Both miserable but black and sweet gum are two different trees and should be avoided when possible if you have to split it
I stand corrected, you are right! We get a lot of "sweet gum" down here, what was confusing to me was I've heard it called both and never followed through with Identifying it.
3 years in the New Jersey sun. I don't cover my wood until I'm ready to put it in the wood shed for burning. If your in a cooler climate, it may take 4 years. You're in Virginia so you have hot summers like here. After 3 years, I get the rounds down below 10% moisture with my meter. I had about 2 straight years of burning gum after Super storm Sandy. I had a $#!T load of Gum and Maple. I packed C/S/S about 12 cord here at the house, I didn't have any more room for wood and gave about 6 cord away!
I have burned quite a few decent size rounds in my wood boiler and it’s good for that but does take a while in rounds but I’ve found out in the weather it rots quickly…yet another reason to hate on it!
I never said I'll go looking for it, but I do burn it. I kept mine off the ground and I actually have some left over gum from about 5+ years ago. Still hard yet, no punking. I have noticed like some wood and especially Maple, if it doesn't get good air flow, the stuff inside of the pile will get skunky.
No judgement here, if it kept you warm. I have a good selection of species to choose from and a tree guy to get extra. I just wish I had an OWB I'd burn everything! Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Sweet gum might possibly burn ok in a stove or boiler, I have heard people say that. As for firewood, around here, it will rot pretty quick if you even dare to try it. Many report is smells bad. And, of course, it, and black gum, a different species, split like hell. I wish it weren't so, they grow giant around here and are extremely prolific. Meaning sweet gum, especially, on the prolific part.
its elm, thats already been split so the sucky part is done, now its just a nuisance to stack but decent enough firewood.
I only scrounged a small BLACK gum log a couple years ago not knowing what it was at the time. FHC IDed it as such. For chits and giggles i bucked and split it just to say i did. Wont touch it again. Here's the thread It Takes a Lot of GUMption to Hand Split Tupelo!
There is tons of sweet/black gum here. It is everywhere, maybe the most common tree around. Your picture is perfect for how it splits. I used to cut and sell anything; not anymore, I pass on gum, elm, sycamore, willow, cottonwood, etc. I don't heat with wood, and I have plenty of good wood to scrounge from.
The “small loads” of pecan I’ve been getting are paper shell pecan. It splits a lot like if sweet gum and elm had an offspring. Grain goes every which direction. Splits like crap. Stringy. Tears more than it splits. It’s easier to block it up with the saw than to split it. I’m ready to be done with it!!!
