I had to have a shag-bark hickory tree removed at my fishin' cabin. It unfortunately died and was hanging over my neighbors house. Of course it was on a pretty steep incline, and surrounded by hazards so I had to hire a "climber" to take it down. Cost me a bundle, oh well. The tree guy was nice enough to drag all of the firewood to a flat spot up the hill to make it easier for me to process. It wasn't a huge tree, I'd say the trunk might be 20-24 inches. I think there is probably about three pickup loads there. I have never processed a shag-bark. What are they like to split?. I have my MS290 and a #8 maul in the truck. I have access to a nice log splitter, but I'll have to drive quite a bit out of my way to get it. I don't mind splitting by hand, but I try not to be stupid. No sense in beating myself to death. What would you guys do?