Getting Ready for Firewood Season Turned into a Big Fiasco!!! 

I commend you for not editing out the mess with the hydraulic fluid. You do indeed show us what it takes to operate a homestead. Nothing seems to go according to plan in life. I love watching everything you post on your channel.

Thanks Evan for being so real that's life for all of us nothing goes perfectly. God Bless

Sweep up and put a liberal coating of dawn dishwashing detergent on it and let it sit then power wash it.

My great uncle, Colby Fred, always said farming is a never ending learning process. You are becoming a very knowledgeable farmer. Your positive attitude is a huge attribute. 👍👍👍

Evan, you might check that splitter reservoir breather that you epoxied. Possibly the epoxy seeped and covered the vent hole and built pressure in the reservoir. Tks for your videos!

I used to buy cat litter because it was always cheaper than oil soak. Grind it in with your boot and the concrete will return to it's original color.

Hey Buddy, that happens to most of us. You’ve always been very good about the way you work on your equipment. I’m certainly impressed with the knowledge you have working on things. Thank you for taking us along on your projects.

Oh Evan, you show it ALL!!! I appreciate you keeping it Real, the hydraulic fluid, the screw driver...... Just the whole darn MESS!! 😂😂

In the age of AI, I can confirm you are not a bot. You two are the real deal. You show the good, bad and the ugly. We love your channel for that! Take care

Always amazed when an unforeseen problem shows it's ugly head, you have many items to address the problem, plus your ability to remain calm/think out all options is not often on display in our world. 👍👍 🙏

Wow I like you entered my world that usually happens to me LOL

Grind some fresh absorbent in with your boots till it becomes like a powder and keep repeating till it sucks\pulls the oil out of the concrete. If the concrete is really porous, you can use a tractor or vehicle and just keep steering back and forth over fresh absorbent.

When you have swept up the 'oil dry' sprinkle laundry powder over the stain (about a half pound) then spray water to just wet it. Wait ten minutes, then scrub it well with a broom, then hose it away. This will usually totally remove oil staining, provided it is not months old and sun baked into the cement.

Saw dust works great as an absorbent. Good excuse to give the splitter its yearly maintenance.

Thanks for sharing all, the ups and downs.

Should of soaked the kindling in that hydraulic oil ,and lighting the home fire would be easier,😊

Hello Evan! Your chimneys are clean not only because you clean them every year but mainly because you are burning properly seasoned wood. You could burn some green wood and suet that chimney up in no time. Your projects turn out a lot like mine🤣

We have the same splitter. Keep an eye on the plastic return hose too - it tends to rot out and dump all the oil.

You have a lot of firewood work to keep you busy until spring. Most all of us have had some kind of disaster when it comes oil and equipment.

Love your channel Evan. This is true reality TV, :) Great channel, great content 👍

This has happened to the best of us. You can also get cement and throw down on top of the oil stain and it will get rid of the stain.

Really love watching real life homesteading. Makes me feel better that I'm not the only one that has gremlins.😬👍👍💚

Evan, have you thought about the volume of oil that is contained in the hydraulic cylinder? I bet that explains the oil capacity issue.

A floor machine with a stiff bristol brush & TSP or borax would clean the drive way pretty well.

😂😅 that log splitter nightmare, could happen to anyone, just roll with it. You dealt with it all very well.

I love that you show your not perfect self, and your old wood shed. The old trees surrounding it are gone, now a lot of wood, can we put on your list of things to due, get more tin on that roof.

Oh dang, he's one of us! 🌹👍🇺🇸

Just a suggestion. Tape a large garbage bag around the pipe. Poke the cleaning rod through the bag near the top of bag. When you brush the chimney all the soot remains in the bag. Saves a lot of cleanup.

My dad and I used to use solvent. We would pour it on the cement and then put the floor dry next. It usually cleaned up pretty nice. I appreciate the honesty in your videos. Poop occurs

You are so personable - I feel like I am right there with you, looking over your shoulder! Hope the driveway cleans up nicely. K

Try blowing a line on a dump truck 27 gals on ground, 8 hours for clean up. Fun time!

If cleaning chimney from bottom place a sack, either a cloth, or paper bag (yard bag) over bottom with your rod extending through a small hole through it. It will contain most of the soot you knock down. You’re lucky you have so little. Or place the bottom into your paper bag and clean from top.

You know how to eat an elephant? One bite at a time! You are doing great, and you inspire me to get my woodpile ready!, thanks! Sorry about the hydraulic situation! That was messy!

Yip, Evan, don't forget the concrete cleaning solution when you are at the farm store.

