Experiences of eucalyptus

[Dodge]

I had a load of Euc a year ago as said best split green.

but another use I got out of it (worked green and then dried out) was to make a large mallet for a mate who does hedge laying.

I figured if its so hard to split when dry it should make a good mallet head, he has used it a few times and he recons its not bad at all.

worth bearing in mind

[Fredward]

The bark from Eucs varies alot - possibly the person referring to kindling was talking about the thin stringy barked species which readily peels off with age? I know some species the bark is thick and spongy like you describe and usually goes manky when outside.

[Taupotreeman]

I burn Eucalyptus regularly. Easy to come by in NZ as it's pretty much a weed. As people have said; split it green as it can be like concrete when it's dry although it varies from species to species. Generally burns hot and long and doesn't spit. Some stuff can be seasoned in six months but some is most definitely best after two years. We have some Red Gum at work and it's pretty much dry after dying stood and then being down for about 8 months. Had some big ass blue gum that I felled three years ago and I just finished the last off this year. Awesome wood. Stuck one lump on and it kept the fire cranking for a couple of hours at least. The bark on the thicker stuff doesn't always work well as kindling unless it's bone dry.

[Billhook]

Bugger! The pile of unstacked logs ensured a weekend of good behaviour from my 2 oldest kids but luckily this new made a mess while eating so got roped in!

 

Still not sure on using the bark as kindling - it's really thick and fibrous but how long will it take to dry? Is it worth the hassle?

 

 

Looks like an Arb trolley is coming his way from Father Christmas at the end of the year!

[Farmerdowling]

He faceplanted onto the concrete shortly after this picture!

 

The bark didn't look like it would work so that in a pile near my man cave!

[Tommywommy]

Just had a chap drop off 1 1/2 ton of eucalyptus off at father in laws farm as a thank you for pulling him out on the site he was removing the tree from. Split some today with the Hycrack cone splitter.

 

Was a pleasure to do even with a fair twist in some of it. Bloody heavy though. .

That is actually all Ash for next year in the photo but a biggish pile of Euc next to it now. Smells lovely

[Farmerdowling]

:001_smile:I love the exercise of splitting by hand but always jealous when I hear about log splitters

[woodwizzard]

Just split some two year old lumps on my screw splitter. Split lovely and smelt good too. Blooming heavy though.

[Tommywommy]

Had another load of Euc in yard this week. The oil stained my hands black for a few days but does smell nice. Will sit in curtainsider til next winter and see what it's like. Screw splitter ( hycrack ) is awesome. On our old 85hp zeroes its unstoppable on all our nasty knotty hedge grown ash !

[woodwizzard]

Mine's a tow along with a 13hp honda engine, driven by a duo-chain. Stalled on a couple of lumps, but pops most things open