Does anyone have any experience with sweet gum. Older guy had a BIG tree taken out. Woods been sitting in his back yard for probably 6 months. Saw him mowing his yard this morning so I stopped and asked him about it. He said I could have any or all of it. I asked him what kind of tree it was and he said elm. I went back and took a closer look at it, and at least the limb cuts I saw were definitely sweet gum. Not sure about the big blocks though. Could be elm, but didn't look quite right. Huge blocks. Going to have to rip them before I can even think about loading them. So, what do you think? Jump on it or let it rot?
Lots of folks here will say “pass” and I would agree.....but wait.....there’s more.... My dad used to process about 2 cords of Sweet gum a year....with a 5 ton electric....burned just fine after a solid year of being stacked. He did bemoan the stringiness, but he stayed after it and kept the house warm for several years with that being his mainstay. So take that FWIW....
Well, the other good thing on this is location. It's not even a mile away from me. Also, it's in a big open yard, drive right to it. Lord there's going to be a lot of ripping on those big chunks though.
Looked it up sweet gum has about same BTU as paper birch.. So if its easy access and help a neighbor why not!! Hoard on
Assuming you have a hydraulic splitter and it’s easy access I’d say go for it. Everyone bemoans the splitting of sweetgum but if you work it from a growth ring it will split fairly easy.
I have a 27 ton splitter and I messed with one sweet gum. I'll never mess with it again. It's terrible. Do a search on the forum. You probably won't listen to anyone. I didn't either. They say smart is learning from your mistakes and wise is learning from others mistakes. I suggest being wise. F sweet gum right in the A
Never had it but I've read countless testimonies about how awful it is soooo I would say let the guy hold on to it unless you're that desperate for wood, which I know I have been. Really it's up to you, just know that it's regarded as garbage firewood for the most part. But hey any wood will burn. For me, sycamore is the one wood I'll never take again.
Took down one in my backyard years ago and another one recently. Not the best to split or burn but manageable.
I like Sweet Gum. Not because it's a particularly good wood or lasts all night but because it and boxelder are the only trees I can cut live without any guilt or remorse... Fwiw I cut a large boxelder and it took out a 5" or so sweet gum with it. I was able to get a couple of rounds out of it and they split EASY. That's not typical though unfortunately...
