I have a 24" diameter elm that was leaning dead for several years. I know how stringy the splitting is going to be. I bucked it and am wondering if I should store the rounds till next year; split it now and store it.; or just split and include it in this years burnable. Its been probably leaning with no bark for 4-6 years. It isnt papery so its not passed its burn time. Its heavy.
Split now and burn,now and season, or season rounds
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If you have access to a splitter, then by all means , split it now. Test a split or two, and you'll know. And as G.I. Joe says- "Knowing is half the battle". 
Split it now . . . if it splits easily then you're golden . . . you may be able to use the wood this year . . . although it would be far better to keep it around for next year. If it splits hard and is wicked stringy . . . you've started the seasoning process and will be in a good shape next year. Whether it is seasoned enough to burn this year or not really will depend on several factors -- you may find that the wood located further away from the base of the tree will be more seasoned . . . wood closest to the base may not be ready to burn.
I agree - split it and stack it for a year or so is the best way. That is, if you have something else to burn this winter. If you have nothing better, then burn it this winter, but it will be drier and burn far better next year.
I just cut and split an elm from a neighbors property that came down in a summer wind storm. The bark was almost 100% off or came off easily. I didnt test the moisture content but I bet it was pretty dry (didnt test cause I dont need to burn this for a few years). It split pretty easily - nothing like a wet elm I split last year of the same size. I bet you find that yours splits ok.... and I would split it now
KFDiesel said:
KFDiesel, I cut a dead standing maple then bucked and split it and took a moisture reading with one split reading 27 % and the other 29 % then left it outside for one week and had readings under 20 %.
zap
KFDiesel said:
Welcome to the forum KFDiesel.
You no doubt have heard the horror stories about splitting elm. However, you say this has been dead and no bark left for 4-6 years. In my experience, whenever I cut the elm that is dead and all the bark has fallen off, very little of it is difficult to split. Not only that, but this type elm will burn much better. The reason is that if you cut elm when it is still green, it gets really stringy and then burns up quickly. Cut it after it is dead and has been long enough for the bark to fall and most of it splits like a charm (not all, but most). It will also hold fires much longer than that stringy stuff.
I'd cut and split it now. If any moisture, then it should all be concentrated near the butt of the tree. The rest is probably ready to burn now.
Thank you very much. It was definitely more stringy near the base but not bad at all. Only had to use the hatchet a few times. I can hold off burning it till next year and i think I will based on the consensus here. The dryer wood near the top basically split like it was a different species.
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