Can anyone identify this wood? I got it for free from a guy in the neighborhood. He thinks it's oak but I can't get it to split with my wedge or my electric log splitter. The tree was only felled 3 weeks ago so maybe that's why but another friend of mine who sells firewood said it looks like Gum, which according to him isn't good for burning and is near impossible to split even when it's seasoned. Any ideas?
I've never dealt with gum. I have a hard time thinking that even a hydraulic splitter would have trouble splitting it.
Could be gum. Its NOT oak. Has an elm look to it, especially in the pile of rounds. Either wood is hard to split. I wont take either for that reason even though i have a hydro. Elm is good firewood, gum not so much. You may end up noodling if your electric splitter wont budge them.
That looks to be a very similar splitter to the one my sister has...thing wouldn't split a fresh baked glazed donut! The wedge design is terrible! I have one too, but my wedge is actually sharp...not much will stop it! That said, I think gum would be better split on a 20 ton (+) hydraulic splitter with a nice sharp wedge!
I’m with buZZsaw BRAD here and lean towards elm. I scored black gum earlier this year and it had a darker core. If it’s elm it should have a less than appealing scent to it. Some people say it’s reminiscent of manure. Edit: branching pattern matches elm more than black gum. On gum, the branches come out almost perpendicular to the trunk, hence why it’s sometimes planted as a landscape tree. They can have a nice pyramidal form grown out in the open. Every elm I’ve gotten looks like this in a cross section of the crotch area too. There’s always 2 distinct sets of growth rings, side by side. That’s what I’m seeing in yours too. They can vary in color though, some darker, some lighter.
Second page, about halfway down. I picked up one log of the stuff accidentally, from a roadside cutting near my work back in February. First time scrounge, not the first time I’ve been stumped.
Now i remember. I scored a piece of it and learned my lesson too. Piece i scrounged looked like white oak bark.
Looks elmish to me. Makes great firewood, can be a bear to split alot of times without a hydro though.
My first thought was that this is elm. People on this forum report that the preferred way of dealing with it if you choose to be so brave is to harvest dead, standing trees when the bark is falling off. I don't know if you could have elm rounds like that and let them sit until the bark falls off; I have often wondered about that, or letting elm logs sit, not bucked, until the bark falls off.
My first run in with gum was helping Mike Bayerl split wood at his place. After about 2 pieces, I told him I didn't want to proceed with anymore of that wood. It was on point with wet elm. He said it burns like paper so we started chucking it to the side. I do agree w/ you. To me it looks elm.
I have some dead elm sitting with bark on that i may "harvest" soon. I fear ive let it sit too long though.
Thanks for all your help guys. I believe I have identified the wood as Elm, judging by this leaf anyway. I hope it gets easier to split by next spring!
