An old rule of thumb for splitting wood with a maul is to split hardwoods like oak, maple, and beech when they are still green and to let softwoods like pine, fir, and spruce dry out for 6 to 12 months before splitting to make the work as easy as possible. But, if you have the benefit of splitting wood with a hydraulic log splitter, you can do it at whatever stage you choose. The benefit of allowing the wood to dry out is that it becomes lighter and easier to load on the splitter.