My next door neighbor had a small elm removed and a much larger elm, American I think… pretty big leaves, being cut back from over hanging out house so much. I’m kind of looking forward to seeing what hand splitting elm will be like.
Why? It's not going to go to well I will tell you that! Save your energy for something that will split well and get more done with the same amount of time/energy.
I’l try some while it is still fresh and if it won’t budge, I can set it until the bark falls off in a couple years, or noodle? I think the small elm tree is in the neighbor’s yard still. We
It's going to require more effort than easy wood, regardless of how long it sits, IME. That said, it's doable. I use steel wedges and a sledge hammer, when it comes to elm. An axe or maul is a waste of time I've found. I also don't split anything smaller than 6 or 8 inches with elm. I burn it in as big of chunks as possible. I cut it shorter lengths, to offset the larger diameter. Saves splitting as much. I am a believer in, as long as it heats the metal stove, I don't discriminate with wood species. Not everyone thinks that way though. Good score though!
Hand splitting elm. I am guessing you aren't going to have fun with that one. It does burn really nice though.
After the second swing you will be looking for someplace to store it in the rounds for a year. In one year you will be looking to a hydraulic splitter. In another year after that you can look forward to some good heat.
Dead (to the point of being barkless) red elm, aside from knotty pieces, actually splits fairly easy. All other elm I've come across isn't worth splitting by hand.
You may even learn some new words while splitting that! It can be done but is not fun, even with hydraulics. You will probably learn why we wait on elm until it has been dead for a while. Then it makes excellent firewood.
It can be done but youre in for a work out. I wont touch it even with a hydro, although there is an pile roadside ive been talking about taking the last couple years. Best of luck and let us know how you make out with it. At least they're nice uniform length rounds.
You should grab a little bit of that and try it if it’s been there a couple years. Then you can see for yourself the difference
I am. It was badly overgrown during the warm weather. Lots of bamboo i think. I checked a few weeks back and still there with most of it off the ground. Hope i didnt wait too long.
Isocore did good work on the straight pieces. Even the crotches, I was at least able to get some pieces of sapwood off around the perimeter, and the big chucks should go well in someone’s firepit in a couple years. Sure there are easier BTU’s out there, but like George Washington said, “Warm me once, warm me two or three times; darn that elm makes me sweaty.”
Wow, it uhhhhh…. Didn’t kill you Pretty good results for hand splitting! Give it ample time to dry and you (might) become a believer.
My dad used to wrestle Ric Flair in high school, and beat him too. I guess my dad had a year and a weight class on him at the time so it wasn’t that big a deal, but now that he is 7 time world champion. My dad passed about 7 years ago now… I used to try not to brag about him too much, but I figure it’s open season by now.
