Elm

[trehugr]

Scored a big standing dead elm today. Didnt think any were left. Hows everyones wood gathering going ?

 

[laynes69]

Its been too hot here. I'm at 3 1/2 cords and would like to get a couple more cords to be safe this winter with the new furnace.

 

[Nofossil]

I'm finally two years ahead. All I need to do this summer / fall is replace what I burned last year. I do almost all my wood gathering in the fall when there are cooler temps and no bugs. I got almost nothing this spring because it was too wet to take the tractor into the woods.

 

[pybyr]

I got a great start in early spring this year and have quite a bit stacked under cover, and also have a lot that's on the ground and cut to final length, but not split or out of the woods yet. Hope to get that split out and stacked soon.

 

[WRVERMONT]

I,ve been spliting some dead sugar maple. I'm about 2/3rds of the way for the year. Boy, that hard maple is hard stuff. Been burning up some pine as of late for DHW production. Good luck and enjoy the woods.

 

[gorsuchmill]

I've bucked and split approx. 10 cords from March to present; nearly all from my woods or neighbor's and mostly downed oak and locust. I really love having the splitter (purchased last fall) because it allows me to put in an hour or two a week at my own pace. I stay in shape, but don't wear out or have a lot of aches and pains. I'm also splitting the wood much smaller than that which I used last year.

 

[Gooserider]

I have about 2.4 cords left over from last year, and probably enough split from last fall to fill the shed back up from my reserve stacks. I probably have an additional 1-2 cords in stuff that I dropped this spring but haven't split yet that will start the stacks for next years fires - however I'm running behind - this spring has been incredibly wet, and I had to move my shed so it was necessary to empty it out and refill it, with the existing wood, rather than work on just filling it up...

I do want to get a load of log-length in for the rest of the 2010/2011 season and beyond wood, but first I have to make the room to dump it.

Gooserider

 

[Jim Post]

I got a standing Dead Elm from my neighbor a few weeks ago...Here are some pics... I couldn't pass it up even though I am gonna be struggling to split it with my ArmStrong Splitter (maul). May have to rent some power.... The few scraps I have burnt in cleanup sure did make a nice fire....

jp

 

[pybyr]

I got a standing Dead Elm <snip> May have to rent some power....

jp

If it is anything like any of the standing dead Elm I've split, you'll want to rent a splitter- stringy stuff

 

[Nofossil]

I got a standing Dead Elm <snip> May have to rent some power....

jp

If it is anything like any of the standing dead Elm I've split, you'll want to rent a splitter- stringy stuff

A significant splitter, at that. There's a guy here with a trailer-mounted splitter that's powered by a Volvo four-cylinder engine. Don't know the horsepower, but it drives a whopping big pump and a 6" diameter piston. Just the thing for Elm.

 

[pybyr]

I got a standing Dead Elm <snip> May have to rent some power....

jp

If it is anything like any of the standing dead Elm I've split, you'll want to rent a splitter- stringy stuff

A significant splitter, at that. There's a guy here with a trailer-mounted splitter that's powered by a Volvo four-cylinder engine. Don't know the horsepower, but it drives a whopping big pump and a 6" diameter piston. Just the thing for Elm.

I think I recall ome of the splitters now have 2-stage pumps-- one that moves the ram relatively quickly under medium loads, but that switches to a slower but more powerful mode when it hits a resistant log

 

[Gooserider]

I got a standing Dead Elm <snip> May have to rent some power....

jp

If it is anything like any of the standing dead Elm I've split, you'll want to rent a splitter- stringy stuff

A significant splitter, at that. There's a guy here with a trailer-mounted splitter that's powered by a Volvo four-cylinder engine. Don't know the horsepower, but it drives a whopping big pump and a 6" diameter piston. Just the thing for Elm.

I think I recall ome of the splitters now have 2-stage pumps-- one that moves the ram relatively quickly under medium loads, but that switches to a slower but more powerful mode when it hits a resistant log

That is the standard on ALL the commercial splitters that I am aware of... The rated GPM that they give you on the label is the high-speed / low pressure rating, which is what the splitter should run at any time it's retracting, or doing a light log. When the ram hits resistance, and the hydraulic system pressure raises to about 800psi, the pump will automatically switch to a high pressure / low speed mode, that will keep boosting the pressure until either something (i.e. the log) gives, or you hit the bypass pressure at around 2500-3000psi. This "low gear" speed is about 1/4 the rating of the high speed mode - i.e. a 16gpm pump will move about 4gpm in high pressure mode...

