Yes, elm is great wood. I call it a mid grade wood. It's got less BTUs than other hardwood, but it burns great.
Good to know. I have 3 dead elms a s probably 25 or so standing dead ash trees. Two of the 3 elms and a gnarly twisted cherry coming down 1st.
The way you praise elm I figured you had 60+ cords of it stacked to kingdom come I could use more myself. I only have half a cord ready to burn this year, 1/4 cord that'll be ready for next year, and another 3/4 cord still in the round for probably 2023-2024.
Me? I don't recall going gaga over Elm? Did I? I mean I like it and all, but its not my all time favorite or anything...if you can get dead standing/dry that splits easily, I'd put that on an equal playing field with Ash, as far as the way it burns/heat output (Elm makes more/longer lasting coals though)
My perception is probably skewed due to the fact that most people on here moan and groan about it. So much so that anytime someone has anything nice to say about it, they stand out as being in love with the stuff
Could be me. Lol. Check my sig It's good wood, and I like burning it. If you have the proper equipment, splitting it isn't an issue. It's more of a misunderstood firewood. I've got a bit of it on my stacks, but with all the Ash trees getting killed off, I have been processing more ash. Those dead standing see elms can keep standing waiting for me in the woods and fields. The ash trees in my yard that died and were hazards took precedent
Seen this Elm on our walk down the bike trail yesterday...would be a nice addition to the stacks someday...too much work though, they don't allow motorized vehicles on the bike trail unless you are an authorized maintenance person...rats, its close to the house too! Not sure if that is one tree with 5 leaders, or 5 trees that all tried to grow in the same spot?!
Looks like it was coppiced when it was younger and sent all those up in response. There’s a small one next door to me that was about 2” diameter when it got cut down to ground level last summer. I checked on it this year and it’s got 4 leaders on it now, each grew about 5 feet this summer.
It's 1 tree that someone tried to split vertically, but it was too stubborn and stringy. Plus, the bark is still on it. It needs to dry out a couple more years and be split with a push plate splitter, but only when it's below 20° outside.
If it was, it was just with a brushcutter...this is old railroad bed that was basically abandoned about 40 years ago...it was left to just grow up wild and just became a ATV/goat trail until the rails to trails folks came in a couple years ago, they cleaned it up some and paved a bike trail...still tree lined on both sides in many places...LOTS of dead/down ash logs all along here...I start twitching every time we go through there...man, if I could just take the 4 wheeler and the trailer down there for an hour or so...
We have an " inter urban bike trail" that runs 30 miles. It's paved and has the same use as yours. No motorized traffic. Now, maybe an e bike with a trailer behind it for scrounges. Probably need an electric saw too At any rate, there's a ton of wood going to waste on both sides.
Yup, dead standing ash all along the trail...dangerous! We had one (~10" DBH) fall across the trail about 50' behind us a year or so back! We stay the heck outta there when its breezy/windy now!
Yup...I'm smellin what you're steppin in...its been considered... I'd probably do it if I didn't already have a 5 year supply CSS'd here already...
I added plates to the foot of our splitter. Really helps on the stringy woods. This elm sat about 6 months before we split it... https://youtube.com/shorts/tvbY8v9oNPk?feature=share
Man the Elm I burn out burns/heats my maple or Oak.This makes it the best wood I know right up there with Mulberry.Yes the wood has to be seasoned though it is very important that the Elm is bone dry to get the best results.I can't compare it to the other top heating woods since I've never come across any Locust,Ironwood,Beech etc but I like to read the stories of everyones experiences with these heavy hitters.
