I seem to have noticed (splitting all my wood by hand as I do) that some species of wood split really well green but then not very well at all after they've aged (e.g. yellow-poplar/tulip-poplar) and that other species are very difficult to split green (hickory, beech) but split pretty well if they've aged first. Has anyone else noticed that aging affects splitting ease differently according to species? If so, what are your observations?
which species to split green and which to age before splitting
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Woody5506
Minister of Fire
I was told Sycamore would split better if the rounds were aged at least a year. This was far from the truth and after that time I bought a splitter. Problem solved.
I think all wood should be split ASAP so it actually starts seasoning.
I think all wood should be split ASAP so it actually starts seasoning.
I completely agree. I split mine at the first opportunity. When I've tried splitting well seasoned wood the maul often just bounces off it!
johneh
Minister of Fire
I split it all green ! It dries faster and the splitter
doesn't care if it is green or not
doesn't care if it is green or not
Sawset
Minister of Fire
Most of the time I don't have a choice of aged or green. Everything is dead or down (oak wilt). I do find that frozen is far better though. The wood tends to snap apart the colder it is. I hand split what I can and rent a splitter for the rest. Ends up about 80/20 hand vs splitter.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
I split all green except for hickory, I set the rounds in the sun a couple weeks and they split much easier.
Wood1Dennis
Burning Hunk
I split it all green. Get it drying as soon as possible. I do a lot of splitting by hand. The colder the better. Last weekend I had some soft maple and birch downed trees to work up. It was about 3 degrees F. The splitting is fantastic when it is cold like that, and I worked up a pretty good sweat! 
xman23
Minister of Fire
With a splitter, it doesn't care how hard it is. A lot of wood splits best when it freezes and get those natural splits at the end of the rounds
hickoryhoarder
Minister of Fire
I split with a maul. I can't name anything that doesn't split easier seasoned. Ash, pine, and cherry do split pretty easy right after cutting.
Most wood splits easily seasoned. Not sure about siberian elm, osage orange or locust -- the tougher stuff. But hickory and oak are easy once they are dry enough.
Most wood splits easily seasoned. Not sure about siberian elm, osage orange or locust -- the tougher stuff. But hickory and oak are easy once they are dry enough.
Woody5506
Minister of Fire
I had to put up rounds of Elm, I split by hand, and the fibrous intertwined fibers of elm resist hand splitting for at least a few years.
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