Hoping you guys can help me out, a buddy and I were out cutting some trees on a farmers yard and we both thought elm. Asked my folks, elm! Now the odd part, figured I would start splitting it up on the weekend and was expecting it to give a fight Nope, split incredibly well! Super straight grain, waaaaay easier than the ash I had done in spring (but wasn't bad) the center was really dark when first cut What do you guys think
Yes, that's some sort of elm. Possibly Siberian elm. I was given a couple cords of elm the other winter, and I determined it was siberian elm. It split pretty well, much easier than the American elm I'm used to. Not all elm splits horribly.
I'd say Siberian as well. But I think you'll come to some chunks that won't split as well. Maybe not though. But I have tons of my property and some splits well but most is fairly miserable.
Elm. Normally is a mofo, even with a splitter. Very wet, needs to be seasoned a full year minimum. I found that splitting these in winter or spring was a bit easier as when frozen they weren't so stringy.
I think I found that it was in the 19-20 mbtu / cord range, just like the rest of the elms. I burnt a few uglies from the tree service freebies I got 2 Winters ago. I seem to recall that it burns the same as american elm as well, with nice ghost flames.
I just took an elm down on Sunday and itlooks just like that. I'm thinking on piling it up and maybe in January trying to split it. If you had that good of splitting though maybe I might give a few rounds a whack and see what happens .
Yeah, I had some pieces that were bad and not fun to split. Let me dig up a pic or 2. This is the load that I killed the original Briggs 5 hp engine on my Didier splitter with. I also broke a couple of ram guide bolts I will say that most of the 2 cords of that Siberian elm split fairly well. It was not fresh cut, and mostly straight logs though. I'll also add that the honey locust in that same pile was tougher to split.
Are you meaning axe/ maul splitting, or hydraulic splitting? I hope you mean hydraulics. You might want to rent/ borrow/ buy hydros if you plan on splitting any elm
It helps to be tough if you are dumb, and I hope I am Mr Universe because I am a hand splitter and questioning my wisdom taking this on. This will be my first rodeo with a cord of elm and am hesitant about it.
Thanks for all the replies! That is why I keep coming back to this site, everyone is very helpful!!! I was kinda thinking it could be Siberian elm but wasnt sure Looks decent on the btu chart so that makes me feel better, I've got 9 cords of it so.... I split a few by hand and very little effort needed, but used hydraulics because why work harder if you don't have to! Had my share of splitting by hand in the last 3ish years with about 25 cord with my fiskars
I'll be letting my buddy know its good stuff! He got 9 cord as well from the same place Even though we hauled out 18 cord, we had to leave double that behind just that we both only took 1 week off and farmer was chomping at the bit to bulldoze it on a pile
If you leave stacks uncovered, I'd recommend getting as much bark off as you can. It basically is a big sponge that will keep the wood wet forever. As the wood seasons though it comes off easily.
You may have just won the internet. Good luck with Elm as hand splitting. Smashing your Penis in a door is more enjoyable than stringy Elm splitting by hand.
