Opinion - Is it Worth it?

[teekal]

Hey guys, I ventured back to my usual wood harvest location at my brother's field and I spotted this standing dead tree.

My questions for those who are more knowledgable than I...

a) What type of tree is this?

b) Should I hack it down and split it up?

If this is good burning, I'd really love to do it. Reason being that I can drop the tree right onto the open field, which will make for a much easier time than what I'm used to in the bush. Also it's nice and thick for a long ways up.

Any thoughts?

 

[Applesister]

Elm has a vase shape as such...
Alot of the old farmers by me consider dead elm an ideal target for last minute harvesting.
I think once dry it burns nice and hot.

 

[Lake Girl]

Would be easier to ID with close up of bark. If it's easy pickings, why wouldn't you get it? If a softer decidious, can still be used for kindling or fires for the shoulder season where you just need a small bump in house temps.

 

[warno]

I don't know what it is but it looks like BTUs to me. Cut it, split it, burn it.

 

[DougA]

My guess is elm or ash. I've got both kinds that look like that in an open area.
Well worth cutting BUT, IMHO, you'll have to cut the two sections separately. Cut the one closest to the field first and it should drop into the field easily if cut correctly. The second section is leaning heavily the other way and you will probably need to tie a rope as high up the tree as possible and have a helper pull it toward the field as you are cutting. This is dangerous because the tree may not go in that direction at all or it may land right on top of your helper. Two helpers and a rope twice as long is better and each helper pulls 45 deg from the fall point. A tractor or truck helps too but always with caution.
It's impossible to tell exactly how a tree will fall from a single photo or angle. Most of us will walk around a tree at least once to judge the best way to cut it. A heavily leaning tree will not fall in the direction opposite the lean without a lot of help pulling it PLUS cutting it correctly.

 

[teekal]

Great, thanks for the help/advice, guys!

 

[Lake Girl]

If it goes down in a spot that is not ideal for processing, can always choke and drag out to the field...

 

[Bigg_Redd]

a) What type of tree is this?

No idea

b) Should I hack it down and split it up?

Yes

Any thoughts?

Hope this helps

 

[teekal]

Hope this helps

Well... you made my day. So yes. It does help.

 

[sportbikerider78]

If it is elm, it is very tough to split. Impossible by hand, and time consuming with a splitter. I just took a huge one down and completely gave up hand splitting.

 

[BenTN]

the branching pattern looks an awful lot like ash, opposite. hard to tell from distance of pic. if so great wood, easy split. i dont have any experience with elm, but just my guess.

 

[billb3]

any satellite views of it ?

Looks like a firewood tree from my house. A nice dead one at that, although some dead ones get punky quick so attempting to pierce it with a sharp pointy object to assess it's hardness and fitness as firewood might be in order. A chainsaw could come in handy making a similar assessment.

 

[ElmBurner]

Slippery/Red Elm isn't too bad, if you cut the rounds short. You can peel it from the outside in using a maul without too much trouble. American elm is less fun...

 

[sportbikerider78]

Mine must have been American Elm then. Wow.

If it is Ash...that splits amazingly well, dries fast and is generally great wood.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

If you have the time and ambition to do it go to it, just doesn't look like you'll get a lot of wood out of the deal, looks mostly like branches, but you probably could throw them right there in the woods.

Depends how ambitious you are and if you have the time and feel like doing it I guess?!

 

[firefighterjake]

Not the best shot . . . but if I had to guess I would guess American Elm.

Yes . . . elm isn't the best firewood, but it certainly isn't the worse . . . more of a mid-grade fuel. As many folks will tell you, splitting it can be a challenge to put it mildly if you don't have a hydraulic splitter. That said, when elm is really, really dead as this might be . . . sometimes splitting it is not as bad. Me . . . I would take the tree in a heartbeat . . . standing dead elm is what got me through my first year of burning.

Being able to drop it into the field is a good thing/bad thing in my opinion . . . it's easier to work around it . . . but you most definitely should clean up the branches and this can take time vs. when I drop a tree in the woods oftentimes I can just leave the branches where they fall when cut.

 

[turn_n_burn]

I agree with everyone here on it being an elm, looks like dutch elm disease got it too. actually like elm as firewood, as long as I'm sledgin' and wedgin' it's not as bad as some say. It burns hot for quite a while and will keep coals with the best of them, all with virtually zero spitting and popping. That tree looks really dead, so it shouldn't take too long to season. I found a dead one on the road to our local landfill that had been dead for about 5 years, and I got permission to cut and haul it, and it was dry as a bone. Doesn't smell too bad when dry, less like piss and more of just a faint, sweet smell. I think it'll put out about 24 MBTU per cord if not a little more, and that's way better than any Pine or softwood, and a lot better than some hardwoods. Cut that sh*t down, my friend! That would be considered a very good score. Plus, if it's as dry as I think it will be, it'll split fairly easily. Just use your wedge or maul and hit the outside edge of the rounds (not the center), that way the force is better distributed to splitting it in one direction and not two. It'll come apart just fine.

Redd, I absolutely love reading your replies.

 

[jaoneill]

Does look like American Elm but 1st year dead. We burn alot of it, but generally wait to cut it until the under 2" branches are gone. Usually by year 3 the bark is off and smaller twigs have fallen. We like to cut them anywhere from year 5 until year 8 (dead) the smaller branches are gone and the under 10" limbs will be at 12%-20% moisture. Trunks will either be higher in moisture or, if the bark stayed on, which it is occasionally prone to do, it may be punky. Either way it usually isn't to terrible to split at that point.

PS - I probably qualify as one of those old farmers that applesister referred to.....

 

[Shane Collins]

I'd go for it. I cut down an elm last year that was standing dead and split all with an axe and had no problems. I just got close to a cord of an elm that wasn't dead and it was a nightmare. The hydraulic splitter took care of it without too much problem but I much prefer to split by hand. I certainly would never turn it down. Looks to be in similar shape as the one I cut down that was dead standing and split easily. But they aren't all the same and mine could have been the easier elm to split?