Elm splitting tips

[Todd]

Alright Elm lovers. What are some tips for splitting this crap. My little 8 ton splitter got through the small stuff, but with large rounds gets bogged down or gets stuck in the wedge. This Elm is still very wet and stringy. I fought with a couple big rounds and ended up with some splits that looked like string cheese. Is it better to let this stuff dry some before splitting? I was also thinking of just ripping the large ones in half with my chainsaw or cutting them in half or smaller, but that would make my stacking unstable. I have about a dozen or so large rounds left and it was free, so I'd like to burn it. Help please.

 

[burntime]

Someone will chime in and probably disagree but elm is a woodburners worst nightmare! If it dries it gets harder to split! I have a 25 ton splitter and it has slowed on elm but never stopped. Try "whittling" around the outside to get it going.

 

[savageactor7]

Hey Todd I've gotten elm stuck in my splitter too. Now what I do is avoid splitting it in the center. Just do in a few inches or so from the bark...sure you may end up with smaller pieces than you want but you're still making production and in the end it all work out.

 

[ansehnlich1]

yeah, elm is nasty stuff. ya gotta work around the outside edge of it like was already said.

also, I always run the chainsaw down through the round half way or more then plant the wedge in there, that usually does the trick.

 

[downeast]

Forget the big macho splitters, Elm is a heliotrope, or a tree growing in spiral following the sun for growth. It is similar in splitting to species such as Beech or Apple.
Elm can be split by "slabbing" or "ring splitting" tangential or along the grain from the outside in. Most of the time. If it's your primary wood then use it. It is not high on the BTU/pound list for firewood. It was plentiful here in the Northeast when 10's of thousands of Elms were being destroyed due to Dutch Elm Disease, killing the tree by a symbiotic insect in the cambium under the bark.
It's a tough wood, but will burn OK if dried well. We used to burn many cords of it when arborists and road crews dropped off tons of it rather than bringing it to a dump for burning. Elm carves well since it is dense, and makes a very nice board for furniture.

Try the slab method, not pretty or neat for woodpiles, but it is firewood.

 

[wayneg]

I split by hand with a maul, sledge, and wedges. I had some elm a couple of years ago that I could not split when wet; the wedge or maul would just bouce off. After drying for a year I was able to split it with a bit of effort. I'm not sure what type of elm it was, but in my case the year of drying made the difference. Good luck with it.

 

[MishMouse]

I tried splitting elm to by hand. Take the maul swing with all your might then "bonk" as it bounces off the wood.
What I found works best is wait until it get -20 for about a week or 2 then split it. Since the water in the wood expands as it freezes it helps in the splitting.

 

[mikeathens]

I had a 24" black locust come down and take a nice sized elm with it. Locust isn't fun to split, but puts out Btus. Elm sucks to split and is pretty skimpy on the Btu side. I left the whole elm tree laying there. Too much other good stuff to spend my time splitting.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I'd rather have the elm dry before splitting.

If all else fails, but the logs into 4 - 6 inch lengths or even shorter and throw them in the stove that way.

Over the years elm has really gotten a bad press. However, I do not rate it that low on the totem pole for heat. We burn a goodly amount of it every year and have no problems. Well, some problems. Seems poison ivy likes to cling to some of the elm trees.... We leave these for a long, long time before cutting and splitting.

 

[Rich L]

I use about 4 cords a year which I split by hand.When it comes to Elm I use a sledge and 3 wedges.The elm usually sucks the wedge into it so I put another along side it which may get sucked into the wood or may split it.The third wedge does the trick when needed.Chopping around the outer edges with a axe works at times as some have come to realize.Man if your elm is wet forget it until it drys out.Splitting this wood gives the best work out that wood can give whew.

 

[Todd]

Well I got it done this morning. It was only a little over a face cord but it took all morning. I found the best way was to start off with small pieces around the edge and just work my way to the center. My little splitter was groaning a few times but did the job. A small hatchet works well for cutting all the strings that just don't want to let go. I did try ripping a couple pieces half way down and it did work fine but seems like extra work unless your splitting by hand. There is no way I would split this crap with a maul or wedges, and if you do your a better man than me.

YAHOO, My firewood chore is done for the year. I have enough for the next two winters. 90% Black Locust, and an assortment of Silver Maple, Boxelder, Oak, and that nasty Elm. Time to go fishin.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Todd, my splitter is a 20 ton. Over many, many moons, I have found only one piece that the splitter would not go through. That piece is still laying out in the woods somewhere too....

 

[savageactor7]

My splitter is so old I don't even know the tonnage of the ram...it's only a 5 horse briggs engine that runs it though. I'll guess it's 10 ton. Got it way back in the early 80's when I cut my biggest trees, mostly boundary trees...you learn pretty quick what it won't split. Those boundary trees were so big in diameter I had to make a field expedient ramp to roll them up on the splitter...no way you could even pick them up. And elm they're special..you have to give them some thought.

 

[jeffman3]

We are burning elm, and it burns great in out Tribute!

I ended up in the chiropractors office after trying to split elm with a steel handled monstrosity! 200 dollars later, and after weeks upon weeks of pain, we bought a 28 ton splitter with a 10 1/2 HP B&S;engine! It hasn't even slowed down much splitting up to 20" rounds. We run the engine just over idol, and it has all the power I need and then some. If you are going to be cutting and splitting allot of elm (like we are) I highly recommend a heavy duty, high tonnage splitter like the 28 ton Swisher I use. You will not be sorry!

 

[Ken45]

The charts I have show elm is rated similar to red maple, black cherry and green ash in heat output.

<<<YAHOO, My firewood chore is done for the year. I have enough for the next two winters. 90% Black Locust,>

That's disgusting! Exactly where is your pile located? When will you be away from home? ;-)

Ken

 

[Todd]

Ken, if I told you I'd have to kill you. ;-)

My splitter is only a 8 ton with a 3.5 hp Briggs engine, so it's not really designed to split anything over 18" long or wide. But that's fine, since I really don't like to handle anything much bigger than that due to back problems.