Out not far from western border of parents acreage there was 4 decent sized Red Elms I've been watching for several years now. Unfortunately the biggest one of the group also biggest on their 10 acres (14" diameter x 50 feet tall) died sometime last fall. Sad to see it go,not a lot of them left around here thanks to several hits from Dutch Elm Disease in the late 70's through early 80's & again in the late 90's through present day. Bark on lower 20 feet of tree fell off over the winter,a particularly stormy day just ripped it right off. Left it temporarily in case some Morels popped up around it in late April-May.None did so it was on the agenda for removal when I could spare the time. Dropped it yesterday & here it the result. Only 3 loads (first was a heavy one ) from it,counting 1 load of sticks. The 2 biggest logs from the butt end about 9 feet total length will be future woodturning/woodworking stock.It shapes pretty nice dues to its density & tight grain,dries without too much cracking/warping & has good color/nice sometimes wild/showy grain patterns. As I sat down on the tractor taking a break I thought to myself "Last time you was cutting some Red Elm of this size or bigger & using Dad's old 3400 Countervibe was almost 30 years ago.... Then I immediately thought - "Its sure not as easy doing this work,especially on hot humid summer afternoons like back then...." But I still enjoy it much as I did when a young buck in late teens/early 20's,that's what's important IMO. To quote the late great Paul Harvey..... "That's the REST of the story...."
Good find, thistle - judging by the tight annular rings, those appear solid and dense. What would you make out of them? Boards, bowls, dinner plates? Lampshades?
Mostly spindle/bowl blanks for the lathe,maybe a run couple of the bigger ones through the bandsaw for some small boards.Rarely do I have an exact idea at the time,when I see something that looks like it might have promise,its put aside for future use.Can always burn it later if the wood cracks/warps too bad or isn't the quality I thought.
Nice. I think Elm is the toughest wood I've run into for the chainsaw blade. Have any pics of the bowls you make?
None of any bowls that I recall but do have upstairs a fat (4" base,tapering to 1.5" or so at top)) Red Elm candleholder made on my first light duty lathe sometime in early '90's. I called it Aladdin's Lamp cause of the funky shape lol I'll try to remember to snap a pic of it sometime.
Hate to see the Elm trees go . Not many around indeed. Hey... Do you sell any of your bowls ? Or is it just a cool hobby !
I always thought red elm was one of the hardest woods I have cut. Burns great too. They don't rot very easily either.. Should make some nice boards for your projects. Nice job...helping your father out too
"But I still enjoy it much as I did when a young buck in late teens/early 20's,that's what's important IMO." ... I'm sure you've noticed... ya got a lot of guys here who feel exactly the same way... ..........
Thanks.Its nice stuff when it dries properly.I still have some Red Elm left from the first big tree I milled in fall 1993.... Probably 100 board feet of mostly 1" & some 2.25" thick planks not quite 7 feet long.All stored outside under cover with 1 x 1 stickers between each layer of boards in the stack.Its all silver grey now & a few shallow cracks on the board ends but no rot/decay or other damage.No room indoors so I have the majority of woodworking stock outdoors.What was originally 'free logs' with my own labor/equipment anyway.Lumber I bought over the years gets stored inside the shop of course. A little twist/minor warp in a few pieces over the years,but nothing to cry about.Most of the wood is 6" to 12" wide,a couple pieces are a bit more.Keeping it top covered with metal roofing weighted down by old tires/timbers or concrete blocks,on a firm stable parallel base of concrete blocks followed by 4 x 4 treated timbers both long ways & across the stack makes all the difference in having a finished usuable product or just a pile of twisted,split & mouldy boards that are nothing but bonfire material 2-3 years after the wood is milled.... All your time & hard work just wasted...
Deddus Reddus Ulmus...sounds vaguely familiar. Great pics. Classic blotchy barkless trunks. I've got one that hung on me before it could get enough downward mometum to bust through the trash. I've got a rope up about 20', gotta make another cut and break the trunk with the quad so it'll drop clear of the trees holding it up. It's about 13 or 14"...gonna go out there in a few minutes. Then there's another one standing that the bark fell off about a year ago. Biggest I've seen here so far, about 19".
OK, got 'er down! Made the second cut, pulled it and it dropped out of the first snag and fell sideways into another one so I had to keep cutting. I'm getting kinda spoiled with this cool weather; In a normal summer I would have bucked it up in the 90-degree heat and considered it a pretty nice day , but I decided to leave it lay until it's in the low 80s tomorrow.
Yeah, chips looked OK but maybe my chain wasn't quite as good as I thought; Not cutting through that tough stuff very fast... Red Elm and Cherry are two of my favorite non-primo woods. For starters, both have a beautiful look to the wood and they're rot-resistant. But that Red Elm, man... Seems like every one you find is rock-solid, or if it's been lying around for years, maybe just a little punk. You can usually cut branches down to like 3" and it's still solid wood; Very little sapwood on most of those I get. I haven't burned enough full loads to say for sure but it seems to burn almost as long as White Ash. A cold front came through yesterday and I figured it would be a good day to buck that rascal and haul it out. I failed to take the humidity into account, though, and ended up drenched in sweat, just like on most other summer days. Looks like a bit under a half cord...
Nice elms fellas! I have a very small bit of it at home, I'd like to make some fire boards and spindles out of what.i have for making friction fire kits for the scout troop. Elm makes one of the best fireboards.....
I love Red Elm Thistle. Here's a mantel and legs I made out of a red elm I cut down on my property. Cured it for four years in my basement. Almost no checking.
WOW that looks awesome!! Is that hearth limestone or travertine? I cant really zoom in very good where I'm at unfortunately.
