I'll check out how to id the sweet gum. I know Black Gum. Lots of great info, I'm planning a wood shed and was only thinking about two years ahead. Changed that plan. Glad I hadn't started the new shed.
It's not as terrible as everyone lets on - provided you have hydraulics for splitting. Make sure to stack off the ground and cover it, it's very good at growing mushrooms. The leaves look like maple expect 5 lobes, and spiny balls may still be hanging on this time of year.
Welcome Bobrm2, I have burnt a lot of Gum wood (Red, black and sweet) unfortunately it was in Australia and I do not know if it is the same I would think it's different because red gum is so thick and heavy there, the termites won't eat it. They made rail road ties out of it and it splits like a Bear... If it's the same Anyone would be happy to have it in their stacks!
Sounds cool, but definitely not the same here stateside. "Gums" are eucalypts from the family Myrtaceae and are notoriously hard and dense. What we call black gum / black tupelo here is completely unrelated, Nyssa sylvatica. It dries out fast and light as pine/tulip. Burns like paper. Sweet gum is actually Liquidambar styraciflua. I haven't burned it.
Thanks mike bayerl I guessed it was different.. but always good to know why. I split a few cord of the red Aussie gum for. my aussie grandparents by hand Hard and dense describe it! burning it put sugar maple to shame.
I've never burned or split any gum, but I really want to experience all of it. Especially the splitting since I split all of my firewood by hand. The worst I've had was some ash and elm that had been in someones yard. I ended up breaking my black birch splitting blocks (8 inch thick cookies) on each. So I now have two ash splitting blocks, created after I just could not split that 16" round with a 6# maul or splitting axe. Now I want some gum or some other indestructible wood that I can work out on! :stacke:
Screw sweet gum. Seriously. If you had absolutely nothing else to burn I'd say use it, however I'd use pretty much anything before I split, stacked, and burned it.
I agree Babaganoosh. Cant split gum with dynamite! Ill burn smaller stuff if its easy to get but its just a filler wood for me.
I've burned tons of Sweet Gum over the years. And, I hand-split it. The biggest trick is to stack the rounds for a year. After that they pop open quite easily. The grain is a mess. So, you can start a split and it will run right out the side of the piece. It's not like straight-grained Oak. It gets light and is probably somewhere around Poplar in my mind for burning. Starts easy. But, doesn't last that long. I give a lot away. The only reason I still take it is to keep relationships going. People call me to come get a tree. If I get too picky I don't get the call for that killer White Oak the next time.
