Elm Firewood - How Does it Compare? (Episode 8: Firewood Series)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2024
- You can find a written article with more information about Elm firewood on the Burly Beaver blog: burlybeaver.com/elm-firewood/
Is Elm good firewood? In this episode, we dig into the details of heat output, identification, and more.
Watch to the end, and you'll know everything you could possibly want to know about Elm firewood.
I burned elm for about a week this winter as I moved through my stack. I burn about six cords a winter and had a dead elm I worked in last spring when I was stacking. I was pleasantly surprised on how well it burnt. I usually burn black locust so I’m spoiled and I still liked the elm. And your right about splitting it. I had to borrow a splitter to process the elm.
I just cut down a large Elm at my nephew's house and sliced it up in 16" slices, the top half where it y d out was about dead and pretty dry, looks like it will burn OK, but the lower half about 26" in diameter was still green and wet. tried to split them in quarters so I could lift them into my trailer, got tired of that real fast, and just cut them in quarters with my chain saw, Oh did I mention I was trying to split them with my splitting wedge and hammer. LOL I have a 6 1/2 ton electric splitter at home and it is doing a pretty good job on the quarter pieces, but as you said, a bit stringy though. The wood seems to be drying out, but will not be used until after next summer so has some time yet, this was my last tree for this summer, working by myself at 74 years old, and started cutting in May, I figure 3 months is enough, have everything I need to heat through this coming winter, then next spring will cut some more. I am usually cutting Cherry trees over there, but he wanted this one removed, so it is gone. LOL
Hello ,I've cut a lot of firewood in my life and I've cut alot of Elm....and I've sold a lot of firewood including tons of Elm too. There is nothing wrong with elm. It's even better without the Bark too. Sometimes it can be a pain to split but I find it splits better if it's really cold out.Take care
Hey LoggerJohn, thanks for the comment. Good tip on cutting it cold, I might have to give that a try, that's an interesting one. Cheers.
I’m also going to give this a try on Friday thanks for the tip!👍🏼
I know where a bunch of Elm is free for the taking..I told a friend of mine who sells wood and he doesn't want it..I think I'll go get it anyway..I guess you could always mix it with another wood for the fireplace
Logger John, I also have cut a lot of Elm .I think it is American Elm ,it can really resemble Oak until you see the growth rings and the rays . I burned Elm because I had it ,lots of it . I mixed it in with already started hot burning fire .It all choke out a hot burning fire if too much added . Even when dry 2 full years it is very hard to get going at times . I am to the point now I won't even burn Elm ,not worth the constant having to keep it going . I split it and give it away to guys burning garage furnaces and outdoor furnaces . I did saw mill some nice slabs & they made nice tables . I will burn very dry seasoned pine before Elm ,I also have lots of sassafrass and found it burns well ,is easy to catch ,doesn't smoke so even though it doesn't produce high btu s it burns good & clean .
Elm is better than average
Spot on man... I come across a little here and there and burn it. As you say, its ok but tough to split. Good stuff!
Maybe there are different types of elm with different qualities as fire wood. I had a big oak that toppled over and knocked down a section of my elm tree during a Tornado in MS in Mid April 2024. I just cut and split the elm yesterday. The trunk was about 18 inches in diameter. I used the same splitter (30ton, upright) as what I used for the massive Oak rounds. It split super easily and straight. All the bark popped off every piece. I have burned elm before, but never tried to split it because my Dad (who is a retired forester) always told me Elm was too hard to split. So, I was pleasantly surprised. The elm I have burned before was just fine in my big fireplace and didn't stink.
If Elm was a man he would beat you for what you said about him here today
Thanks for these
You're welcome Josh, glad you like the videos! I haven't decided fully what videos to do next, let me know if you have any ideas. Cheers.
Bout like tryin to split a block of leather when wet and unfrozen.
Thank you buddy
Nice video man! Also amazing holz hausen's !
Thanks Mike - gotta give credit to my Dad there. That holz hausen was his creation :)
Not sure if there's any difference with what's called "Cedar Elm" around here in North Texas, but I'll assume it's pretty much the same as any other elm, answered my questions, thanks!
What about for campfires? Found some that has seasoned for about a year.
I burn some elm every year. This spring we took down a huge elm that was over our house and I have been slowly working my way through that pile of logs. It’s the only wood I use my hydraulic splitter on, everything else I do with an axe. I find it also splits better a few inches shorter than usual, say 12-14” lengths.
I like elm though, it might not have to btu output of red oak or sugar maple, but I definitely think it’s worth it. Plus it smells nice in the fire and those stringy pieces really help it catch.
Love standing dead elm😀
Personally, I've found Elm to put out a lot of heat. I found that online it says the same.
There are better of course but it lasted much longer than pine we burn in a burnbarrel a lot.
I’ve had to work elm a few times and I’ve found cutting it into shorter rounds helps with the splitting. 8-9 inches long seems to help and cutting through knots and crotches helps some too! I’d rather cut it with a chain saw into shorter pieces than whack at it with an axe.
I enjoyed hearing the flock of cranes flying over.
That’s what i got at home lolz ,i know because is hard to split
N smells like horse poop went split green 🤢🤷🏽♂️😂. Great vid 👍🏽
Yeah - Elm has a habit of absorbing bad smells, especially if it's growing near something that smells bad.
Elm is tough to split because it has no definitive grain because of those waves...its not a straight grain but a wavey grain....elms btu is like soft maple
Red elm is excellent firewood especially if you find a dead standing tree. It splits hard and is stringy. what you are talking about is american elm we call it piss elm.
IMO. Elm is much better than ash
And doesn’t leave you with a huge pile of ash, like ash famously does 🤦♂️
In what way? Nothing about Elm is better. It stinks, it's btus are mediocre and it splits hard.......am I missing something?
@@andrealovasz9851 it has a nice coaling stage that ash doesn’t have
Red elm is a great wood to burn 👍 white elm is definitely mediocre
There's nothing redeeming about Elm. It stinks when you burn it (it's often called piss Elm because it smells like urine). Its heat content (BTU) is mediocre and it splits insanely hard.....(I've split 20" diameter Honey Locust that was wavy grained and it didn't stall my 27 ton splitter out, but a 5" diameter peice of Elm nearly did stall it). Elm is only good if the entire rest of the trees that ARE good disappeared: Iron wood or Hop Hornbeam, red oak, sugar Maple, hickory, Beech, white Ash, apple, Pear, honey Locust, black Locust, Birch, etc etc.......
This is probably not Siberian Elm lol which are probably poor firewood
Yeah - I think this one is called American Elm.