I posted a picture in the loaded truck thread. But these are some of the hackberry rounds from Hired on to help with a tree I was getting worried that they might be starting to go bad because they have been sitting on the ground for way too long. Wanted to get to them sooner but they have been buried in snow for the last two months. And with more snow coming next week I figured I’d better not let the nice day go to waste. Bark is falling off and the ends big cracks. I was expecting to make some of the nicest hackberry splits ever. NOT!!! In fact, it was quite the opposite! This chit would have made any elm proud of the way it shredded!
Having never processed hackberry before is it normally stringy or does it split cleaner? Maybe we should send a few rounds to the The Wood Wolverine and get his input?
That’s nasty! Looks just like typical elm I’ve gotten. I think a heavy dose of noodling is in order, or.. throw it in the weeds!
Would only take me one round to give up. I have to say though, the gum I split at Mike Bayerl’s place was worse!
It’s kinda a funny wood. Some I have gotten that was cut down who knows when has split pretty clean and wasn’t getting punky at all. In my thread Step sons elm where we was trying out the new chipper, that branch was down 3-4 months before we cleaned it up, split it maybe 3 months later and it split really nice but was still plenty green. Then the next potential score will be so punky it’s not worth the effort. I guess I’m gonna have to pay closer attention and make some mental notes on how and when the best time to split it is, because it is one of the most common “good” for firewood trees around here. I’m thinking in this scenario it has something to do with the size of the rounds as it seemed like the outside couple inches were starting to get soft but stringy as heck in the middle. Maybe the smaller rounds from the same tree will be better
Looks like great wood...kindling attached to the split! I think pieces like that would be great for faster restarts from coals (at least in my stove/setup). The hackberry I've had split fairly clean....
Oh yeah it’ll be great for starting or reloading the stove. Makes stacking neatly a bit more challenging
Funny, never split it but wouldn't have figured that's what Hackberry looked like on the inside. Surprise!!!
Do you know if this one was a "yard" tree? One that's grown in the wind by itself its whole life. Or a woods tree? One that's grown in the woods its whole life and had support/wind blocked from surrounding trees? I've found that makes the biggest difference in ease of splitting.
I dont think there's much in the way of "woods" in his area. Ive experienced the same with random species around here.
Definitely a yard tree because I did the take down. Seems like it was pretty well protected from winds, although it was the biggest tree in the immediate vicinity. Who knows how old it was and what the neighborhood looked like way back when it was a little tree. I’ve often thought about how much a tree’s surroundings change over the course of their lives.
That’s basically how all of the Hackberry looked that I have processed. I may get the opportunity get several more over the summer. Some people around here love it others would freeze to death before using it.
That's a perspective i haven't put much thought into previously. I'll have to keep that in mind when I'm thinking about stuff cause I'll bet it changes alot in some places or for some trees. Thanks for the insight!
