Bob Buska's North Star

[Bob Buskas]

No rain can enter, the pole cap keeps everything dry. You should have no water problems at all.

[daveh]

Bob, I should have explained better. I'm talking about when house is lowered like now during the off season.
dave

[Bob Buskas]

It should be fine, actually I have fitted covers made for mine it keeps the snow off and really helps preserve the houses. I just measured the outside and had a upholsterer make them. They are held together with velcro. As seen on my website. (managing page)

[Robbo]

Pile of garbage if Buskas builds it. Go Cedar T-14's , or Gourd 's. BO-11 plus insulated. Buskas told me he built the house himself for me and it imploded after a winch failure. Not one stitch of glue on that house as BOB said there was. I rebuilt that house and after getting a T-14, I burnt that pile of garbage. The North Star is money for Buskas, but would you not want something thats for more than 2 years? Big B would not even warranty his piece personelly built piece ......... bird poop.

[4th Gen Martin Fan]

Robbo,
Are you saying that the materials and construction were the problem with the house you bought directly from Bob Buskas?
Is the design itself a problem? Could the North Star design be used to build a quality house with rot resistant wood and good construction techniques?

In 2011, the original poster, daveh, seemed happy with the North Star house he built himself.
Hopefully daveh will comment on his North Star house now that 6 years has passed. He has T-14, Mini-Castle, Castle, and Trendsetter to compare the North Star against.

[Robbo]

Please I would welcome anyone that has one of those to comment on theirs. Probs and plus's. I bet you the T-14 is in great shape.

[Curtis Reil]

I have purchased five North Stars and poles from Bob. I believe the first one was purchased and erected in 2011. I've found them to be a solid product and have seen several others of that design around Alberta hosting Martins.

The only grief that I've experienced with said purchased products was in 2013. It was a hardware issue on one pole. The cable for the winch had worn through the face of the pulley and the cable jammed up. I could not raise or lower the house. So I got the ladder out and was able to assess what had piled up. Upon inspection I was able to identify that the pulley in use was designed for use with rope and not cable. A trip into the city for new components and I switched the non operational one out and did the other two at the end of season. I called Bob and informed him of what I had found and done. He thanked me for doing some legwork and said he would be using hardware similar to what I had found. The next two houses and poles I purchased from him both had upgraded hardware. I found him very easy to deal with discussing the matter and to the best of my knowledge has been resolved.

I've since found an even better pulley that can split and facilitate a swap should the need arise without having to snake or slip any cable whatsoever. This hardware could be used on nearly any house or gourd rack design.

I'm on a proactive hardware inspection program now. Pulleys are all inspected annually. If anything looks or feels amiss I swap it out. Cable is swapped every two years regardless. Sooner if I see any wickers. Winches are swapped out with new should any squeaking not be rectified with lubrication or if the gears are starting to wear or not run true to one another. I can switch all the hardware out to new for about $30/house and pole yearly if I wanted to. It's cheap peace of mind if you ask me. I've also been giving some thought to a modification on the anchor point(cable to house) as well but need to refine a bit before giving a pilot run.

My friends Dad built a T14 that is very nice and I've seen many of these around the province as well. I might try one some day as they can be built to offer the same sort of attributes and are aesthetically pleasing as well.

Curtis

[Curtis Reil]

To add to this as well as ask for opinion. At some point the roofs of the houses will need work. When I don't know but wood doesn't last forever. I was in the hardware store waiting for some paint to be mixed up and saw a paint on decking product. I believe it is acrylic but it gets painted on. You can get smooth, semi textured and a rougher full texture that is grippy. I think it could work really well as an exterior application for housing in general. Not limited to just the roof should a person desire. Colour can be selected to preference as well.

Curtis

Sorry for the thread derail.

[Robbo]

Good read Curtis, what kind of poles are using? I found the 4x"s warped badly in a couple years? I have the one pole on my one T-14 warped now but the other is straight and older than the other. I am using industrial strength winches that they use on drilling rig lighting towers now, no chance of failure. I had one pulley problem with a House I had recieved from Mullhurst it siezed up. Big job putting up new poles and pulleys. T-14's are made of Cedar so little maintenance, just paint, should last forever. I rebuilt the North Star and added another level after it imploded the first year (with glue), I also noticed the doors tend to rot and the hinges fall off. I then thought I would give a T-14 a try and liked it so much I built one myself and what a joy to do. I will admit it is still probably cheaper to just order one but it was a great winter project. I also just built the sparrow traps instead of buying, they are easy to make. Curtis,
Cedar will last a very very long time and is lighter and more durable than plywood. Where are you getting your pulley's from I must build a new pole for next year?

[flyin-lowe]

To add to this as well as ask for opinion. At some point the roofs of the houses will need work. When I don't know but wood doesn't last forever. I was in the hardware store waiting for some paint to be mixed up and saw a paint on decking product. I believe it is acrylic but it gets painted on. You can get smooth, semi textured and a rougher full texture that is grippy. I think it could work really well as an exterior application for housing in general. Not limited to just the roof should a person desire. Colour can be selected to preference as well.

Curtis

Sorry for the thread derail.

I am not sure which deck material you are talking about but I saw some stuff at Lowes a couple years ago. It looked great but I researched it has a bad reputation. My brother in law works for Lowes and he says they have tons of complaints on it. Peels up after a year or so. I don't remember what year I built my T14 but I used Hemlock wood and good quality paint/primer. It is 10 years old or more and I repainted it a couple years ago for the first time. I do store it in my shed every year so that helps the lifespan.

