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Elm (wood) good for what?


Coytee

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Backstory:  we had a couple (approximate 24" diameter) oak trees withering.  One was standing dead, other was leaning and only not falling because it was against another.

 

The leaning tree had around 30/40 feet of clean trunk before the first branch.

 

Pulled down a cedar.

 

Took these logs (most cut to 10' length but some cut to 16' length) to a mill and had them cut into lumber.  The guy at the mill evidently was wide eyed....  my brother in law says the Mill guy told him they get calls from people about cutting their log or tree....  and they come in with a 10" diameter tree which in this guys world, is near useless.  He said he didn't take my brother in law seriously when he told him he had some large logs....well....they were!

 

Guy cut them and said the oak was furniture/cabinet grade stuff....  it really turned out well.  My brother in law is going to use the oak for flooring in his Katrina ravaged house and use the cedar to line the closets (the cedar was stunning, all the whitewood was trimmed off and it was all red)

 

So, other day, I see an elm tree laying at an angle.  Go look at it this morning and it's slowly uprooting.  It looks like it's at an easy 45 degree angle and only being held by said roots so it really needs to come down for safety reasons if nothing else.

 

Tree probably has 30+ feet of clean trunk....  probably 20" diameter....  what I don't know is, is it good for anything?  Should I just drop it & leave it rot or get it sawed up?

 

Do people use elm for flooring?  

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Elm is the predominate tree in the US. I know it was used to make wagon wheels back in the day. I have used it in the fireplace and it seem ok for that. The grains are kinda stringy making it tough to split. I would think it could work as flooring as it is tough.

 

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It may partially matter what kind of elm.  Apparently it is pretty tough and is used in furniture framing and things like butcher block cutting boards.  For planking you have to drill holes for fastening.  If you don't need it for any projects maybe use it for firewood?  

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2 minutes ago, JL Sargent said:

Elm is the predominate tree in the US. I know it was used to make wagon wheels back in the day. I have used it in the fireplace and it seem ok for that. The grains are kinda stringy making it tough to split. I would think it could work as flooring as it is tough.

 

Good one.  Wagon wheels, barrels, truck bed planking, pallets, crates....

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For firewood, elm crackles and spits...not the best thing desired for open-front fireplaces...gum is even worse!!  Most timberland owners try to get rid of their elms and replace them with commercially-viable oak, black walnut, and even conifers in my area...elm makes for great yard shade trees, though...but an elm log is worth less than the effort to remove the tree, IMHO!

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