Should You Split Firewood Green Or Seasoned?

Most of us split the wood we cut whenever there’s time available, but is there any better way to go about it, i mean, is splitting rounds of green firewood better than doing so when they’re seasoned?

The earlier, the better

Simply put, most types of wood splits the easiest when it’s fresh, although generally this rule doesn’t always apply to everything.

There are some homeowners who swear that the same oak splits best only when it is completely dry; for others, when it’s just green – personally i think that has something to do with the place you live, as the same species of wood can be different depending on where it has grown.

The best way to figure out whether or not your type of wood is best to split right away is to try it out.

If you feel that the splitting maul or axe you use bounces off too much even when it’s properly sharpened, chances are you might need to leave the rounds dry a little bit and come back later.

Not as important if you own a log splitter

Powerful gas log splitters normally don’t care much whether or not the logs you throw at them are much seasoned or wet, but drying the wood up, even a bit beforehand makes it lighter, so the whole loading process becomes easier.

Why splitting the wood soon is important

Splitting and stacking the firewood early ensures quicker overall drying time, so even if you gave a shot at splitting and it seems to be a tad bit too hard, you should probably continue nevertheless because of the drying factor.

A proper tool goes a long way

There are all sort of axes and such you can use to divide the logs into manageable peaces by hand, but the best tool for the job, at least in my opinion, is a splitting maul.

Here’s an article i’ve written on best splitting mauls you can get now.