This is a good deal, as to get the high pressure output, you need 2hp per gpm of pump output - however 90% of a splitters time is spent at very low pressure, which can be easily handled by a motor that only does 1/2 hp per gpm - thus you get a two speed pump, that in high speed mode needs 1hp for 2gpm, or an 8hp motor on a 16gpm pump, but then it shifts down into a low gear with half the output that is slow, but can still be driven by the same fairly small motor... A single speed 16gpm pump would have the same cycle time, but would need a 32hp motor, which would be loafing most of the time...

Gooserider

 

[Duetech]

red elm, which I think is "American elm and is susceptible to Dutch elm disease" runs a bout 22 million btu per cord which is not far from red oak. good stuff. After splitting, even with a hydraulic rig, you will appreciate the branches that are just right and don't need to be split. Most of the dead standing that I have dealt with is already dry enough for immediate use in the top 2/3 of the tree. From there down you will need to dry it so keep an eye on it and try not to mix it while stacking.

 

[Piker]

Today I am finishing up with my wood for the season. I ordered a tri-axle load of logs around the beginning of May. They guy I ordered from was great... he lets you pick and choose what species of wood you want off of his pile for a few extra bucks. WHen the load came, he had the stuff stacked on the truck so tight that the sides looked like a log cabin... there's going to be good volume on this load for sure. He delivered a load that was probably 50% Hickory... the rest was mostly all beech and White Oak with some Elm, Locust, Red Oak, and Hard Maple mixed in. Good stuff.

The wood is all cut, split and stacked... I need only to clean up the mess in the driveway and push the gravel back into the area where I did all the processing. I can't tell for sure exactly how many cord there are... but I am thinking there is over 7.5 full cord. I am doing a little expirament to see just how differently the wood dries in different locations. I have several pallets of stacked wood sitting outside in the sun and the wind, about 2.5 cord stacked inside a nice dry garage in a cement floor, and about another 2 cord sitting on pallets in my dirt floor wood shed. So far, the stuff sitting outside in the sun is dryer than any of it. I actually burned some off of the top of one of the pallets yesterday and it worked great.

At any rate, this will be almost enough for 2 years... with the 1.5 or 2 cord left over from last year I should definitely be good to go for two full seasons. Getting excited to use the thermal storage this fall... though I won't probably be able to maximize it's effectiveness until I get the rest of the radiant floor heat put in.

I never used to look forward to winter... but then again, I have never been so cozy all winter long either.

cheers

 

[Fred61]

Scored a big standing dead elm today. Didnt think any were left. Hows everyones wood gathering going ?

If someone offered me a dead elm I would promptly re-gift it to someone else. I've had experience with handling and burning elm in the past and none of it was good. I have a splitter with a 2 stage pump which will split 4 foot wood and there is nothing it won't split, but if that piece of elm is any larger in diameter than the wedge is tall, you will be prying it off the wedge and running it through again and maybe a third time. Not only that, elm leaves so much ash behind it's incredible. If you let an elm piece burn undisturbed, you can open the firebox door and view a piece of ash that is nearly the exact shape of the original piece of elm you loaded. It's an ash replica of the wood. Just lightly poke it and it crumbles. I've seen this on several occasions.

 

[tom in maine]

God bless you guys!

I called my wood guy and ordered a cord for my house (we used 2/3 last winter) and 3 cord for my shop.

Either you are all younger than me or I am too lazy.

Or maybe both!

Tom in Maine

 

[Fred61]

God bless you guys!

I called my wood guy and ordered a cord for my house (we used 2/3 last winter) and 3 cord for my shop.

Either you are all younger than me or I am too lazy.

Or maybe both!

Tom in Maine

Younger? ---- Lazy? ---- SMARTER!

 

[Piker]

Scored a big standing dead elm today. Didnt think any were left. Hows everyones wood gathering going ?

If someone offered me a dead elm I would promptly re-gift it to someone else. I've had experience with handling and burning elm in the past and none of it was good. I have a splitter with a 2 stage pump which will split 4 foot wood and there is nothing it won't split, but if that piece of elm is any larger in diameter than the wedge is tall, you will be prying it off the wedge and running it through again and maybe a third time. Not only that, elm leaves so much ash behind it's incredible. If you let an elm piece burn undisturbed, you can open the firebox door and view a piece of ash that is nearly the exact shape of the original piece of elm you loaded. It's an ash replica of the wood. Just lightly poke it and it crumbles. I've seen this on several occasions.

