To split or not to split?

[John the Painter]

I cut down a poplar today that was in the back yard and was a bit too close to the house for comfort and stacked the rounds.About 1/3 of a cord.I have 2 more to come down in the next week or so.My question is should I split it or leave it in rounds for the winter and then split it in the spring?

 

[RNLA]

I always split any new wood as soon as I can because then it is done and it begins seasoning immediately. I do not like to leave anything sitting around.

 

[soupy1957]

I'd want to split it as soon as I could as well, BUT........having said that........considering the time of year, unless you can do your splitting indoors.....if you have any major snowstorms coming, you might want to hold off a tad!

-Soupy1957

 

[diodeduster]

I split all my wood starting in march when the weather is a little warmer.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I prefer splitting in the winter. Good reason to get outside. Just do it somewhere away from the path of the snowblower.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

Get counseling. It's cheaper than an Attorney.

 

[John the Painter]

I'd want to split it as soon as I could as well, BUT........having said that........considering the time of year, unless you can do your splitting indoors.....if you have any major snowstorms coming, you might want to hold off a tad!

-Soupy1957

Right now I'm looking out the window to a sunny day, green grass, and 6 degrees celcious.In the next week there's only 2-4 cm forcast.I don't think I'll have to worry about a storm for a little bit yet. lol

 

[Backwoods Savage]

John, it sounds lit you are a bit warmer than most of us here. As for splitting, when I split by hand I did it during the fall and winter months. Using the hydraulics, I split all of it in early spring.

 

[joshlaugh]

I like to split wood as I drop the trees. Right now temps in Ohio are around 15-20* and I love splitting wood in that weather and than come into a warm house.

 

[Flatbedford]

I always split ASAP.

 

[Mcbride]

I prefer splitting in winter, sweat too much in the summer heat doing it.

 

[Later]

I find splitting frozen wood is a bit easier than when it's dry.

 

[bboulier]

I split as soon as possible. As the old adage says, by splitting wood in cold weather you are twice warmed: (1) when you split the wood and (2) later, when you burn it.

 

[shawneyboy]

Split it now, I split as soon, or as soon as I can, after its cut to stove length.

 

[tfdchief]

Always do all my cutting and splitting in the winter. It just doesn't interest me in the summer. Cutting is first priority....then I split but I never let it go until the next year. It doesn't season well in the round.

 

[Wood Duck]

I'd split it right now. Cold weather shouldn't stop you from splitting. A ton of deep snow might stop me, but not cold.

 

[modo]

I split as I cut...

 

[fire_man]

I was going to wait till spring to split a ton of Red Oak, but after reading all the posts saying it takes 3 years to season I decided to get it done. Poplar is another story, if it's split in the spring it should be ready by next winter. Why not just chew away at it a little at a time this winter? No need to do it all at once.

 

[Pine Knot]

Poplar seems to get harder as it seasons, I'd say split it now.

 

[firefighterjake]

If given the choice I would always vote to split earlier than later . . . but sometimes time or other situations do not allow one to do so . . . which is why I have several stacks of wood in the woods in round form since my ATV was being repaired a few weeks back when I was cutting the wood . . . I'm planning on splitting this wood in the Spring . . . then again this is also wood that I plan to use in another three years so I'm not too worried about it not being seasoned by the time I need to use it in the stove.