Elm Seasoning ??

[andrewdee]

How long should American Elm c/s/s season on the minimum ??

 

[Thistle]

Still lots of smaller-medium sized ones around here,I dont cut many live ones except for storm damage etc.Usually 1 to 2 yrs is enough if its cut & stacked in an area thats not damp & gets plenty of wind.Under 5" I dont bother splitting anyway.Some larger ones might need a kerf or 2 in end grain to start the wedge.

 

[chinkapin_oak]

I use 2 years if it's cut green, but I say the same for walnut, and most other hardwoods when other people say 1 year. Dead standing is pretty much ready to burn.

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

How long should American Elm c/s/s season on the minimum ??

For this area 1 year small splits & 1 1/2 large. This is great wood to burn if not prepare, Randy

 

[smokinj]

I would burn it this up and coming winter unless its an epa after burner.

 

[midwestcoast]

Well, if "on the minimum" means you're wanting to burn it for the coming winter, and aren't able to let it sit any longer, in my LIMITED EXPERIENCE with it, elm is a pretty good candidate for that. Split smallish (if it will split at all), single stacked in a fairly open spot, you happen to get a decent spring-fall for drying I'd expect it to be pretty good by the coming winter. No guarantees in wood drying though.

Dennis "Backwoods Savage" always says that since most elm is so tough to split and gets all mashed up during the splitting it will burn-up quick in the stove. Makes sense, and it follows that the wood should dry faster to if it's all pulped-up.
Most elm that I've go in the last couple years splits reasonably well (by hand) so that doesn't apply.

 

[wendell]

American elm will hold it's moisture much more than red, especially in the trunk so I would say two years, The small branch pieces should be ready by fall if it was standing dead.

I had always said you could burn standing dead red less than 5" immediately as every one I have checked by both hitting together for that ringing sound and MM % has been below 20" but got proved wrong this winter with several sizzlers in a buddies' shop stove.

 

[firefighterjake]

1-2 years if fresh cut . . . if standing dead it depends on how long it has been dead . . . if the bark is still mostly attached figure a year or two . . . if the bark is falling off you can figure anywhere from that day to a year.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

There is a lot of "depends" on elm. Mostly depends upon when it is cut and when it is split and how it split. If it splits all stringy, like the picture Jags has put on here several time, that wood could very easily be split in spring and burned the following winter. But again, there are a lot of factors to deal with to determine how long to season it.