Sycamore burns similar to soft maple and poplar. It splits easy, dries nice, but burns fast. Mixed in with harder woods it burns fine. I like to mix the softer woods in my fires for a better balanced burn anyway. I do that for both wood burner or camp fires.
Logsplitter 2.0
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LD1
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What kind of maple are you talking about?
The hard/sugar maple we have around here......Now way I'f compare that in the same sentence as poplar.
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rswyan
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Checked out the pressure adjustment for the detent ... probably not going to mess with it - max trip pressure is 2000 psi and it is supposedly set at that from the factory.
On the engine speed, I don't have a tach so I really have no way of knowing how fast it is running ... but I have read on some forums that the adjustment screw is for adjustment of the governed speed.
If you run the screw all the way out, you'll get around 4300 rpm ... supposedly, the engine is rated at 3800 rpm stock, per the specifications ... which seems kinda odd, given that most of these type engines are set at 3600 rpm.
Specs on the Barnes pump are 4000 max rpm.
Might play around with the adjustment screw a bit and what if any difference it makes.
On the engine speed, I don't have a tach so I really have no way of knowing how fast it is running ... but I have read on some forums that the adjustment screw is for adjustment of the governed speed.
If you run the screw all the way out, you'll get around 4300 rpm ... supposedly, the engine is rated at 3800 rpm stock, per the specifications ... which seems kinda odd, given that most of these type engines are set at 3600 rpm.
Specs on the Barnes pump are 4000 max rpm.
Might play around with the adjustment screw a bit and what if any difference it makes.
aczlan
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$16 will get you a tachometer/hourmeter: Amazon.com: KEDSUM Upgrade Version Waterproof Hour meter Tachometer 2 & 4 Stroke Small Engine Spark For Boat Outboard Mercury(Battery Replaceable): Automotive
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rswyan
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From what I've read, it does burn fast ... which makes sense to me, after looking at the round I split yesterday.
The wood seems to be not very dense and is pretty light after seasoning for a year ... much lighter than seasoned ash. Probably more similar to poplar in that respect.
As far as being easy to split, that's not my experience ... green, it's very difficult to split ... seasoned, it splits easier ... but it still takes a good bit of force. Comparatively speaking, ash and red oak split easier ... and are "stringy" and split along the grain. The sycamore just seems to "let go", parting in an irregular manner ... and not really following the strings of the grain.
Good to know ... :thumbsup:
I was planning on mixing it with harder woods ... at least in the dead of winter. Might burn it alone when it isn't real cold out (fall/spring) and I don't need much to take the chill out of the shop.
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rswyan
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No, I didn't mean it was similar to hard maple. Soft maple would be red, silver, etc. Even those, from tree to tree, vary quite a bit but are much lighter than hard maple. I put those soft maples in the category with tulip poplar and sycamore. I think sycamore is a maple relative too. Then in the lowest category I'd group cottonwood and basswood.
I've split some that was more difficult and twisted, and maybe that's the norm? I only split it if it's down or needs to be taken down, like some of the other softer woods. Just enough to keep a good mix going.
LD1
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MAkes more sense. I have never cut/burned anything other than hard maple in the maple family. Have burned lots of red and white oak, hickory, ash, elm, beech. And hard maple is in with that mix. I also burn alot of pine, willow, poplar, cotton wood, etc. Not that I like spending time cutting the softer woods, but If a tree has gotta go, might as well make some use out of it. Use it for "shop" wood.
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I burn a lot of both sycamore and tulip poplar outside just to get rid of it...even though some of the logs are 18"-20" I don't split it...just burn it with the pine...There is a noticeable difference between the two depending on how cured they are...
I've always used poplar for kindling as it splits so easily and lights quick if dry...it does burn faster than sycamore if they are close to the same moisture content...
I have a large amount of sycamore logs I've only spared from the fire because I may be buying an interest in a band mill...but am considering splitting a bunch of it strictly for tinder size cord wood...
The very few rounds I have run through a splitter was more like maple...it feels like cheating splitting poplar or (clear) red oak with a splitter...
I know this thread is about a hydraulic splitter but there's something about splitting clear red oak etc. by hand...it is so much less tiresome etc...when the round absorbs all the energy of the blow (no feedback through the handle) and every blow is effective...
This is a great thread...I am getting ready to order hoses and fittings for the splitter/lift I built last year...some may remember the issue I had trying to get a two spool valve to work off a dedicated Ditch Witch auxiliary circuit...the need for wood elapsed and I never really got around to completing the project...will resurrect or start a new thread...it is also my 2.0 version...
I've always used poplar for kindling as it splits so easily and lights quick if dry...it does burn faster than sycamore if they are close to the same moisture content...
I have a large amount of sycamore logs I've only spared from the fire because I may be buying an interest in a band mill...but am considering splitting a bunch of it strictly for tinder size cord wood...
The very few rounds I have run through a splitter was more like maple...it feels like cheating splitting poplar or (clear) red oak with a splitter...
I know this thread is about a hydraulic splitter but there's something about splitting clear red oak etc. by hand...it is so much less tiresome etc...when the round absorbs all the energy of the blow (no feedback through the handle) and every blow is effective...
This is a great thread...I am getting ready to order hoses and fittings for the splitter/lift I built last year...some may remember the issue I had trying to get a two spool valve to work off a dedicated Ditch Witch auxiliary circuit...the need for wood elapsed and I never really got around to completing the project...will resurrect or start a new thread...it is also my 2.0 version...
LD1
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Yes, red oak is the easiest stuff I have ever split. Splits easier than a pine deck board...trying to run a 3/8 lag screw in it , 1" from the end, and no pre drill.
Only thing I have split that's even in the same league is sassafras . But it's not as good for firewood. It's similar burn characteristics to poplar.
Total opposite end of the spectrum...white/American elm :mur:
Only thing I have split that's even in the same league is sassafras . But it's not as good for firewood. It's similar burn characteristics to poplar.
Total opposite end of the spectrum...white/American elm :mur: