Old Elm

[carver]

Been slicing up an old elm thats been down for at least 6 years. Problem is it just won't dry properly! Its all split and logged and under cover but on a damp day it seems to attract the moisture from the air and is actually covered with moisture. Anyone got any ideas, or is this just a characteristic of elm?

[John Hancock]

Throw it on the fire and you'll soon find out it wasn't that damp!

[tree_beard]

elm has a very high water content, once logged it can take 2 years or more to be properly seasoned.

 

like most wood, it wont dry very well at all when left in large pieces, so it may have been on the ground for 6 years, but once cut and split will still take a year or two to be properly seasoned.

[nepia]

Been slicing up an old elm thats been down for at least 6 years. Problem is it just won't dry properly! Its all split and logged and under cover but on a damp day it seems to attract the moisture from the air and is actually covered with moisture. Anyone got any ideas, or is this just a characteristic of elm?

 

'Elm

The famous firewood rhyme says that Elm burns like smouldering flax. The other rhyme says that it burns like 'churchyard mould'. This is probably because it is one of the woods with the highest water contents. It has more water (140%)than wood when it is green, as opposed to Ash wood, for example, which has only 50%. Sadly many people had the opportunity to use Elm as a firewood due to the thousands of these beautiful trees dying of Dutch Elm disease. We had a great pile of logs in the 80's from such a tree and found that it made a very decent fuel. It certainly kept us warm for the winter and did not seem to burn up too fast. On open fires, it may smoke a little. If you have any Elm, season it extremely well. Large logs of Elm are notoriously difficult to split, so this is best done as early as possible.'

 

Taken from a breakdown of firewood species by species that I found by Googling 'firewood'.

 

Elm's wet when green, it's a pig to split when it isn't! Good luck but it will burn - eventually!

[Graham]

Elm hateth man and waiteth for him. An old saying for its propensity for SBD and its use in coffin manufacture.

 

It also smoulders like the grave.....lots of superstition attached to it.