get a moisture meter

if you have no way to test then time is the safety.

the modern air tight stoves you want to be sub 16% around 12-13% makes for some really good burning wood

it also helps to bring your wood inside 24 hours before burning it , the heat of the house is pulling moisture quick

If I were you I would try an experiment , put half those totes on 2-3 more pallets to get them off the ground

when you test them I find closer to the ground is less dry

I cut mostly standing dead wood and generally in the shed by Memorial day , good to burn by heating season

green wood a year would be better but it has a lot to do with kept dry and air movement and some with species

getting it split makes a big difference

I got some oak rounds from a friend they were 3 years old one march, not split just rounds that had been stored in a small barn , dirt floor but no leaks in the roof , those were still at 20% in the middle and they said it was dead when they cut it.
a standing dead oak I would have given a 9 months split and been fine , 3 years un-split and it wasn't good to just split and burn

I've never heard that but it does make sense.

As far as getting it on pallets, my loader tires are $400 each, I don't bring nails into my Wood yard.

Thanks.

I'll look into a wood moisture meter. 'Had never heard of such a thing.

You can get an accurate moisture content number by doing the following: cut a cookie out of you 16" piece of wood from the center approx. 1/2 thick. Weigh the cookie, dry the cookie until no change in weight (use toaster oven or house oven). Take green weight of cookie minus oven dry weight divide by green weight times 100 will give you the moisture content.

I have burned firewood for our only heat source since the late eighties, I don’t like to cut and split my wood and put it under cover, I think it dries slower, I like to season my wood outside uncovered in a heap that looks like a beaver house, let the sun and rain and wind get to it for six months, it’ll turn gray and the ends will check, then in September or October I put it in woodshed that is covered but has open sides, I sometimes burn red oak, good wood, I split it a little smaller and that helps it to dry, mix it with other wood and it’ll be fine.

I think your right about covering it and longer drying times. I have mine in a lean too protected from rain and sun. So I have about 3-4 years of firewood split and stored ready for use.

I ordered 1 of those tools for firewood, Pete. AJE