And dead rock hard no bark elm creates a light show also toward evenings. Looks like the northern lights coming of my bar!
3 Purdue foresters in my family. Maybe they are wrong but that is what I have always been told. I couldn't say for sure I am the one that went into Geology.
That the reason hickory was so hard on saw chains was due to the amount of mineral metabolism in the tree. This when we were cutting hickory firewood and I remarked on how quickly the chain dulled.
I suppose one way to definitively answer this would be to Chemically/geochemically analyze exactly is left over in the ashes after combustion of the cellulose. If it had a higher mineral content to begin with I would think it would still be there in the ash.
When I cleared a lot for a guy I know to build his house, I cut quite a bit of it. I didn't experience hickory being any harder on my chains. Lot clearing score.
I like bitternut hickory but not shagbark. Shagbark is too heavy and tough to split. Bitternut splits well, has more heat than red oak and dries faster than red oak. Red oak is the standard since the supply of red oak is largest here. Bitternut is mostly a weed tree here so I can collect more bitternut than white oak which also has more heat and dries faster than red oak.
Yes.... Considering that hickory's require super mature forest soil, the minerals are part of the deal.
I stripped off the bark from a few hickories that were about 20" diameter. Takes about 9 months or so with the trunks off the ground for the bark to split and loosen up. Not easy to remove it since it comes off in very long tough sheets. Makes cutting easier with the bark gone. All the pieces pictured was the entire trunk with heart wood.
Awesome looking perfectly seasoned wood. Nashville would reward your fuel and time delivering it here.
