OCB or anyone else who know about Osage Orange trees

[Delmonico]

On our farm we have about 50 of these that are in the 150 year old range, some mighty big ones.  The storm last week surprised us because one snapped off at the tap root and went down and there was no decay in.  Never seen one that was ever wrecked in straight winds, but they were over 80 mph.

My nephew is the guy in the picture, he's 6' 2' and weighs about 220 pounds.









At least when it's cut up and split I'll have some dang good dutch oven wood.

[Mogorilla]

Wow, storms this year have been odd for the midwest for sure.   As I recall hedge was okay to split if it was a real straight piece but a pain otherwise.  Best splitting I ever did of it was in early 80s, I was in my late teens and didn't mind the -5 F thermometer reading.  Everything cold and frozen just looking at it and it split. 

[Don Nix]

We have a lot of Bois D'Arc here . it does make good coals but better fence posts and outstanding bows. An old Game Warden Carl Gallion used to make some of the most beautiful recurve bows you've ever seen out of it.
Its good for gun stocks  and makes good single trees.

The fruit, or horse apples  are a natural insect repellent. Place them near you doors  and ants  and bugs wont come in, If you've got roaches then put a couple in your cabinets and the roaches will leave.

[Delmonico]

Mo when we split it we'll use a friends spliter that fits on our MF 65, a lot less work.

[Tascosa Joe]

You better cut it up while it is still green or it'll be tough later on.  I use up 2 chain saw blades and 3 days trying to cut down an old bois d arc fence post once upon a time.
T-Joe

[Jubal Starbuck]

  Don't forget knife handles!  I have several  knives around with osage orange handles on 'em and I like 'em.  I didn't realize the trees grew that big, though.

[Delmonico]

  Don't forget knife handles!  I have several  knives around with osage orange handles on 'em and I like 'em.  I didn't realize the trees grew that big, though.

The ones that size are very rare anymore, most the old hedge rows have been dozered out.  We have around 50 of that size, we also have some Cottonwoods of about the same age, but I can't get a full picture of them, just the bases:





The Lab in the second one weighs about 85 pounds and that tree has the thickest base, the one my nephew is standing by has the most height.

There are a lot of younger Osage Orange in the old wood lot.  About 50% are Osage Orange.

[Texas John Ringo]

We have a lot of Bois D'Arc here . it does make good coals but better fence posts and outstanding bows. An old Game Warden Carl Gallion used to make some of the most beautiful recurve bows you've ever seen out of it.
Its good for gun stocks  and makes good single trees.

The fruit, or horse apples  are a natural insect repellent. Place them near you doors  and ants  and bugs wont come in, If you've got roaches then put a couple in your cabinets and the roaches will leave.

Miller County Arkansas

[Blair]

Excellent wood for Native American bow staves.
Check with Ottawa Creek Bill to see if he wants/needs any to make bows from.

  Blair

[Mogorilla]

I wish my dad would have had a splitter.  He felt about those the way he did about TV remotes, "Why, I can tell you to do it?"   We had an axe, a maul, and three Wedges my grandfather bought when new.  He was born in 1880, dad was born in 32, and me in 66, not sure when Grampa bought the wedges, but I have 1, one of my sisters has one, and her son the other.  I still use it and the maul (it was grandpa's too, but I am on the 4th handle since 1982) every winter, but we don't heat the house with wood anymore, so I only use it for fun fires.    When I was first married, my dad would have a cord or two of wood delivered (he quit cutting his own when I went to college).   My wife always found the timing odd.  I didn't, I knew there was nothing but careful planning on dad's part.   Glad in those days, he was buying a lot of ash.

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Excellent wood for Native American bow staves.
Check with Ottawa Creek Bill to see if he wants/needs any to make bows from.

  Blair

Appreciate the offer but I have all I can handle here....be careful about burning hedge in a stove...it will burn it up...really too hot for fire wood. Osage has a tensile strength somewhere in the 9500 to 9800 lbs per square inch......that is why it likes chains saws for lunch.

Never had a problem splitting them for bow wood, Cut the ones that are six to eight inches thick about seven feet long, paint the ends with oil base enamel, hang them in your barn for a year or two and you've got the best bow wood money can buy next to English yew.

OCB

[Don Nix]

Miller County Arkansas
[/quote

Yep
He knew Miller Co like the back of his hand

[Cliff Fendley]

Never seen hedge apple that big. I guess most of ours is less than 50 years old where farms have been let grow up. It makes dang good fence posts if you cut it at the right time.

As someone else said, best to saw it while green. It's not to bad when its green but once it seasons it eats chain saw chains for lunch. I've seen sparks flying off the chain with the shavings.

A lot of people like it on knife handles and I've got a goose call made of it. It turns a nice brown after it ages.

[Guns Garrett]

Appreciate the offer but I have all I can handle here....be careful about burning hedge in a stove...it will burn it up...really too hot for fire wood.
OCB

Spits and cracks really bad, too, no matter how long its seasoned, so it's even nasty in a fireplace or campfire.  I've seen fireplace bricks crack from the heat, and red-hot stoves.

[Delmonico]

Spits and cracks really bad, too, no matter how long its seasoned, so it's even nasty in a fireplace or campfire.  I've seen fireplace bricks crack from the heat, and red-hot stoves.

Yea but the stuff will make a dutch oven cook smile.

[ChuckBurrows]

makes real knice knife handles.....




Del - Iff'n you want to trade for some smaller chunks of heart wood drop me a PM and we can discuss size, etc...........

[Delmonico]

For those of you who have never had the pleasure of a Osage Orange fire on a chilly night I offer these from the other weekend. pure hedge fence posts, we gather up all the neighbors stuff when they build new fence, we cut it with the buzz saw on our Ferguson tractor, works good, but we do use the old nicked up blade.  A 42 inch blade and 20 hp does do so much better than a chain saw.







That fire ring ihas 1/4 inch walls and is about 2 feet high and 3 feet around.  Notice the vent holes dug underneath.   Nephew wondered how hot it was down deep, an iron rod pushed into the middle produced what should be 2200-2300 F temps.  In other words you could forge weld with it with it.