I’ve literally never had a problem splitting Elm. I’d grab all that Elm in a heartbeat. I just let it season before I split it. Here is some Elm I split last fall. I burn a lot of Elm. It burns great. It’s easy to scrounge when I’m in the city. It has always split easily with a nice straight grain like this. I did split this Elm with the hydo. The wedge dug in less than an inch and the round just popped apart. I’ve had big Douglas Fir rounds put up a lot more of a fight than any Elm I’ve ever split. I have however seen The Wood Wolverine pics, which look super frustrating. I think the lack of humidity here has something to do with helping the seasoning process.
Lol. Busy with work, building a fence, summer, and not hoarding any wood. Ok that's a lie. I had a tree service drop off a couple cords of catalpa and box elder. I used the nicer pieces to fill in the rest of my 2023-24 firewood , the 1/2 cord of campfire wood, and about a face cord left I need to split or shorten in my jig. I did trade a half cord of campfire wood (catalpa and ash uglies) for using my buddy's camper over the 4th of July weekend.
There is quite a bit of “Siberian Elm” in Weld County, and is a different creature than American Elm.
That is hilarious But just look at the pic of my Elm above. That’s what it always looks like when I’ve split it. Clearly, no strings attached.
I’ve never scrounged in Weld County. That’s a long way from me. But I don’t really know the difference between the Elms. So, could be Siberian that I seem to get my hands on. There’s a ton of it in the Denver Metro area.
I don't believe the charts on elm, I love burning elm. Actually, if I had a really cold winter night and I had a pile of elm and a pile of red oak next to the OWB, I would go for the elm.
Yeah, I didn’t spend much time in Denver, so I can’t say what they have there. I do know there were a few in Fort Collins (the American Elm), so you might run into it occasionally. I split this one and part of its twin with hammer and wedges - it was very stringy.
Glad to see youre okay and all is well. Your absence was noticed. Id trade a half cord for a camper rental. Think you got the better deal personally.
I’m no elm expert by a long shot, but I can recognize Siberian elm by its sparse canopy. The leaves are much smaller than either American or red/slippery elm, albeit the same shape. I’ve come across it here and there in my area. Usually I can spot the larger ones the easiest, because the Siberian elms are more resistant to Dutch elm disease, therefore generally grow larger. I’ve heard mixed reviews about how it burns for firewood. I suppose I’d try some if it was a convenient score, and besides which, burning invasive species is A-Okay with me
I knew you were going to go there… maybe this weekend. My saw is gassed up, sharpened up, and in the truck with extra fuel, bar oil, tools etc.
I had to look that up; I never heard of them. I don’t know about an aluminum one though, seems with all the hammering it wouldn’t take long to turn to mush. Now you got my wheels turning, which me being a machinist means that soon the lathe will be turning It’s nice having the ways and means to make and heat treat things.
Whatever Elm I seem to scrounge is always dead when I scrounge it, so I never really see the leaves. But the wood is typically reddish/purple in color. It also burns really hot and coals up better than any other wood I have in my stacks.
No that's not the one.I recently went on ebay and they still have the Aluminum ones though the price has gone up.The one you showed are an earlier model made of steel.They're heavier and shorter about 5" long.The ones I'm talking about are 9 " long and split the hell out of wood.Go to ebay and look for the aluminum ones.I saw two being advertised.One used and one new.Get three if you can for the real big rounds.I've split rounds that were four and a half feet high with those wedges.I have five and I'll get maybe five more before you can't find any.
