Near all the bark-less standing-dead American Elm I cut goes straight in the house (basement) also. It seems to need the bark to actually fall off before the final dry-down though, if cut with the bark still hanging it tends to be somewhat wetter. Depending on how wet the ground is the main trunk can be a bit wet, sometimes 10-15 feet up, but even that (unless really wet) goes in the house as it drys out in a week or two. In dry weather, dry soil, it can be well seasoned clean to the ground.
The thing is... it needs to be dead on the stump, it needs to be standing-dead. I've cut elm that was blown-down while still alive and it doesn't make near as good firewood. If you take a close look at standing-dead elm just before the bark falls you'll notice that the bark is quite a bit larger in diameter than the wood... I've seen a gap as much as 2-inches between bark and wood on larger trees. This is just my personal theory, no fact or science attached, but I believe gravity forces much of the moisture from standing dead elm, and with the bark basically sealing it, the wood compresses (shrinks) because air can't readily replace the space once occupied by the water... or maybe it's because of how fast the moisture is forced away. Really, guess it doesn't matter "why" the fact is (by my observations) bark-less standing-dead elm is harder, denser, heavier and makes much better firewood than green cut... almost as though they are two different species of tree.
Dutch Elm Disease is still killing trees in my woodlot, and I've almost made a science of when to cut them. I can normally tell when one is gonna' be dead the next spring... they'll have a light canopy and drop leaves early, and the next spring don't come back. I leave them stand through the summer, through winter and through the following summer into late fall; if, by then, the bark and small branches have fallen they're ready, if not I'll wait another full year... or even two for larger trees. The bark needs to fall on its own accord, and then it needs to stand for some amount time after that. I "store" standing-dead elm on-the-stump; ain't no sense in cutting, splitting, loading, hauling, stacking, re-loading, hauling, and unloading into the house when I can just wait to cut, split, load and haul directly to the house. Besides, if you give them enough "time", the splitting ain't all the tough (with hydraulics), especially in colder weather.
Waiting too long is a mistake... wait one year too long and it goes from pretty darn good firewood to not-so-good, much of it somewhat punky and light, especially the lower half and around crotches. If it has been standing long enough to fall over, chances are near all of it will be junk... hardly worth the time and effort. Same thing if the larger branches have started to fall... mostly junk by then.
Now Red Elm is different than American Elm. I'll cut Red Elm just as soon as the bark gets loose (so I have bark free firewood) and stack it. Red Elm needs a bit of "stacked" seasoning time... live or dead.
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