[Curtis Reil]

Good read Curtis, what kind of poles are using? I found the 4x"s warped badly in a couple years? I have the one pole on my one T-14 warped now but the other is straight and older than the other. I am using industrial strength winches that they use on drilling rig lighting towers now, no chance of failure. I had one pulley problem with a House I had recieved from Mullhurst it siezed up. Big job putting up new poles and pulleys. T-14's are made of Cedar so little maintenance, just paint, should last forever. I rebuilt the North Star and added another level after it imploded the first year (with glue), I also noticed the doors tend to rot and the hinges fall off. I then thought I would give a T-14 a try and liked it so much I built one myself and what a joy to do. I will admit it is still probably cheaper to just order one but it was a great winter project. I also just built the sparrow traps instead of buying, they are easy to make. Curtis,
Cedar will last a very very long time and is lighter and more durable than plywood. Where are you getting your pulley's from I must build a new pole for next year?

I'd have to measure them to be 100% sure but my poles are 2.5" or 3" square steel. Think they are 1/8" or 3/16" wall thickness.

In regards to your poles warping, I'd think that making yourself laminated poles might produce a product that resists warping better than a 4x4. Without seeing what kind of pulley system you are currently employing I can't say if what I'm using would work for you or not on a 4x4. Going the laminated beam approach they could for sure. You'd also have the option of going to a single piece larger diameter sheave this route as well. Metal or fibre composition is readily available in a wide variety of sizes. I've used both and can tell you first hand that the life span of the fibre sheaves is crazy. The bearings in them are very robust. You can even employ grease zerks on them should you desire.

Are your poles a two piece design? One portion is your anchor and the other attaches to it via a couple large bolts? If not and you're replacing a pole anyway I'd give it some thought. Mine are of that design and it sure is nice to be able to lay the pole right over for maintenece. No ladders and makes the chore easily performed by one person if you're solo.

As far as where I'm getting hardware, Princess Auto has some good stuff. Gregg Distributors and Acklands also have a lot of good gear. If you are at all interested in the composite or metal sheaves I can provide you with a couple contacts I know through work that could help you out procuring. Or I could do it. Just a matter of a phone call.

I'm a big advocate of the steel poles though. The crappy housing that was in use here was nothing like what I have now and even that gave me zero grief after standing for better than 30 years. Who knows how long what I have now will last.

In regards to the door and hinge rot issue, I only have one house of that deaign(the first I purchased). I have noticed a couple of them started to get a little wiggly. I removed the screws securing and drilled the holes out a bit larger. Filled with wood filler and after it had cured I drilled new pilot holes and reattached the hinges. Worked like a charm. Bob modified the design on the doors on the last 4 I've purchased. It's better in my opinion as it now provides a drip edge at the top of the door and there is very minimal surface area for any other moisture to collect on the bottom edge and sides. It's not quite as speedy when doing nest checks but the extra time is very minimal. Perhaps 1-3min per house.

Curtis

[daveh]

The pictures you see in this thread are on the original North Star house I built in 2011. It lasted only 2seasons. My fault. I got the wrong plywood. It was house sheathing and would pop the paint off the house immediately. I scraped and painted several times but gave up. It wouldn't stick. The sheathing must move a lot for this to happen.

My second house was built in 2014 using the proper indoor or outdoor plywood. The paint holds pretty well. The pole cap and perch rotted and was replaced last year. The original laminated post looks as good today as it did when built and straight as ever.

I will say my cedar T14 has held up the best between these 2 wooden houses. It was built in 05. I don't think design has anything to do with holding up. It's basically cedar verses plywood and cedar wins.

There has been some rotting spots on the North Star, like edges of the plywood roof and a couple of doors and porches.

I really do like the design of the North Star and slide out trays. I like one door per compartment compared to one door per 3 or 4 compartments on the T14. Easier to do nest checks. The birds like the North Star. This year there are 11 nests with eggs or babies and 3 of the 4 gourds under the houseare occupied.

Bob, if you're out there, why not a North Star out of cedar or engineered lumber or a combination of both? I've thought about doing this myself. Something else that would work would be to cover the plywood roof with vinyl or aluminum. The roof gets most the brunt of the weather. Covering it would keep it forever. Also, screws in doors would hold better in solid wood.

I'll try later a picture of the North Star and the happy birds.

Dave

[Matt F.]

I really do like the design of the North Star and slide out trays. I like one door per compartment compared to one door per 3 or 4 compartments on the T14. Easier to do nest checks. The birds like the North Star. This year there are 11 nests with eggs or babies and 3 of the 4 gourds under the houseare occupied.

I agree Dave.
The North Star is a great design, that has advantages over the T-14.
That said, both of them (quality wise) are obviously only going to be as good as the materials used, and quality of the assembly.
Like Dave also mentioned, I too would love to see a North Star with a polywood option, like the T-14's have.

Dave,
Here's a thread where you posted some pics of your great looking North Star:
https://www.purplemartin.org/forum/view ... =2&t=21027

[Ryan]

I built mine out of 1/2" fir plywood, and painted with a good outdoor latex paint.


https://www.purplemartin.org/forum/view ... hp?t=17430 (halfway down the page)

Seems to be holding up alright. The key is the materials chosen on any outdoor wood based project.

[Hummingbird]

Bob, what kind of vent is that on the roof attic and where did you get it?

[daveh]

Here is the North Star and the rest of my houses with gourds under each.

-Dave

[Matt F.]

That is a super looking site you have Dave!
You have an awesome arsenal of various types of housing.

[daveh]

Hummingbird, the attic vents are called louvered soffit vents. They are 2 inch diameter and aluminum. I get them at Lowes.

The original plans did not have attic vents. Bob's in Canada so probably don't need any up there. I'm in Missouri like you where it gets hot and humid so I put them in.

Dave