My huskee 22ton splitter did not have trays on it when I bought it. But I got a tray from tractor supply as well as a 4way wedge that slides over the single wedge. I drilled two holes in the Ibeam and used the included bolts to put the tray in place. I like it so well, that I think I will buy another one to put on the other side. I am becoming more mesmerized by firewood processing. The processor that Ohio wood burner has now is simply amazing. It's more than I could ever use unless I wanted to go into the firewood business.

Well just another job to do Evan it's ok im sure you will get it done thanks for sharing blessings to you and your family

Evan you are real man , we do all mistake .

A couple of weeks ago, I watched Simple Living Alaska clean their woodstove pipe. They inserted the chimney sweep through a plastic bag which caught all the creosote.

Hey Evan, just a thought, a good way to clean oil stains on concrete is kitty litter. Sprinkle about an inch over the spot, and take a 2x4 piece of wood about 8"s long and grind it in circular motions. Works great. Just thought I'd pass this on.

been my experience best time to split hard woods is when its still on green side here have lots of apple trees most common hard wood for my area personally have had to split by hand no mechanical spitter seasoned apples wood burns very 🔥 hot and if that all you burn you be replacing your heater lol lol from getting to hot will burn the grates out of wood burning fireplace in one season

"That's the stuff that happens to me." Welcome to the club.

That’s why I like your videos. You show everything. The good with the bad. Don’t feel bad about the mishaps. You are human just like the rest of us.

Oooof! One of those 'why didn't I check that' things. But then you think 'why in the world would I have checked it'. 😁

A bag of cement soaks up oil spills better than those granules. It gets into all the nooks and crannies better too.

It is always one thing after another. So sorry life is such a challenge. Glad you roll with the punches

My boss always said hindsight is 20-20. And never seams helpful. Check the vent with a gage to prove it wasn't the hot expanding fluid. Anything that can happen will happen sooner or later. Great you had the Absorb-All.

I can pretty much guarantee you covered that vent hole. Hydraulic fluid plus pressure equal expansion. Buy an after market vent and attach to tank.

Evan, at sea we had a saying for your plight! Like King Midas in reverse. “Everything I touch turns to……well you know! “

If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all!!! Trisodium Phosphate TSP works well with warm water to remove off of concrete. Been there too. Nice video Evan

The Dollar Store cat litter works great for cleaning up oil spill. Plus their dry detergent soap will clean

Start and fill the filter first before you button up for good. Get a turkey baster to pull excess fluids. Mark the filter with a big sharpie - you can then see if it moves. Bob in Nevada

Good P.M. on the chimney. Doing it every year keeps you ahead of the game for sure. For me, plumbing is the project that takes a lot longer than it should. Get a big box of laundry detergent and spread it on the oil slick. It will soak up the oil and clean the cement both. jack

that firewood box is awesome

Evan every time I start a project, it turns into more jobs to do before I can finish what I stated. I don’t think I will ever finish the list that needs to be completed, lol😊

May I suggest? Get a large bottle of Dawn (or Dawn like) dishwashing liquid, pour on the oil stain, covering the entire area, and walk away. It will soak in, dry, and rain will wash away over time, leaving a pretty clean area. Maybe not perfect, but will do a good job, with less effort, and little expense. We enjoy your videos.

A great big oils stain breaks in the workshop. It's an obvious place to work on machinery without the fear of oil spillage. Like most farmers, it's a repair before use but in the end the machinery is good to go for many more years.

Nice job. We've got to get started on the same thing here soon. Great video

I recommend using a filter wrench for all filters. They say to just hand tight but I have had car engines ruined from filters coming loose.

mix a quart of deasil with a half pint of gas pore in on the spill .light it and you will have less hassel.

Make a double loop vent using 2- wyes, or 1 double wye, 2 -45,s and 2- 90,s of vent pipe. Makes More surface area for heat exchange radiance bfor exiting and less wood needed as often . Looks good looks modern works good

I did the same thing I bought a wood splitter and let it sit to long what a nite mare

Hi Evan, just watched your video. You mentioned that you couldn’t find any information for vent cap assembly. I googled Black Diamond wood splitters and found an owners manual that had a lot of information on their splitters. The vent cap assembly P/N is LPS25-13000 in the event your repair didn’t work.

Thanks Becca and Evan. Love watching the videos. You may want to replace that broken roof board over the wood pile before snow falls.

Probably been said already, for the oil stain...A cup of dish soap and some water, scrub with a stiff brush or synthetic broom, powerwash and repeat. Will be gone very quick.

Look on the bright side, the handle on your screwdriver and a large portion of a concrete slam have just been rust proofed. There is always a silver lining.

Instead of an expensive item like 'oil dry', try kitty litter. Probably cheap compared to a speciality item and works well. Got the idea from my mechanic who should know about oil spills.

