Does anyone have any experience burning it, an Amish friend says it's great split as soon as possible after felling let dry well. Any opinions?THX
Taking down a big slippery elm tree.
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Hopefully, my Brave 34 ton will suffice.Amish swear by it,never burned it only red elm which I love.
I thought Red Elm and Slippery Elm were the same species (?). The BTU rating is between 21 and 22. I bent the return bracket (the part that knocks the wood off as the splitter retracts) on a 22-ton hydraulic splitter on a crotchy piece of Siberian Elm. But I still like elm.
Yep, Red Elm is a nickname for Slippery Elm. The splits have a beautiful pinkish hue. Heat output is good, a notch above Black Cherry.
If it's straight-grained it can be split by hand, but I use the power splitter on it.
MongoMongoson
Minister of Fire
I have hand split piles and piles of red elm. I have a hydraulic splitter now and I still process red elm by hand. It is not like Ameican elm and can split beautifully, but not always. Take slabs off the outside, working inward. The heartwood can be a real bear to split so if you try to split it down the middle, your maul might just bounce off or wedges pop out. It is great firewood, but the smoke smells bad.
When felling it, I have noticed it doesn't creep much for a slow fall. Sometimes it just let's go and snaps off.
When felling it, I have noticed it doesn't creep much for a slow fall. Sometimes it just let's go and snaps off.
I've been learning about Elm trees. What I know so far: 3 main species 1) Red/Slippery. 2) White, and 3) Siberian. There is also Chinese Elm which is different from the other 3. Red Elm is as far west as Texas. As far north as Canada (?). White Elm although being the lowest BTU of the elms is the hardest to split. Red and Siberian are the highest BTU rated elms (21-22 range), and the easiest to split.
Siberian Elm is an invader from northern China. It has spread rapidly in North America. It can hybridize with other elm trees. It is especially prevalent in the inland west - Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado, etc...It can survive in low water areas.
Is this Red/Slippery Elm? Those trees are huge. Siberian doesn't get that tall but can have massive trunks, too. Nice million+ $$$ machine.
Siberian Elm is an invader from northern China. It has spread rapidly in North America. It can hybridize with other elm trees. It is especially prevalent in the inland west - Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado, etc...It can survive in low water areas.
Is this Red/Slippery Elm? Those trees are huge. Siberian doesn't get that tall but can have massive trunks, too. Nice million+ $$$ machine.
Sure looks like it, with the red heartwood and the bright, thin sapwood.
We have abundance of white elm, thanks to Dutch Elm disease. Every damn Elm around is dead or dying. Probably 15% of my 20 acre woodlot is Elm. I cut and split a bunch that was dead in the past year or just about dead and it is really tough to split. Very stringy. I have a monster splitter so it’s not a problem. It seems to burn just fine when it’s dried. The dead elms, the ones that have lost their bark, also burn quite nicely but burn short and quick. They seem to lose a lot of their BTU capacity once they die. They’re also pretty scary to bring down as they seem to get hung up in the neighboring trees a lot and also shed limbs up high. Definitely wear a helmet when felling them and brush up on your techniques on how to handle trees that get hung up
MongoMongoson
Minister of Fire
I am surprised it took that long to get to you. We were cleaning up a bunch of dead elms around Iron Mountain when I was a kid in the 80's. But some survived. My aunt (who is now in her 90's) has a monster American elm in her yard that is as healthy as ever. The DNR harvested seeds from her tree because it was clearly very resistant to Dutch elm.
The red elm is resistant to Dutch elm disease. We have a lot of red elm in southern WI, but I have seen very few that look healthy. They always seem to look sick and scraggily. The red elms on my property have a lot of holes in their leaves.
I won't be taking it down soon. The cost is $2500 if it falls on the outbuilding, I'll call the insurance company.
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