Does it split easily? The 8 month dead 80+ foot elm i have down here in s/e texas WONT split
I asked my partner not to cut it up, as there was approx.40′ of straight knot free 16″ + “SAW LOG”
but, nobody listens anymore?
One thing I’ve noticed about this wood is , it is extremely strong and very flexible, i can push over a 4″ sapling with the tractor bucket and try to chop it off with the cutting edge to no avail, and after i continue it springs right back up like its giving me the finger!!pluckyew!!

im in western Illinois for firewood i like what we call red elm dead its redish in color inside these trees grow to about 60 ft die and all limbs fall off the elm will stand for about 5 yrs. then the roots rot and tree falls over . base trunk about 16″ . tree is sraight dead tree on ground is barkless and wood is very hard reddish inside best firewood we only cut dead fall downs what name is it?

Were these all taken from the same tree? The first picture shows earlywood pores in 1 – 1.5 rows deep, while the other pics show multiple rows of pores, so a bit confounding. Also, I’m not sure what the status is with elms in Europe with Dutch elm disease, but in the US we tend to have a lot of newer non-native disease resistant species now, and/or hybrids, making ID a lot more difficult.

I realize this is an old post but I stumbled upon a Siberian Elm that we took down to make way for a neighbor’s fence. I cut it up and used it for amazing blocks for my little kids! Its so dense and smooth! What else would give this same texture?

Thanks, I have a sample of Siberian elm, but have not added the info/pics to the site just yet. These are good pictures for the interim.

I am a woodworker from the UK who has worked with English Elm, I discovered some boards that had been in plastic amongst other timbers that had rotted from 20 years of rain. The elm sapwood was rotted but the rest was fine albeit with a little woodworm on the outer weathered surfaces. The one reason it is no longer used is Dutch elm disease which sadly wiped out most of the magnificent trees within a few decades. If you want a comparison I would say it is as durable as untreated iroko in real terms and among the most durable timbers of it’s weight, it does not split apart as easily as English oak does in the same conditions. The issue is people put unsuitable coatings etc on wood nowadays, in the old days they did not, which is why these woods lasted so long. The best coatings are ones that replace water, so oil and thinned was, the worst are varnishes and paint with toxic lead based paint being the exception (why we think old paint is sometimes as good as new). Old timber framed buildings built with elm and oak generally are still around because they were limewashed and the alkalinity preserved them against the weather, rain is slightly acidic and the like counteracts that, ships would have been wiped with tar bitchamen mix which preserved them in working life, as did the salt water and lack of oxygen in some shipwrecks. That is the long answer to your question, it is how you treat wood, not just the species. All woods eventually need to breathe moisture between humid and dry conditions, if they trap too much moisture in or out without a substitute such as oil then either insects and/or fungi will take advantage of the living conditions. Elm is a moderately durable wood in my experience, compared to even durable tropical woods. Much more stable and durable than white pine if treated right for example. I know one person that has used it for casual dinner plates for decades, washed with soap and water every meal, occasionally oiled when dry and they still look new. Only downside is the slightly porous grain, which can simply be filled with beeswax. :)

Thanks for the input, Ron. I imagine then that the English Elm is more likely of a “RED” variety. Further research has also indicated that large Elm posts were often the choice for bridge piles ( in England), apparently for the same reason.

I have worked with both Red Elm and American Elm. American Elm decays quickly and is challenging to split. Red Elm on the other hand decays much slower and splits easily. The two versions of Elm have extremely different characteristics in decay and interlocking grain.