It has been terribly dry here and was over a hundred by lunch time.... The bark did come off the oak really easily, but the elm seemed to be stuck more than I expected.... a symptom of the lack of rain? I have to work real slow, so that I don't melt - drinking water by the gallon!
I know what you mean about the elm... I saw a kerf early on and let it dry around that, on the big ones. The smaller trees, I just split them on the table saw.
It was so hot the other afternoon that when I got home from work, I didn't hear a bird, cicada, locust, cricket... nothing.... sounded like nerve gas had been used on my little farm... I guess it's too hot for anything to move or make a noise. My garden looks like November.....