Joe mine split pretty easy--some of it I started with a chainsaw to create a guide on the end. That seemed to help some. Not really that hard to split, most of it, especially after the first halves. Does your log have any knots in it?
Del and Hammer, luckily the trees come to us in Utah--siberian elm is considered a weed tree here and pops up all over. That is how I have got what I have--from people clearing city lots where it has sprung up on its own. I would like to see Siberia sometime, though--I learned some Russian back in school, and my teacher was from there.