Two loads in a 16’ trailer plus compact pu bed. For me this was a lot of hard wood. I know some say elm stinks but I only notice it when it’s green. I’ve burned it before once it’s dry and never noticed any weird odor. I like to watch the blue ghost flames it gives off and it lasts a good amount of time. Lots of free heat for the 23-24 heating season. I’ll have to get to splitting it soon. Some rounds are still a bit long and I’ll have to cut down to 18” before splitting. And luckily I have a hydraulic splitter. I’ll definitely need it for elm.
I don't get much elm and I'm not a fan of splitting it (hydraulic) but I'll take it when I can get it.
Siberian elm is good stuff once dry. We have it all over the Prescott area. They grow like weeds and tend to be the first to break up in the snow. Many people say it doesn't burn well or that it smells funny, I'm guessing that's because they don't season it for a couple years. I've never had a problem with it.
I have access to many types of good hardwood here, and I'll take Elm all day. Some doesn't split the best, but fast drying and good heat. Nice score!
...A couple of years? I thought elm was relatively quick to dry out? I have some that's still in rounds. It was very stringy and tough to split, but someone here on FHC said to wait a year before splitting the rest of it and it'll split easier. (actually I think they said wait til the bark starts falling off. I'm still waiting. That was February)
Any elm that I've burned takes two seasons to dry properly and that's after it's cut, split and stacked.
Once split you have to make sure it's covered real well otherwise it sucks up moisture.But once dried watch out that stuff almost melted my soapstone stove.Rubber roofing will dry that stuff like no other.
I burn a LOT of dead standing Elm. I have Oak, Hickory, Cherry, Locust and I believe Elm to be really close in heat with any of them. I like it!
Like Cash I will take all the elm I can get. In fact I got a couple of pickup loads about 2 months ago. I am just letting it sit and dry out for now and will noodle it all when the time comes.
On the bark falling off, what that means is we wait to cut the tree until the bark falls off. I will not cut a live elm tree. That is where people go wrong with elm.
