Fireplace help

[Chuck52]

I cut down a dead elm this summer that was about 3 foot diameter at the base. I tried splitting a piece of that a few days ago with my maul. I couldn't even tell where I hit it. Looks like I now have an indestructible base on which to split more agreeable wood.

Chuck

 

[Joe_W]

I helped a friend cut up an Elm after a storm this fall. It cut nice, but when I took my wood splitter over a few days later to split it, we had lots of fun. When it split like wood should, the water would run out of the wood almost like squeezing a sponge. Anyplace where there were branches it took all the power my splitter had to make any progress. The wood was extremely stringy making it hard to separate the pieces after splitting. Maybe after drying for about 3-5 years in might split better. But anyway it was a valuble lesson that I hope I don't forget.
Joe W.

 

[Hillbilly]

Chuck and Joe,
We had a blight come through here a few years ago and killed a bunch of Elm,I cut some of them down and what you could get in the firebox or fireplace would burn great.

 

[beenthere]

I haven't found wood debris in the chimney to be too difficult to handle, at least not like the soot created by the oil burning boiler that I once had. But your recommendations are good precautions to take.

 

[ChrisR]

Hi Jim

I tried an open fireplace for two winters, and like you I was constantly feeding it with wood for very little heat return. So l bought a Jotel wood heater, blocked the fireplace with a piece of fibreboard and ran the flue from the heater's rear directly into a hole drilled into the fibreboard, I didn't even pipe it up into the chimney. It works beautifully, is extremely economic and the amount of heat thrown out vastly justifys the initial expense of the heater.

Regards

Chris