If it's light, it can't be elm. I've burnt catalpa. It was supposed to be" mixed hardwood" . No. That's not hardwood.
Grabbed the rest of the dead wood from the score. Its catalpa Split several when i got home. Does fresh split dead elm look like this? Almost no experience splitting such. Split pretty easily with the Collins axe. 16" splits Calling Horkn Backwoods Savage & Sandhillbilly Was moving some shorties the other day and found my only other catalpa and compared the two
Haha ..Some elm will split with pretty straight grain but it always has those tell tale herringbone or saw tooth flecks in the grain that radiate out from the pith
It's interesting because Midwinter was just talking about possibly having a catalpa tree bucked and delivered to her property so this may shed some light for her as what to expect. I've only split small diameter Catalpa, but I read up on the wood and many say its better to split it dry than green
My first score of it. The shortie was one log i took last Spring from a "unknown" tree to me they trimmed down the street from me. sassafras variety? Another tree ID!
I checked out that link buZZsaw BRAD and that first pick shows a picture of 2 different halved species sitting on a third species of possibly ash. But on top it looks to be Sass and Catalpa. Sassafras has that bold chunky mahogany colored bark and that green snot colored interior. Surprised no smell, but maybe varieties or location where grown influence smell? or maybe you needed more cutting and sawdust in the air to get the whiff? I would say it burns a little better than Catalpa, but close.
I gots no experience with catalpa, but quite certain that it’s not elm. Especially the ones with bark on the tailgate, not elm
