When we first started splitting fire wood I tried to split anything that got in our way. Found out really quickly that elm is stringy when wet and hard as hell when seasoned. I suggest avoiding elm unless that’s your only option.
I split everything
I have other options such as oak, hackberry and one enormous pear tree and a few cottonwoods. I just have a lot of elm and hate to waste it. I have one very large pile of mostly elm that was cut in 2020. Last week I was splitting some pear by hand and cut an 8" round 16" and 12" long round of the old elm to try. I was not successful splitting the 16", but did split the 12". Friends that burn a lot of wood tell me they like it for firewood.
This year I burned two other large piles of elm and have the one large pile left. But will be cutting down a lot of it in the future. One very large elm near my house died earlier this year. Lots of them tend to die at about 8-10".
Is there a market for pear to smoke with? It's a huge tree. Looks like three trees grew together. One large limb I cut last summer has made 1/2 of a rick.
Watch out when burning that elm as well. It pops a lot and throws sparks. Keep that screen up.
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Atwoods has a 32 ton Black Diamond splitter on sale for $1199. Looks like a pretty good deal on a splitter. Has a B&S engine, though.
I saw that also. My local Atwoods has 2 of them plus the 2 38 ton with Honda engines. Side by side the 38 t is noticeably beefier. Thicker I beam.
I was weighing my options last night and still haven't decided. If decent splitter that gets decent reviews will do me then the 32t BD is the best deal. Like TSC, Atwoods supplies motor & hydraulic oil. The 32 is 7-800$ cheaper than my other choices. I may have just talked myself into to cheaper choice and hope the BS engine holds up.
I did decide to buy the Black Diamond 32 ton. Looks like it's been sitting outside a while. Manager knocked some more off the price and gave me some engine and hydraulic oil.
Added fluids and ran it for a few minutes. Worked fine. Then, I looked in the hydraulic tank with a flashlight and the oil has lots of water in it. I told Atwoods Manager that I will change the oil if he'll provide the oil. He gave me 5 gallons. Now to find a filter.
Added fluids and ran it for a few minutes. Worked fine. Then, I looked in the hydraulic tank with a flashlight and the oil has lots of water in it. I told Atwoods Manager that I will change the oil if he'll provide the oil. He gave me 5 gallons. Now to find a filter.
I just do most of my splitting for the year in 1 or 2 days and rent a 30 ton splitter. Some rental places if ya rent it Saturday they’ll give you Sunday free if you bring it back first thing Monday morning.
$60 for a weekend with a splitter sounds cost effective to me vs owning one.
I’ve put some big ‘ole elm rounds on there before and it definitely give that machine a hell of a workout! Lol
Elm needs to age for 2 or 3 years and be very dry before you split it
$60 for a weekend with a splitter sounds cost effective to me vs owning one.
I’ve put some big ‘ole elm rounds on there before and it definitely give that machine a hell of a workout! Lol
Elm needs to age for 2 or 3 years and be very dry before you split it
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Sounds like you made a pretty fair deal on your choice of splitters. I bet that B&S will run for years. All I've ever had have worked just fine. Granted, they're not Honda engines, but they don't have a Honda price, either.
we used to have one that mounted to the three point of the tractor and the pto shaft ran a big screw. man that thing would split anything.
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