My Scientific Observation: Burning elm sucks

[oldspark]

Are you sure that is elm?

 

[Woody Stover]

I find amerian elm easy to identify, siberian vs red elm much more difficult.

That doesn't look like the Red (Slippery) Elm Bark I've seen here...

 

[3fordasho]

Are you sure that is elm?

I was quite sure it to be Siberian elm, but it just doesn't fit the descriptions other people have for Siberian. I need to post a picture of it after its dried out a bit, the coloring really lightens up.

 

[FireAnt]

I am pro-elm also. I had some big rounds that I split last year and am loving it so far. I am getting 6 hour burns in my 13 and plenty of coals in the morning to start. House is 75* right now with Elm.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Are you sure that is elm?

I was quite sure it to be Siberian elm, but it just doesn't fit the descriptions other people have for Siberian. I need to post a picture of it after its dried out a bit, the coloring really lightens up.

Tim, could that be locust?

 

[3fordasho]

Are you sure that is elm?

I was quite sure it to be Siberian elm, but it just doesn't fit the descriptions other people have for Siberian. I need to post a picture of it after its dried out a bit, the coloring really lightens up.

Tim, could that be locust?

Unfortunately, no. 100% sure as we have both black and honey locust here and I am very familiar with them.

 

[wishlist]

I cut down a large standing dead elm last fall. Almost no bark, tree was solid as a rock and split like that too. The larger stuff I finally gave in and took advice from the good people hear at hearth.com and "let that stuff freeze". I split and stacked in late January. It does split sooooo much better frozen! I've burn some this fall along with some softer woods, been balmy for the most part, and I'm happy with it so far. It produces heat!

 

[3fordasho]

Here is a pic of the standing dead elm I cut down with in the last week. It's some of the best elm I've ever thrown in the stove. No leaves or bark to ID by but I've cut enough around this wood lot to know it's elm. Siberian or red elm is what I don't know.

 

[BlankBlankBlank]

Also not to forget, when cut green it smelled like a massive pile of cow manure saturated in urine. Sorry for the graphic description, but wow it stinks.

But very correct!!

 

[oldspark]

3ford the last pictures you posted is what we call red elm here in Iowa.

 

[wetwood]

Lots of elm around here so I burn quite a bit of it. We usually cut it live and have to rip through the string fibers splitting it. 2 weeks ago we split some elm rounds I had left piled up for almost 5 years. They split easily and it's the best burning elm I have ever had. Don't know what type of elm it is, but have a photo from when I picked it up.

 

[oldspark]

wetwood, it looks like the piece on the right is the same as what 3ford posted, been so long since I have seen live elm I forgot what it looked like, all the elm that grows around here now seems to be much more white.

 

[Chargerman]

I cut up a standing dead red elm a few days ago that was so hard it threw sparks off the chain. Smelled like cinnamon too. I consider it to be decent burning all around.

 

[Woody Stover]

3ford the last pictures you posted is what we call red elm here in Iowa.

Now that looks like our Red, split and end grain. In the first pic, those concave channels lengthwise on the bark doesn't look like the Red I've seen with bark still on it...

 

[uggabugga]

one winter i burned an entire siberian elm that i had cut down in my front yard and had left lying for about a year and a half. i was surprised at how well it burned, it was hot-burning and had a long burn time. not much fun to hand-split, however.

siberian elm just doesn't give up. some of the cut pieces that were laying on the ground got rained on quite a bit and started growing shoots from the tops.

 

[Woody Stover]

I believe it is siberian elm based on the leaf size (characteristic elm shape but much smaller than the usual elm leaf)

Just looked in the book...Siberian has a much smaller leaf than American or Slippery Elm...

 

[3fordasho]

I believe it is siberian elm based on the leaf size (characteristic elm shape but much smaller than the usual elm leaf)

Just looked in the book...Siberian has a much smaller leaf than American or Slippery Elm...

Yep, that's how I've been identifying my siberian elms, the leaf size. I'll find a downed branch that I know came off a live Siberian, one thats been there for while and the bark is gone. I'll split it and it will look like this:


Most will id the wood in this pic as red elm, not siberian. I guess it really doesn't matter if it's Red or Siberian, I do know when it looks like this it's plenty dry and burns great! Somehow it's better than the same wood cut live and seasoned the usual way (split and stacked for a year or two)

 

[Woody Stover]

that's how I've been identifying my siberian elms, the leaf size. I'll find a downed branch that I know came off a live Siberian, one thats been there for while and the bark is gone. I'll split it and it will look like this

Most will id the wood in this pic as red elm, not siberian. I guess it really doesn't matter if it's Red or Siberian, I do know when it looks like this it's plenty dry and burns great! Somehow it's better than the same wood cut live and seasoned the usual way (split and stacked for a year or two)

Seems to be a law of the woods; Where there's one, there's more. So if you've IDed Siberian in the area, chances are good that you have more there. Not saying there couldn't be some Red there also...
I've wondered if dead standing could burn differently than stack-cured but I can't imagine why it would.
But you're right; It doesn't matter what it is or what someone else thinks of the wood. What BTU info I could find, had Red and Siberian pretty close. As long as something is burning well for us, we're gonna be happy campers!
:coolsmile:

 

[3fordasho]

I do know when it looks like this it's plenty dry and burns great! Somehow it's better than the same wood cut live and seasoned the usual way (split and stacked for a year or two)

I've wondered if dead standing could burn differently than stack-cured but I can't imagine why it would.
:coolsmile:

I have a couple ideas why the standing dead burns better... first when the bark is completely gone and the outer wood is well bleached, it could well be that nature has been seasoning it longer than what we do in our wood stacks, at least for the upper parts of the tree. 2nd, the bark does not always fall off wood that was cut live and seasoned. Siberian elm bark burns like poo-poo and leaves alot of ash.

 

[oldspark]

We have just entered the twilight zone, standing dead burns better than CSS wood?