Elm fire wood?

I have not cut many down in years because they are few around due to duch elm years ago. But I had one
with 10" branch growingg against a dead ash so I could not drop it without removing that branch first. the branch was 25' up and no problem normally but with my health issues recently being in the air is sketchy. I looked closer and realized the majority of the elm would get busted up when the ask fell any way so just dropped the from the ground.

I seem to remember elm being a pain to split due to twisted grain am I remembering correctly? And is it a good burning wood ? It's green so I will try to hold it back but may burn it later in the winter if running low.

I have another one that's been loosing larg leads that over hangs my 1830 log cabin that needs to go as well. I can climb it and rope it out normally but I think now I will rent a lift. And even that may not be the best idea currently.

Elm is a great burning wood though a total pain to split.

If you don't have a hydraulic splitter, leave it where it is or you will have lost of hickory kindling ( axe handles ) at the blade follows the twisted grain of the wood, snapping the handles off. That stuff grows like a cork screw.

Agree on being a pain to split. But it burns good.

I'm glad my memory has not failed me. My hydrologic splitter needs repacking.

I guess I will try cutting it very thin 6-10" thick on the larger log and see if I can get it to split that way. Small chunks will burn to just more gas and time. Maybe that will make it split easier. If nothing else I can saw it in quarters but gas and time..

Thanks for the quick responses.

Elm is one of the 3 main choices here along with ash and cottonwood it all burns and yes elm is a pain but it burns better then cottonwood so it’s the better choice. Seems like you have to split it twice effort wise so consider that health wise you could always strip the limbs off and go back next year if you feel better then tackle the bigger stuff.

Dry elm is better to work with the wet stuff is heavy and stinks with a sour smell. Not bad wood but if you have better choices go with those trees and save the unneeded hassle for what you going to get out of it.

Native Elm is good wood, Chinese Elm makes lots of ash and not as much heat.

How you handle your firewood depends a bit on how you will be using it.

If you have an indoor wood stove, you need to be a little pickier on size and shape.

If you have an outdoor boiler, you can pretty much just cut logs or discs to whatever weight you can lift. In other words, it don't really need look pretty or stack well.

The bigger problem is moisture content. You might be able to burn "green" elm, but, it will be a pain.

I used to burn elm all the time. Learned from an old timer that if you wait to split it until it is frozen hard before splitting it splits a lot easier. Found that to be very true!

Moosetrot

When does it ever freeze hard in Indiana?

Out here it’s about all we have unless a guy lucks out and finds a dead ash tree. I helped one of my boys cut 6 pickup loads of Russian Elm yesterday. He had 9 orders come in Friday and needed some help. It split’s great. Good burning wood.

you can slab elm....cut it in slabs from the outside in. Ive burned wood for 60 yrs and I hand split it all.

X2

I have found that to be very true as well.

I have about 12 cords I need split if anybody needs practice splitting wood.

Google wood and BTU’s per cord. Maybe I’m lucky but I burn elm only in a pinch. Hickory, red and white oak, hard maple in that order. All thinnings.

X2...When I was a kid growing up in Minnesota my Dad would pile it in a pile by itself and then on a weekend when it was too cold to do anything else, he would have us all go out and split the elm. It split pretty good when it was -30...-40 below.

I grew up in Elm City, NC and we do not have an elm tree left in the town. Dutch Elm got them all. Our hardest wood to split is sweet gum. It is twisty and must be slabbed.

I have only experienced maybe -10 a few times in my life. Most winters we get down into the teens with a few short spells colder. I think all wood splits easier frozen.

Yes I have an outdoor stove with 24"x24" door and 47" x36 box. It's sold as a coal burner but unless I mixed the coal with wood I could never get it to stay burning all night. I can burn about anything in it. I got rid of a jack pine that blew over last winter. Carcasses, other animals that die and I don't want to dig a hole or dump for my dogs to roll in latter all disappear when thrown into that monster.

