CL came through today. Was just a single picture stating they had 3 trees taken down and it was elm and maple. Had no idea how much wood there wood be but I had a few hours this afternoon and decided to get whatever did not need to be sawed. Two loads thus far and at least 3 more to make. The stumps are all 24"+ in diameter. The elm is all dead and around 20-30% on the moisture meter. First time dealing with elm, glad it was dead to make splitting easier. Is it best to split elm ASAP or let it sit? Have everything up on pallets currently and this will not be burned until at least end of next year, likely 21-22.
All the elm I've dealt with was standing dead with bark off. I split and it burned really well. I have heard wood with higher moister content like beech and elm. Split in freezing temps, makes sense I suppose. Elm is one of the main reasons I invested in a splitter. Good score, burns great IMO
I hope you have a hydro splitter for the elm Jotuller otherwise your gonna hate it if hand splitting. Great firewood, but being a hand splitter i avoid it for the most part. I split some fresh cut red elm from a score back in May though. See my thread Hand splitting red elm
On the other hand buZZsaw BRAD I have hand split lots of elm and done it with ease. But I'm never in a hurry to cut it and always for sure wait until it dead before cutting. Also wait until most or all of the bark has fell off. Then it matters not if it is freezing weather or not.
If elm didnt burn so nice and i didnt have a splitter i would never have any elm. Nice score, craigslist been paying off for me.
Ill have to grab a few dead barkless logs next time i see them Backwoods Savage and give it a try. Seen them at the dump, rarely roadside. None in my woods. Dead or alive elm is taboo for me so i rarely take any. Frozen green elm has split okay for me.
Keep in mind too that if they were grown more in the open, they will certainly be more twisted and therefore, a real bear to split no matter what. All the elm we get are from inside the woods so much straighter.
A lot of the Elm I get here is like Backwoods Savage has pointed out when out in the wind it gets more twisted and is a bare to split. A lot of it gets sawed.