Well, I have no prior experience with Elm. I do know the one log that was part of my recent load stinks bad when you split it open. It was very wet inside too.

cheers

 

[Duetech]

I have burned a lot of red elm which I believe is the American Elm. It is only a little below the red oak in btu output. Stringy hard stuff to split and yes it stinks when split if it is wet inside. I burn the dried stuff in my EKO40 and love the heat output and because of the way it burns there is little ash residue. I'd take one if it were offered to me because it is dependable heat.

 

[burningbill]

I got a standing Dead Elm <snip> May have to rent some power....

jp

If it is anything like any of the standing dead Elm I've split, you'll want to rent a splitter- stringy stuff

A significant splitter, at that. There's a guy here with a trailer-mounted splitter that's powered by a Volvo four-cylinder engine. Don't know the horsepower, but it drives a whopping big pump and a 6" diameter piston. Just the thing for Elm.

I think I recall ome of the splitters now have 2-stage pumps-- one that moves the ram relatively quickly under medium loads, but that switches to a slower but more powerful mode when it hits a resistant log

That is the standard on ALL the commercial splitters that I am aware of... The rated GPM that they give you on the label is the high-speed / low pressure rating, which is what the splitter should run at any time it's retracting, or doing a light log. When the ram hits resistance, and the hydraulic system pressure raises to about 800psi, the pump will automatically switch to a high pressure / low speed mode, that will keep boosting the pressure until either something (i.e. the log) gives, or you hit the bypass pressure at around 2500-3000psi. This "low gear" speed is about 1/4 the rating of the high speed mode - i.e. a 16gpm pump will move about 4gpm in high pressure mode...

This is a good deal, as to get the high pressure output, you need 2hp per gpm of pump output - however 90% of a splitters time is spent at very low pressure, which can be easily handled by a motor that only does 1/2 hp per gpm - thus you get a two speed pump, that in high speed mode needs 1hp for 2gpm, or an 8hp motor on a 16gpm pump, but then it shifts down into a low gear with half the output that is slow, but can still be driven by the same fairly small motor... A single speed 16gpm pump would have the same cycle time, but would need a 32hp motor, which would be loafing most of the time...

Gooserider

Actually the "speed" of the pump is constant, the volume of flow changes between the low pressure and high pressure modes.

 

[Gooserider]

I got a standing Dead Elm <snip> May have to rent some power....

jp

If it is anything like any of the standing dead Elm I've split, you'll want to rent a splitter- stringy stuff

A significant splitter, at that. There's a guy here with a trailer-mounted splitter that's powered by a Volvo four-cylinder engine. Don't know the horsepower, but it drives a whopping big pump and a 6" diameter piston. Just the thing for Elm.

I think I recall ome of the splitters now have 2-stage pumps-- one that moves the ram relatively quickly under medium loads, but that switches to a slower but more powerful mode when it hits a resistant log

That is the standard on ALL the commercial splitters that I am aware of... The rated GPM that they give you on the label is the high-speed / low pressure rating, which is what the splitter should run at any time it's retracting, or doing a light log. When the ram hits resistance, and the hydraulic system pressure raises to about 800psi, the pump will automatically switch to a high pressure / low speed mode, that will keep boosting the pressure until either something (i.e. the log) gives, or you hit the bypass pressure at around 2500-3000psi. This "low gear" speed is about 1/4 the rating of the high speed mode - i.e. a 16gpm pump will move about 4gpm in high pressure mode...

This is a good deal, as to get the high pressure output, you need 2hp per gpm of pump output - however 90% of a splitters time is spent at very low pressure, which can be easily handled by a motor that only does 1/2 hp per gpm - thus you get a two speed pump, that in high speed mode needs 1hp for 2gpm, or an 8hp motor on a 16gpm pump, but then it shifts down into a low gear with half the output that is slow, but can still be driven by the same fairly small motor... A single speed 16gpm pump would have the same cycle time, but would need a 32hp motor, which would be loafing most of the time...

Gooserider

Actually the "speed" of the pump is constant, the volume of flow changes between the low pressure and high pressure modes.

Technically correct, however the result that is visible to the operator is that the ram travel speed changes - since measuring flow volume is non-trivial, I don't really go into that as it isn't a useful difference.

Gooserider