I cut it into short pieces that can be burnt without splitting. Took more time and two tanks extra gas but faster than splitting that twisted heavy green stuff.
I stacked the small round wood between some tree's and put a small piece of wore out semi trap oner it. The larger round wood got stacked in what will be covered up in the bottom of that stack for months. The larger log I cut thin will just get piled and covered with a tarp and hope I don't need it this year. But it's down and as soon as moved I can drop that dead ash. I'm hoping it's not to far gone.

IMO it is poor firewood, but if it is all you have then it works. Hard to split, high moisture content, smells like urine, etc.. I’m lucky my area is rich with Hard Maple, Yellow Birch, Beech, all superior firewood species compared to elm.

I feel sorry for u guys that don't have hedge to burn

Years ago I got a load of free elm. Splitting it or trying to split it was one of the worse experiences. My ax handle slapped back and broke my finger with the bone sticking out. After that....it all just became fire pit wood.

Burn it heck no that's an 80 year fence post or a bow if you find a straight piece.;)

Standing dead Elm with bark off is real good wood IMO. I know op didn’t have that option. Ringing them so they die and waiting a few years works if you can’t find dead ones.

Don't have hedge (Osage Orange) around here but I have lots of Shagbark Hickory and Ironwood. They may not be as high in BTU's but they are close.

When one is used to burning a really good wood anything else seems lacking.
Elm and Ash are really disappointing firewood after heating with Hickory.

I have enough Hickory and Ironwood that I leave everything else to rot.
Elm, Ash Maple, Oak, Cherry and Beech are passed by.
I'll cut them for lumber if they are big enough but other than that they are left.

Elm is very stringy which is what makes it so hard to split. I used to split them by hand when the temp got below zero using a monster maul. I had a lot of dead elm in my woods so I burned a lot of it. It burns well.

A lot of these commercial pallets are made out of elm I'm told. They should be good to burn if you can find a place that throws away broken and worn out ones and will let you have them.

The Firewood Poem

Beech wood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.

And, it stinks when burning.

Ash was always my favorite wood to burn. It smells nice, burns fairly long, gives off decent heat, leaves little ash, and will even burn green.

Red elm is great burning wood if you're lucky enough to run into some.

I was thinking the same thing!

(This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) Elm is no good for firewood, Red Elm is good firewood

Dry red Elm is very good wood. Every one wants it around here. White elm is for burning before dead of winter. Red Elm will stay good for years while white elm will be punky in 2 years or less.

I have no idea what king of elm it it. It's very dark in the middle so I would guess red. It's green full of water and very heavy.

I've got a 60' elm down in the back yard.
Anyone want to cut it up?
Its free.
just

Almost certainly Siberian Elm. Not as good as American Elm.

Yep, needs alot of drying time, not easy to split and stinks but...., it burns better then a snowball.

I'd say from what you explain that you have in your area, let it age at the very least a full year (maybe two) and you'll be satisfied...no matter what brand of elm it is! Round here I wouldn't touch elm unless the bark had already fallen off (or IS falling off), best regards!

Take the maul and take the bark off and it will cure quite well.
An elm growing by itself will not be twisted but straight grain and easy to split.

Drying is important because of the heat used to boil off the water lowers the flame temp.

it should produce some 70,000 BTU/ cubic foot of wood

Dropped off my trailer today at a neighbors place he loaded me up I think he over did it. LOL

My favorite is dogwood for a small wood stove.

basketball wood

love my RED elm.

When it comes to an outdoor boiler; BTU's are overrated.

The only meaningful difference from high to low is the time between loads. Fire is fire. You stay warm as long as you have one. True I use the lower BTU stuff in the early season, but only because I have the luxury of choice. When it was all I had, it worked fine all season.

The only other consideration is the green stuff building up tar (creosote). It can and must be removed. Still, a little extra work, is worth staying warm.

This is somewhat true but measurement of BTU’s indicates how often the boiler/ stove needs to be fired. Less BTU’ per cord means the necessity of more cords. i.e. 10 cords of hickory will last much longer than 10 cords of any type of elm.

I try to stay 2 years ahead that way it’s dry come the burn time just split the huge stuff and it’s all good by then.

elm puts off about the same heat as the red varieties of oak, ashes are white and fluffy but do not leave them in the stove too long, they become crusty and heavy, feel almost metallic.