frozen elm still wins

[maxed_out]

Just thought I'd share...I kept a little stack of about 4-5 rounds just to see how it splits frozen.

It split nasty when I cut it about 3months ago and now frozen its still nasty stringy stuff to split.

We are in the deep freeze here and been this way for a few weeks....could'nt bust it with the maul so thank goodness for hydraulics. When you run this stuff on the splitter you end up needing more of the stoke and then a final tug to pull apart the strings.

what the hay its free and theres only a couple of pieces of it. I couldnt imagine dealing with a truckload of large elm rounds and a maul.

 

[Jags]

It makes great kindling. :coolsmirk:

 

[basswidow]

just watch it when you pull it loose from the splitting wedge. Those stringing mothers will close back and pinch ya if you are not careful!

Even using hydraulics, each of my rounds turned into birds nests that still needed to be noodled apart. They sure dried fast and make a great start up log.

I got a whole tree my first year. Never again. I will take an axe and split my first round just to assure it's not elm. If it is, I'll leave it.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I still say it is best to wait for elm to die and then wait for the bark to fall off before cutting it. Then it splits nice and you don't get that stringy crap. That makes it burn much better and splits much, much easier too.

 

[Jags]

Then it splits nice and you don't get that stringy crap.

The log in my post was a standing dead, barkless, silvered out, elm. It was a fence row elm on a hill that I am sure was wind battered. I think location makes a huge difference in how they grow. This whole tree just exploded when it came time to split the logs. Every stinking log was a beast.

 

[OhioBurner©]

just watch it when you pull it loose from the splitting wedge. Those stringing mothers will close back and pinch ya if you are not careful!

That reminded me of what happened with some black locust the other day. I've never had elm before, the BL is the toughest stuff I've experienced, and it didnt help that many of the rounds were close to 20" diameter and for some reason I decided to cut a truckload longer to take full use of the rockland at 24" long. I've got a pile of rounds still I was unable to split, waiting on freezing temperature which did help.

But anyways... several of them are alittle stringy, and just want to stay together. I can split em all the way down and still have trouble prying them apart. One split that was nearly fully through and the 8# maul was sunk just under the top started to slip as the two halves wanted to suck back together and it 'spit' the maul back out the top! Only a few inches but just one of the moments that surprise you.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Then it splits nice and you don't get that stringy crap.

The log in my post was a standing dead, barkless, silvered out, elm. It was a fence row elm on a hill that I am sure was wind battered. I think location makes a huge difference in how they grow. This whole tree just exploded when it came time to split the logs. Every stinking log was a beast.

I agree Jags. We don't cut many trees from fence rows or on hills so do not get the twisting. Another nice point of cutting inside the woods line is there are less limbs to contend with.

 

[Flatbedford]

Elm is best left to rot.

 

[oldspark]

Elm is best left to rot.

I have had good luck (except for splitting) with the elm I burnt over the years, dont burn much any more but what I have still seems OK to me.

 

[raybonz]

To hellm with elm is what I say.. Way too much effort expended for what you get in btu's...

Ray

 

[dirttracker]

I like elm. It's been keeping me warm and keeping the propane man away for the last 8 years. Sometimes you wrestle with it a bit to split, but thats an opportunity to get a little exercise. Besides, if I did not burn elm I would not have a good reason to have a hydraulic splitter. First year I burned wood I did not have the hydro splitter and like the OP tried to spit a few of the larger rounds by hand. Learned real quick that it was a waste of time. Next spring it was splitter buildin' time.

 

[firefighterjake]

Love elm . . . of course I love the fact that I split my elm with a hydraulic splitter . . . that makes quite a bit in the ol' love it or hate it relationship with elm.

 

[Coach B]

All of my elm goes in the OWB. You don't worry too much about splitting with a 22.6 cubic foot firebox. Leaves more of the good stuff for the Jotul.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Love elm . . . of course I love the fact that I split my elm with a hydraulic splitter . . . that makes quite a bit in the ol' love it or hate it relationship with elm.

Now if you'd just learn how to use that splitter right it would be even easier Jake!

 

[ihookem]

It might be chinese elm. I seldom see american elm split that stringy. I have a round that won't split. I will rip it.

 

[jimbom]

That picture looks like some of my 'hickory.' Maybe I found an old dead elm and though it was a hickory.

 

[amellefson]

I am burning elm this year. We call it piss elm, which I believe is chinese elm. It litterally smelled like piss when I split it. I had almost standing dead 20 inch rounds to spilt with the hydro and I had to bottom out the ram EVERY time. What a pain. It was my first time splitting. Maybe they will all be easier from here on out. Decent heat though. I figure I burn 3.1 cu ft to heat a 1400 sq ft 1950's ranch. I can't wait to burn a harder wood next year.

 

[Bugboy]

Be careful with that elm. I split about 3 cords my first year and all but ruined my shoulders and an elbow. For most of the next winter the wife had to help me put on my coveralls because of shoulder pain. If you're going to work a lot of elm, hydraulic is the only way to go.