I grew up splitting elm. It will teach you much.
Here's some of the things I learned:
- If you lose your wedges, it is hazardous to use the chainsaw to go looking for them.
- If it's hard to pop it in half... don't even bother. Pop slabs off the outside wherever there's not a branch and whittle it down from there.
- Lost all your wedges? All your parts hurt? Want to cry? Well, just go inside and sulk, and come back when it's 20 degrees below zero. You'll have your wedges back in no time!
- Splitting other wood is easy.
- Every piece is worth splitting!
- Take a minute to plan things out before you start whacking. Use your eyeballs and your brain, and if the wood tells you that your initial plan sucked, don't be afraid to change it.
- If you can talk someone else into splitting elm for you, by all means do that.
- If you can't, it's great exercise and actually kind of meditative. You versus the inanimate log... who will win this battle of wits??? (Sometimes the log, but I'm a glutton for punishment so I always come back for more.)