i'm wondering if anyone has experience burning elm???? how do you like it? this woodlot is a mix of dead ash, elm, walnut and other assorted crap all tangled up in monkey vines. . . is the elm worth the hassle?

 

[Medic21]

I like elm, especially for establishing a good coal bed. It’s not an overnight type of wood but burns hot and clean.

 

[Medic21]

Just a mother to split.

 

[Stinkpickle]

Fun to burn. No fun to split. If morels grow in your part of the country, that sounds like a good mushroom hunting spot.

 

[lost in the woods]

oh yeah! kinda giving up on morels; my wife and kids don't like them. . . they do like hens, chickens, and chanterelles though, so im concentrating on them from now on

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Hard as hell to split, especially Chinese elm. I found it satisfactory firewood.

 

[johneh]

My tree lines are full of dead American Elm (Dutch Elm Disease)
Cut split and burn a lot of it. Works well for me
But you do need a power splitter if you are going to do more than a few splits
The biggest reason I had to buy a hydro Splitter

 

[firefighterjake]

I like elm.

I like my hydraulic splitter.

I am not sure I would like elm if I did not like my hydraulic splitter.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Have fun splitting it but I think it's decent wood

 

[Jason H]

A local arborist dumped a trailer load of elm that he cut down. Pretty much a whole tree cut up just enough to fit in a trailer. What a job cutting it with a 13" poulan saw, and splitting it by hand. Got about 6 face cords out of it though and lost a few pounds in the process! Next year I'll rent a splitter.

 

[walhondingnashua]

I only mess with it if it has been dead standing. Usually dry enough that "maybe" I can split it by hand if its no bigger than 8-10" around. Burns pretty good, but not a long burner as stated above. Does have a funny smell though.

 

[TreePointer]

If you can get it split, elm is good BTUs and is an excellent coaling wood.

 

[Deets]

Red elm is some of the best firewood around here. Stringy as hell though.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

It burns great but you've got to work for it for sure. Those were some good size rounds too.

 

[Woody5506]

I burn a ton of Siberian Elm and my favorite part about it is when it's gone and I can burn something else. It's better when added to a coal bed vs cold starting with it though. Seems like no matter how long I season it, it just takes a while to really get going. I'm currently burning 3 year split stuff.

 

[aansorge]

I burn lots of elm. Dead standing elm is primo firewood once the bark has fallen off. The top half of the tree is usually quite dry and the rest I split with hydraulics. My uncle bought a hydraulic splitter for around 600 bucks this year. Well worth it if you are going to be burning for the long haul.