I have such a wide variety of much more better hardwoods that I can snob elm (and gum) for reasons you all have heard me say many times. Last thing I want to be known for is peeing in someone's cheerios! Lol. I don't take it too seriously. My intent is to make someone chuckle, it's just farwood after all.
For those who have experience with different elms and burn them, are they all decent, or are any not worth it compared to other varieties? I'm not good at my Elm variety id now, and I know we have a couple different ones. Trying to figure out if any varieties just aren't worth processing. I have access to oak, hickory, ash, red maple, little black locust (uncommon) etc. But Elm is available, and I'm of the camp that I hate to see wood go to waste. Except sweetgum, I pretty much despise sweetgum....
All the different elms that I have burnt were good firewood...I'm like you though, not great at ID between the varieties...
We cut one off fence that came down in the ice storm last Feb. Only limbed and cleared fence. The wood was quite dark, and I was thinking color wise it would make nice looking slabs/boards (I like dark and/or variation in the rings). But I'm guessing it's structural properties perhaps don't lend it to the best use for that, or we'd hear a lot more about Elm lumber.
Here's a piece of elm I milled just for the heck of it. Very dark when wet, but I think it usually gets a bit lighter once it gets to a lower moisture content.
I really like that darkness and the contrast. Perhaps after drying, planing or sanding to take off the top layer would expose more color again, and the right finish would preserve a bit more color? Has there been enough time between milling and drying for you to know how the boards react?
I burn a lot of elm, mostly from trees we cut in our yard or trees our neighbors have taken down. I like it a lot — the heat it puts out is great for all but the coldest days and as someone mentioned it seems to insulate the coals longer than most species. I wouldn’t burn it if I had to split it by hand though. Before I bought my 25 ton splitter I’d rent one a day a year just to deal with elm. I heard someone say Dutch elm disease was responsible for the success of the hydraulic splitter industry. They were probably only half kidding.
If my memory is right the biggest logs from this tree were 30" at least. No problems and the saw was used only to cut to length. I have never noodled...
Backwoods Savage, do you know what variety of Elm that was in your pics? Very light colored, wondering if that's due to the variety, or if it would get lighter due to being dead and drying even when whole....
Bark free dead slippery elm (a member of the red elm family) is a very popular in Northeast Iowa with some folks burning only bark free dead slippery elm during an entire winter. I bring home ALL the stems I can reach, three this year and five last year. I never transport green slippery elm because of the water weight while dead bark free slippery elm is usually under 20% moisture. My loads are usually 800-1000 pounds (station wagons, mini van, SUV over the years) and a low moisture wood means more heat and less waste per trip. My firewood drying space is limited and bark free dead slippery elm is stored for less than one year and so is my MOST efficient firewood to handle. 80% of the bark free dead slippery elm is easy to hand split and usually has a shrinkage crack. Hard to split/noodle grade bark free dead slippery elm does not have any shrinkage crack. Bark free dead slippery elm is my best firewood for starting a fire since it ignites quickly and larger sticks burn well, 8" rounds. I never pass up bark free dead slippery elm...
Interesting comments. Is there a supply of growing trees there or are they being wiped out by a disease or is it a normal "trees die" thing going on? If it doesn't have bark on it, how do you tell it's slippery elm?
I think it is about as good as it gets for low and long. I do all my splitting by hand and elm is certainly good exercise. I’ve nailed particularly recalcitrant pieces to the splitting block with the wedge and still they don’t give up. Have to keep a few wooden wedges on hand to recover the metal ones when they get stuck.
We have a lot of Siberian Elm around as windbreak/property line trees. Locally it has a reputation as “pizz elm” because it will run water out when fresh cut. I burn a lot of it, but am selective when bucking it, and don’t take crotch or knotty pieces. This pile turned into 6 IBC totes full of splits and 1 tote full of unsplittable chunks
Yawner Dutch Elm disease has been killing off American elm trees for year. New elm trees don't get much more than 5-6 inches DBH before they die.
Dutch Elm disease tends to kill trees in waves in different areas at different times with time enough for trees to reach 10-20" diameter. The trees fall a few at a time and so there is a steady supply. Folks who burn large amounts obviously fell the trees. Bark free slippery elm is a darker shade of gray than American Elm (white) with both having a very smooth surface. The bark falls off slippery elm much faster than any other tree. Scraping or a nick on the wood will show the darker wood of slippery elm but the smooth darker gray bark free appearance is all I need to ID them 100 feet away.
