anyone know a good article on how to split cedar for fencing rails/posts

so I took down a 25 year old cedar tree last weekend to get some more sun on my fruit trees, and as I look at on the ground I think
1)really only 25 rings on a tree that big? wow the growth rate here is something else
2)40 foot makes 5 8' fence posts
3)but the first two sections are much to thick for fence posts I need to learn how to split them down

so I know it can be done with a maul and wedges but I have a few questions should the log be dry/ half dry? how do I tell when to split it? do I start from the end or the side? do I need to bark the log or can I wait for the bark to fall off? (of course its in the pasture and the goats have benn munching on it a lot so they might bark it for me)

still can't believe a 25 year old tree was 18" -24" at the base and almost 50 foot with a growth rate like that this place ought to supply enough cedar fence posts to keep wire fence strung without having to buy nasty treated things

You should split rails when the wood is green. Start at one end. Cedar will have a little twist to it and it will get worse when it dries, but they will still be ok. Start splitting by making a whack with your axe in one end, remove axe and insert steel wedge. After you get a split started you can use "falling wedges" made of plastic or wood and drive them into the crack along the side. Leapfrog the wedges all the way down the log, probably have to cut some parts loose with an axe inside the split, you'll see what I mean when you do it.

This was really helpful for me spliting eucalyptus

thanks thats a good vid and I canno wait to get started.

Although you already probably have it done I know Foxfire books have a chapter about making a split-rail fence. Foxfire is perhaps the best resource for the Homesteader