Ive learned from FHC that fresh cut green elm rounds will be easier to split and split cleaner if left for an extended period to dry as is. My current cut had more elm than I'd care to process so I left maybe a face cord to dry as is. Stacked on a pallet under a carport. My somewhat limited experience with elm is it can split clean or be extremely stringy. Having limited sources for wood, ill now take it when decent and easy. So FHC how long should this sit before I split it? Current plan is nine months. It wont be used until the 27-28 burning season at the earliest.
The one time I went this route I waited 8-9 months which helped, but another 6 months would’ve been better. Here’s what I ended up with. Some split clean, most still did not (although it was an improvement over fresh live cut)
The easiest I’ve split is dead standing, no bark and bleached out. I don’t know how long it takes to reach that stage, but it splits fast, clean and easy fo sho. It would be perfect for bundles.
I've had some elm rounds stacked uncovered for 3-4 years now. Not sure if the bark has even loosened. Time to grab one and see how much the x27 will bounce off it. I suspect they're noodle material.
You still got this round that Dave tried to split? Just over four years now. Invite him back to finish it off.
Honestly an excellent point. I owed my friend a face cord of rounds as he let me take the same in dead ash rounds back in March when my dry bundle inventory was very low. He has enough dry wood on hand so in no rush to split them. AND after splitting one elm round and attempting a second from todays cut Im willing to wait! A couple more to get dropped off tomorrow. Remove me from your sig line if you must!
I doubt that 9 months will help a lot. It' been a long, long time since I tried this but never again! First, stacked under a carport you are not helping it. It should have been stacked where it will get wind blowing on it. Even then, my guess would be to leave it 2 years. It can be tough stuff. I still say I could heat all winter with elm and love it, but I won't cut it when it is alive. Even after it dies it needs time. No matter the time I leave it standing until all or most of the bark is off. You can still leave it standing a year or two before cutting. Doing this it is rare for me to have a problem splitting. Usually any problem is like other wood; the knots. Another thing, around our area elm does not grow to much size. I have cut some at 30" diameter but that is rare. Half that size or 20" is more the case here.
Very limited room at my friends plus his yard is all shade. I have one full bay there stacked with fresh cut (at the time) black locust that was good the following year with one customer reporting it was at 15% internal MC. Like I've said in the past I do the best I can with what I have to work with. After hearing the preliminary opinions, I'll leave it longer. He is in no hurry. I've seen how fast elm loses its bark when it dies, Not something I encounter as a score. I did once and that ended up going to Eric Wanderweg.
I stack some wood in a 3 length carport (meaning it's 3 attached to make one long carport. I also put all of my wood boiler wood in totes under cover in there. The carport is out in the open and faces north/south. The wind rips through there almost year round and does a great job of drying the wood.
I generally follow the principle if I think Backwoods Savage is not right, read what he said again because I read it wrong I keep my wood under a leanto behind garage final year, BUT I have lived here 24 years and could count days I couldn’t fly a kite on 1 hand. in short there’s usually a breeze to a stiff wind or 85 mph winds etc.
