Can't put this totally on Irene, but I can't believe what a difference a few weeks makes with splitting. I had a dozen large, 36", black oak rounds that I hadn't split before Irene showed up. Few other distractions and didn't get to them until today. The splitter blew through them when they were fresh, I had to cut a groove with the saw and break out the sledge and wedges today. The tall fat wedge on the splitter is usually an asset as it usually takes less than an inch of travel to blow the split up. Today it was a liability.