One of my buddies had this one go down in his yard and asked be what length I wanted it cut to. He is a good friend! I have never burned this wood. How long in general to dry ? (it was standing dead)
great score! A MM will tell you the actual MC, but it may be possible that it is ready to burn now. Split it, stack it, and give it a year if you want to be sure without using a MM.
Elm can hold a lot of water. I cut one up that was standing dead for at least 4 years before a tree service took it down. The splitter squeezed out enough water to drip off the splits from lower in the tree. Top of the tree was ready to burn within a couple months though.
Split it & you can kinda tell. Elm seasons pretty quickly, especially standing dead, but as Prometheus said it can really vary. Good firewood when ready though, I won't pass it up ever.
It really does vary, but all of the elm I've cut that's been dead standing has been ready to burn once you get up 8-10 feet or so from the ground. This is when the tree is still connected to the roots. If you get them detached from the roots, then they can't wick up moisture from the ground.
I have it all split, stacked and covered now. It didn’t split too bad at all by hand...just a little stringy. It also had a distinct, but not bad odor. The top rounds had no bark, another 1/4 has loose bark and 1/2 had bark that was still pretty tight. I don’t have a working moisture meter right how. I never really felt I needed it when it did work. Anyways, I am going to give the barkless wood until after New Years to try, and save the rest for winter of 22/23.
I hear ya there. I don't rely on one but when I have wood I think is close, it's nice to have it around to check. Kinda like a chainsaw tach.
