I go about 100 miles one way for lodge pole pine and all the rest is within a 30 miles radius of where I live. I still save quite a bit even with the travel on my heating bills. Besides there is nothing like radiant heat from a stove and watching the flames dance as they give up their heat. I just threw in another piece of elm this morning.
Yeah, there can be done nasty pieces that resist splitting with every fiber of their being. I'm thankful for the mostly pre seasoned great burning dead standing elm we have around here. It's really nice burning wood. It's also clean when the bark is off of it, leaving almost no mess in the house. Cutting this pre seasoned wood and burning it during the season allows me to get further ahead in my hoarder as well. Our little old 14 ton or so Didier splitter doesn't have an issue with it. Also, it gives great yellow ghost flames. Don't get me wrong, I'd take shagbark, locust, beech, sugar maple, or oak, over even already split elm, but it has its place.
As a kid we had lots of free elm from DED. Some years, when money was tight, we'd have froze without it. The trick is standing dead or seasoned for a few years before splitting. These days I cut it and stack it in the round off the ground for a couple years if possible. Not that bad to split then. It burns much like ash. I'd put it in the good category. About the only wood I let rot or take to the wood dump is willow.
Rode a motorcycle across E.Wy. this summer. Had a tough time finding a tree to get under at lunch time! Cottonwood seemed to be king? Awesome area. I love the remoteness. I rode for days on dirt/gravel roads without traffic. Enjoy!
Love to burn elm! Don’t mind splitting it either. The kinetic splitter slices right through it. It was always a mess with the hydraulic. I used to have to flip the piece around and get it from the other side before it would fully separate. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yep you are correct on that. Lots of cottonwood around and so I burn my share it too. But if given a choice I will take the elm any day over the cottonwood.
That tree had been dead for many years. One large limb broke off and we did find some punk but it surely is good wood. American elm.
Looks like Siberian Elm Cold is Dumb...I have tons of that along my property line. Pretty much a garbage tree but the wood isn't bad to burn. Starts to turn white as it seasons. The bark is pretty spongy so I try to pull it off here and there as it dries, at least if I don't have it top covered. It splits about as well as sycamore, but as someone else mentioned, that "built in kindling" is pretty sweet.
Speaking of garbage wood. I got a clearing job to put in a new driveway with my cat 953. This guy has me knocking over boxelder trees and setting them aside in a row so he can cut them for firewood. I have burned it before because it was given to me but there ain't enough btu's in it to light a cigarette. The problem I have is that it's costing him $125/ hr for me to save it. I think it should go in the burn pile. I know it's his money but geeeeessshhhhhh...
Here, we're fortunate to have mostly Red (Slippery) Elm. Not too hard to split but this old man uses a power splitter on it..twisted or crotchy stuff can be tough. I lifted some Red Elm splits yesterday, cleaning up a minor half-row stack crash. Splits are about as heavy as White Ash, and it seems close in output in the stove. If I DO get any Am. Elm, I'll be letting it sit in rounds for a while. If it's like Red, no worries about rot if you let it sit out..
