# Opinions on Siberian Elm for firewood



## 48rob (Dec 12, 2010)

Is it worth it?
Easy to split, buggy?

I have a bunch of it mixed in with Cherry trees.
Hate to throw good firewood away...if it really is...

Rob


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## maxed_out (Dec 12, 2010)

Rob, Elm over here in PA is a PITA.  Stringy, wet, stinky, I've learned to usually pass.  I know I've read alot of posts from others that feel the same way.  I dont know I'm talking the same species but I'd say keep moving. -1


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## maxed_out (Dec 12, 2010)

Sorry double post


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## Gary_602z (Dec 12, 2010)

I love a good dead elm tree! Sure it may not split easy but that is what they make woodsplitters for!   Here in Michigan we have 2 different Elms that I know of, one I call a white elm and the other is what I call a red elm.

  Love them both and have burned it for many years!

Gary


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## oldspark (Dec 12, 2010)

I used to leave it but now that I have a splitter I cut it, starts easy and gives off good heat, some people say it does not give off any heat and its even stated as such in a wood burning poem but I had the stove top at 750 one day with 2 splits of elm.


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## Danno77 (Dec 12, 2010)

Siberian elm (which i often call Chinese elm - by mistake, they ARE different) weighs a ton when wet. Is hard to split when wet, but let it dry in the rounds for a few months and it doesn't split all that hard. Burns OK, but not great. It really isn't that much work. I've split American Elm and it is 20 times more difficult. I've got some that I am burning mixed in with everything else, right now. I wouldn't pay for it, but if it's free I'd burn it all.


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## Wood Duck (Dec 12, 2010)

I like elm. It is a bit stringy, but it is nice mid-density wood. I am not sure how Siberian Elm is conpared to American, but I would definitely take it. I usually am not in a big hurry to split, so I don't mind a few extra swings.


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## 48rob (Dec 12, 2010)

Great!

Thank you for the replies!

I think I'll cut and split some, and if it isn't good stove wood, I can give it away for campfire wood.
I've been just pulling them out and tossing them on the burn pile, but there is a lot of wood in them...
The big tree to the right of the fire is a Siberian elm.
(And you're right, the stuff is very heavy when green!)

Rob


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## joshlaugh (Dec 13, 2010)

I burned some Siberian elm in my little stove yesterday.  I was lucky with this elm since it was standing dead so pretty dry and it split relatively easy for elm.


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## ecocavalier02 (Dec 13, 2010)

48rob said:
			
		

> Great!
> 
> Thank you for the replies!
> 
> ...


 holy fire. now thats a rager . holy crap


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## Danno77 (Dec 13, 2010)

ecocavalier02 said:
			
		

> holy fire. now thats a rager . holy crap


White man make big fire, sit far away; Red man make small fire, sit close.


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## precaud (Dec 13, 2010)

Ditto to what Danno said. The bark makes lots of ash and little heat.


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## SolarAndWood (Dec 13, 2010)

48rob said:
			
		

> Is it worth it?
> Easy to split, buggy?



Splits about as easy as soft maple


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## Bigg_Redd (Dec 13, 2010)

48rob said:
			
		

> Is it worth it?
> Easy to split, buggy?
> 
> I have a bunch of it mixed in with Cherry trees.
> ...



How close can you get to it with your truck?  IMO, that is the ultimate measure of "worth it"


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## Hunderliggur (Dec 13, 2010)

Siberia is a long way to go for some Elm.  I would stick with American Elm myself ;-)


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## Jeff S (Dec 13, 2010)

Judging from your picture it looks like it burns OK to me.


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## 48rob (Dec 13, 2010)

> How close can you get to it with your truck?  IMO, that is the ultimate measure of “worth it”



Good point!

Last year I took down 17 12-16" Willow trees which I'm burning now.
It was hard to pass up, as they were growing in my back yard...








I'm also clearing some land as part of my job, and have a lot of Cherry.








I also have a 12 acre woods that yeilds some pretty nice wood, this is a Hickory,








There are a couple hedge trees, and a really ancient Oak that is about 4' or so across.
I'll not cut it down just because, but when it dies or falls...

Anyway, so much wood, gotta find a way to keep it all...
Guess there are worse addictions...

Rob


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## 3fordasho (Dec 13, 2010)

This fall I got the opportunity to clear cut a wood lot less than a mile from my house.  A  mix of ash, cherry, white oak and about 70% siberian elm.   The elm was very water logged, some would spray water as the notch was cut and would stream out for a while
after cut down, needless to say it's very heavy in this state.  For an elm it is very easy to split, easier than the cherry and oak, about the same as the ash.  It seasons pretty quick, but I have not burned much yet, certainly not any from this recent score.  I won't go out of my way for it, and in this case it was pretty much part of the deal to get the better woods.  I ended up giving a couple truckloads to a neighbor and some more to a coworker.   All mine was cut from live standing trees, it does not get the dutch elm disease so dry standing dead was not available like the other elm types... also very few bugs in mine.  If you consider willow to be worthwhile firewood the elm is better.

I've been offered another lot about three times the size of the first lot to cut.  Unfortunately it appears to be about 90% siberian elm...  I need to think real hard about it... I just don't need more "junk wood" to take up my stacking space.  Now if it was black locust and red/white oak I'd be all over it.


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