ID this knarly stuff...

[Lifted4x4Astro]

I got a bunch of this in the last load of logs. It cuts easy but splits VERY hard. It ends up very stringy and nearly impossible to stack. There is a ton of water draining out when splitting. What the heck is it?

 

[johnn]

I never try to answer ID questions for a reason! I`ll try sweet gum.

 

[Todd]

Elm

 

[Hurricane]

Gum, sweet gum.
I had some of that about a month ago.

I split a few smaller ones with the maul and what a workout. I was going to get rid of it when my friend said bring it over and we will split on my splitter,and it even stalled my friends splitter. He tells me it is gum and it burns well when it is dry.

 

[fossil]

Firewood.

 

[Eisele]

Definately sweet gum

 

[jdinspector]

I'm unfamiliar with Sweet Gum. Your other photos look like Elm, especially the way it tears apart. The bark is a little different than the Elm I see around here. Is Sweet Gum a common wood in your area? How about Elm?

 

[johnn]

It`s pretty common down here jd,,,learned from the forum it will go punky pretty fast left on the ground. Needs to be split and stacked. I understand she`ll burn fairly well. You might have seen em,,drops balls the size of say a quarter with spikes all over em.

 

[btwncentres]

If it was a suburban tree it could be Siberian Elm....had some years ago...wettest wood I have ever had....like you said...dripping...

 

[wendell]

The splits look just like elm but not the bark so I guess I'll vote for the gum even though I've never seen it.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The leaves are pretty distinctive it it's sweet gum. I had some in my yard in TX. First tree to take down... I hated those things.

Matt

 

[diodeduster]

sweet gum i split the same stuff a month ago.

 

[johnn]

If it was a suburban tree it could be Siberian Elm....had some years ago...wettest wood I have ever had....like you said...dripping...

Cut one down for a friend a few years back,,,few inches into the face water literally poured out,,,I mean like for three seconds..Suppose the time of season may have something to do with that!

 

[smokinj]

If it was a suburban tree it could be Siberian Elm....had some years ago...wettest wood I have ever had....like you said...dripping...

Cut one down for a friend a few years back,,,few inches into the face water literally poured out,,,I mean like for three seconds..Suppose the time of season may have something to do with that!

by the look of the splitts it sure looks like elm!

 

[bebopin]

My vote is for cottonwood.Wet and stringy splits.Dry it is feather lite and burns fast and hot.

 

[gpcollen1]

I think that bark actually looks like willow - and that stuff is sopping wet when near fresh - but I don't think it strings out like that but not sure as I have only had monster pieces to split.

That does not look like the bark of any elm i have come across.

I suppose it may be sweetgum based on what these guys say.

 

[Mmaul]

I'll add, looks like elm to me.

 

[billb3]

Have we seen that splitter in another set of pics somewhere ?

 

[Lifted4x4Astro]

So lets see...could be Elm, Sweetgum, Cottonwood and even Willow was mentioned. If it burns with good heat, lasts long and doesn't go up like paper I will be happy. My worry is that I got a bunch of this stuff and it'll burn very fast and give no duration when I need it to. I will get more pictures to show the bark better.

Have we seen that splitter in another set of pics somewhere ?

Not yet...but if you look through my photobucket account you can see it.

 

[blades]

Splits look like elm, as I have no experience with gum, Which ever had alittle bit of it last fall to split, just like you said water water everywere.

 

[Flatbedford]

Don't know what it is, but it sure is a good thing you aren't trying to split it by hand!

 

[Spikem]

Elm

Yup.

It's nasty, evil stuff.

It's also unstackable.

 

[myzamboni]

It's too yellow to be sweetgum. Sweetgum when freshly split is a milky-cream color. Once it sits in the sun for a couple weeks it 'yellows up' to look more like what you see in your pics.

I split sweetgum with a Fiskars without any real issues. Based on your description alone it sounds like elm.

 

[webby3650]

This horrible stuff has been discussed here before. I never got a solid answer, except Elm. I am pretty sure it is not Elm, at least no Elm I am familiar with. Here is a picture of my mystery wood.

 

[Arlo]

I had a bunch of that stuff this past year, not sure what it is but it looked just like yours. Dried alright and burned like the rest of my wood but did throw my stacks off a little. Basically, free wood is good wood, it all burns in the end.