Someone may have mentioned this already. Dawn dishwashing liquid disperses oil. 🤔👍

I think we have all had those days :) thanks for sharing :) You really are human after all lol I had a day like that today but mine wasn't on video lol

That hydraulic spill sure reminds me of back in the day when I was a HazMat Technician on the Fire Department and I spread many a bag of Sta-Dry type absorbent on fuel and hydraulic spills from motor vehicle accidents and busted hoses on garbage trucks, etc. Always keep at least a 5-7 gallon bucket with easy off lid in your shop area to grab in a hurry when you have a spill before it spreads or runs off someplace you don't want it to go. I would even recommend putting one of these buckets with absorbent in and near the doorway of all of your barns and buildings on the farm. Also, my former employment with OSHA haunts me when I see you not using Personal Protective Equipment on necessary tasks that can cause injury to hands, face, eyes, etc. In Ohio I know that an average eye injury costs around $3,000 to treat and losing an eye is such an inconvenience to one's life. Okay, I'm off my soapbox now... I just care a lot about people and hate to see injuries to themselves or the environment and it's why I hold 3 college degrees in Fire & Safety Engineering Technology! I have over 40-years of experience in fire, EMS, HazMat, OSHA, safety director positions and owning my own safety consulting company contracted on government and military projects all over the US and many in very secure facilities. I really enjoy your videos, so keep up the good work on them as I find them interesting to say the least, since I grew up farming 195 acres with my Dad. Be Safe & God Bless!

Great job keep up the great work love your videos thank you

Put some Dawn dish soap on it when dries n scrub it, works wonders on grease n oil

You remind me of our neighbor when we lived in Oklahoma. His slogan was, If I wasn't having hell with it, it wouldn't be mine. I have some of the same luck and it gets worse with age.

I hear kitty litter works well for cleanups like that. It might be a cheaper solution.

save yourself and use kitty litter emplace of oil dry. it is loads cheaper and will do the same job

Thanks for sharing !

If that oil dry doesn't pull the oil completely,use Tergo(or similar)as an industrial brush on ,water blast of.

I high school, back in the 1980's, I used solvent, I think that's what it was called, to clean up oil stains from concrete. I enjoyed this video. i wish I had half of your skills. Keep on keeping on.

Looking forward to seeing progress on the D17 this winter.

This was very helpful, thank you for sharing!

You live and learn Evan .

Thanks Evan

As they say sh*t happens some days are like that 😜

Hi Evan welcome to the school of hard knocks, when changing oil filters I always hand tighten plus about 1/2 turn with filter wrench, many filters have this info on them. As a heavy duty mechanic I’ve seen many filters leak or loosen up because the vibration will loosen the filters. Enjoy your videos, thanks for sharing and not sugar coating. Cheers my friends.

if you can get your hands on some powdered TIDE spray the spot down with warm water and sprikle the tide on the spot and broom it in that would help

Thanks for sharing your screwups. It makes me feel a lot better about my own, especially when I'm standing in a foot of mud trying to sort out drainage problems around my barn.

Haha. That’s the kind of stuff that happens to me all the time.

When you use dry wood it makes a difference .

That is how a lot of my projects go too - LOL.

Simple Green scrubbed into the concrete with a push broom to foam it up and let it soak a bit and it will help get SOME of that out of the concrete. Not all of it but it will help

We use atf fluid in ours. That is what the fluid is but it is a bit thinner.

It looks like you need to clean around the shed 😊

Onward!

Gremlins! Those little varmints are everywhere; even at Countryview Acres! Stuff happens. I wouldn't think an oil filter would back off like that, but it's an easy fix. As far as the hydraulic oil capacity being off that much, it's inexcusable, but all one can do is live and learn. Manufacturing has certainly digressed over the years. Pride in one's product has been kicked to the curb in favor of the bottom line. Hang in there Evan. Maybe using some Dawn dishwasher detergent on the concrete will help lift that oil out of it?

thx for sharing !

A guy thinks that if you put a damper in that pipe maybe 2 feet up the pipe from the stove you could bank it off and the efficiency difference is amazing plus heat savings

Some days it just doesn't pay to work hard and don"t get it done! Do it tomorrow?

Evan, since you cleaned the stove pipe, are you going to clean the glass in the wood burner stove? Just kiddin'!

You have the same Luck as me ,it's always a learning experience sometimes they are costly other times not,this video made me laugh glad you can laugh at it to,I have tried starting fluid and a rag to pull a lot of the oil from the concrete

Yup mama said there’s gonna be days like that

put solivent on the oil dry soak it good let dry, will get rid of the stain