white oak and splitter

[wesessiah]

my neighbor told me a while back i could use his splitter any time i wanted, and i split everything i had by hand that i could, so i decided to take him up on his offer. when i walked down to his house, he pointed out a white oak that had just recently died and told me he was having it cut down and i could have all the wood. he said he would haul it to my house with his front end loader. the tree is big... around 100 feet tall, and looks to be somewhere in the 24" to 26" range down low and is mostly straight. with the splitter he said he never uses it, and didn't say he was giving it to me, but told me i could just keep it at my house. no clue of the details of it other than it has a northern hydraulics sticker with a serial number, and date of 12-87. it has a tecumseh engine with no details on it, but it went through some pretty big red oak, and the nasty stuff in the picture of the splitter. we'll see who all can identify the wood that's below the splitter.

btw, why was the firewood hoarders club binned? my guess is it had to do with the shirts.

 

[webbie]

Please, if you have admin questions contact the mods or the admin. It's very easy....

I'll let others answer your actual wood questions!

 

[begreen]

You have a great neighbor. Buy him a case of nice beer or some bottles of a favorite wine.

 

[shawn6596]

I would inquire about buying the splitter, or working it off. I personally hate borrowing things. If something goes wrong then you are responsible for it. If it is stolen from your house then you have to buy the neighbor a new splitter. If it breaks then you have to fix it. Just my thoughts.

 

[Shane N]

Hoarder's club is gone? I don't show up for a month or two and things to go crap apparently.

 

[Michael Golden]

Looks like a well built splitter.....Home made?

 

[Bigfoot]

a northern hydraulics sticker with a serial number, and date of 12-87. it has a tecumseh engine with no details on it, but it went through some pretty big red oak, and the nasty stuff in the picture of the splitter.

I have the same splitter, picked it up 3 months ago. Has the indian motor, unknown hp & tonnage but mine kicks some major butt, splits everything & anything. I guess 5-8hp motor & 27-33 or more tons. Hey could you post the serial number, mines gone & i'd like to find more info on it, great splitter. Yes, try to buy it. I paid $400 for mine, this one looks cleaner.......

 

[wesessiah]

Please, if you have admin questions contact the mods or the admin. It's very easy....

I'll let others answer your actual wood questions!

after i posted and noticed something else i thought about it, and figured it probably would have been better to ask privately. i thought there was a 1 hour edit, but now i see it's a longer timeframe. i must have been thinking about another forum.

You have a great neighbor. Buy him a case of nice beer or some bottles of a favorite wine.

he really is a great neighbor. i live in a subdivision, but we're all spaced apart, because we all have acreage separating us... so i really only ever talk to a few of the neighbors. for a while i never really talked to this neighbor because the other two that i speak with said that this neighbor doesn't like anyone and wants to be left alone. i get the impression that he just doesn't like loud kids and people that just don't bother him in general. he also gave me a push mower a couple years ago. he and is wife are really nice people, i think some of the other neighbors just aren't his style. i'm actually still trying to figure out what to get/do for them, because i know him casually, but not really any of his interests other than the expensive ones like his classic cars and what his taste in large tractors is like.

I would inquire about buying the splitter, or working it off. I personally hate borrowing things. If something goes wrong then you are responsible for it. If it is stolen from your house then you have to buy the neighbor a new splitter. If it breaks then you have to fix it. Just my thoughts.

i typically don't borrow things for those reasons. theft wouldn't be an issue, but, if it breaks i would still have to deal with that. i get the impression he may offer some kind of deal on it, but maybe not. he said he hadn't even started it in 2-3 years, and hadn't used it in longer than that.

Looks like a well built splitter.....Home made?

it seems very well built, but not homemade.

I have the same splitter, picked it up 3 months ago. Has the indian motor, unknown hp & tonnage but mine kicks some major butt, splits everything & anything. I guess 5-8hp motor & 27-33 or more tons. Hey could you post the serial number, mines gone & i'd like to find more info on it, great splitter. Yes, try to buy it. I paid $400 for mine, this one looks cleaner.......

this one is pristine, i almost feel bad about using it, and will have it out in the driveway after using it like detailing a car, lol. the serial number was very basic, like a 5-6 digit numeric only one, but, i'll see what we can come up with.

btw, the mystery awful wood was sweet gum... i was getting two wedges stuck in the 8" stuff, so i wasn't even going to start the larger ones by hand. this is the worst sweet gum i've seen... but at least it seasons moderately fast.

 

[red oak]

Sounds like you have a great neighbor! White oak can be split by hand but in my experience is kind of stringy. No problem for hydraulics though!

 

[Paulywalnut]

Great deal there. You just can't pass that one up.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That is a nice looking white oak but not really that big. Should work out really nice for you. Nice to have good neighbors.

 

[wesessiah]

Sounds like you have a great neighbor! White oak can be split by hand but in my experience is kind of stringy. No problem for hydraulics though!

i got a little score of it earlier in the year too... just a shame i have to wait so long to burn any of it.

Great deal there. You just can't pass that one up.

yeah, really is... and reference to the concerns earlier, he told me not to worry if something happens because he has insurance, and that would give him the chance to buy something else he actually uses, lol.

That is a nice looking white oak but not really that big. Should work out really nice for you. Nice to have good neighbors.

i know a lot have a larger diameter, but the trunk on this tree is taller than most white oaks in their entirety, so a lot of the mass isn't taken up by all those branches and twigs they normally have. the first crotch is about 60 feet up (it's actually down in a hole and not even with the ground you see around it) so while it may not be the largest around, this thing is going to give me a fair amount more fire wood than most white oaks i see. so, i call it big since it's really tall, and a lot more of the mass is firewood as opposed to a ton of brush.

 

[Paulywalnut]

i got a little score of it earlier in the year too... just a shame i have to wait so long to burn any of it.
yeah, really is... and reference to the concerns earlier, he told me not to worry if something happens because he has insurance, and that would give him the chance to buy something else he actually uses, lol.
i know a lot have a larger diameter, but the trunk on this tree is taller than most white oaks in their entirety, so a lot of the mass isn't taken up by all those branches and twigs they normally have. the first crotch is about 60 feet up (it's actually down in a hole and not even with the ground you see around it) so while it may not be the largest around, this thing is going to give me a fair amount more fire wood than most white oaks i see. so, i call it big since it's really tall, and a lot more of the mass is firewood as opposed to a ton of brush.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Can that gentlemen be cloned?

 

[Hogwildz]

Looks exactly like my splitter.
If it is, it is a North Star log splitter.
Mine has a Honda GX160 5.5hp engine on it.
Very tough splitter.
Bought mine off the neighbor for $400.00.
Very similar situation as yours.

I see yours still has the original clear plastic oil return line. Be prepared for that thing to crack or let loose. Mine did. Easy enough to replace with a standard black hydraulic hose from TSC.
You can see in the two pics I posted, the one pic shows the old clear plastic hose(well not so clear anymore) and the new hose from TSC.

The tank vent on mine was also plastic, and I broke it. That I replaced with some piping pcs and drilled vent holes in the cap. I also put a screen and the foam filter back in the new home made cap.

 

[wesessiah]

thanks for the advice on the hose. i've noticed that when contact is first made with the wood (even if it's an easy to split piece) it is likely to die, but if i barely touch it to the surface of the wood and hear it throttle down and let off, then go back at full speed it won't die. i haven't experienced that before. no matter how hard to split something is, it will get through it, unless i don't let off right after contact.

 

[Hogwildz]

Mine never dies, sounds like something is wrong there.
Does it do this when it is cold, or even after it is warmed up a bit?
When is the last time you changed the plug.
Mine would start and die out withing a minute of so, and after replacing the carb and dickin around with everything I could think of, it ended up being the plug.

 

[wesessiah]

the plug looks good, but i've only had it at the house for a couple days, and he didn't tell me when the last time it was changed. it does it whether it's cold or warm. if i ease into a round then go fast it doesn't stall, only if it's moving fast at initial contact. it never dies while idling though, only at initial contact at full piston speed.

 

[WoodPorn]

Is that a horizontal only splitter???
If so, it's the wrong way!

 

[bogydave]

I'd see if he wants to sell it.
Easier to do work on it if it's yours.

Great score on the white oak. Premium fire wood !

 

[wesessiah]

Is that a horizontal only splitter???
If so, it's the wrong way!

i like vertical splitters, but i figure beggars can't be choosers. also figure it will get me closer to looking like the guy who picks things up and puts them down.

I'd see if he wants to sell it.
Easier to do work on it if it's yours.

Great score on the white oak. Premium fire wood !

yeah, i wouldn't do anything to it right now except fluids and the plug if needed. i'll end up with enough white oak to last me all winter with just it a little ways down the road. this year is pin oak and tulip poplar, next year is black oak and... *gasp* sweet gum, the following year red oak and probably a little tulip thrown in... then nothing but white oak the year after that.

 

[Gasifier]

Nice score. Nice friend to have. How much do you burn in a season?

 

[Hogwildz]

Might be a float issue in the carb. It may be giving just enough gas for idle, but going dry when under full load.
My plug looked fine, but was spent.
Has it been stored with stabilizer? Carb ran dry?

Some other obvious things, but will ask. Your sure you have the choke closed when warmed up?
These also have a low oil sensor, or at least mine does. And almost positive it is the same model, cept I have the Honda motor.

Have you wacked your shin against that front leg yet when wheeling it around?

 

[wesessiah]

Nice score. Nice friend to have. How much do you burn in a season?

i only burn a little more than a cord a season with my temperatures. the stove is supplemented by a space heater when the wife just wants the temp up a couple degrees in the shoulder seasons.

Might be a float issue in the carb. It may be giving just enough gas for idle, but going dry when under full load.
My plug looked fine, but was spent.
Has it been stored with stabilizer? Carb ran dry?

Some other obvious things, but will ask. Your sure you have the choke closed when warmed up?
These also have a low oil sensor, or at least mine does. And almost positive it is the same model, cept I have the Honda motor.

Have you wacked your shin against that front leg yet when wheeling it around?

it was stored with stabilizer, pulled the plug and put a little fuel in and it started on the second or third pull. with the way the choke is, you have to hold it when starting it, then it springs back to off. i did have the float idea, but on my lawnmower (when it was hanging) it seemed to turn off regardless after a given amount of time, this just seems to have the hesitation when it first touches the wood, so i hit it slow, then go full speed and it never flinches. so, while going through a round it's fine, only at the tip in does it ever act like it's going to die. of course, i only have a little experience with splitters, and not much better at diagnosing small engines, but i can fix anything on them when i do know what the problem is. unless the oil sensor is mounted in an obscure place, i don't believe this one has one. i wonder if the amount of stabilizer he used wasn't enough for the amount of time it was stored and it still lost enough octane to make a difference. guess i'll find out tomorrow as i've been waiting for this tank to run out to put anymore fuel in.
i've actually been very careful with my shins so far, lol... i'll get complacent one of these days though and find out how it feels.

 

[shawn6596]

at what throttle position are you running it at? I run mine wide open most of the time. I can run it at less, but often it will die before the governor kicks in.