Osage Orange Splitting

I split quite a bit of it by hand a year or so ago and it wasn't too bad until you hit the knotty pieces.....sure does burn nice regardless of how hard it is to split. I saw you should take it.

Justin

A little rougher than oak, not as bad as hedge. Like baitzj said, make sure you cut it to minimize knots, crotches, etc (as with most any other wood). Hedge also tends to grow into some twisted, 'bushy' trees (sometimes with thorns!) - especially if it's in a hedge row, so when you cut a piece, plan ahead and make sure you have some flat, straight ends that will fit in the splitter. Other than that, and a few sparks now and then, it's great wood.

As for the BTU's - hedge has the same as any other wood - about 8600 on a pound-for-pound basis. I've seen coal anywhere from 5,000 to 15,000 depending on its quality. So be careful not to trick yourself - you'll need just as many pounds of hedge to heat with as any other wood - those pounds will just come in a slightly smaller package.



oops - change 'hedge' to elm in the first sentence!

I always thought Osage Orange and hedge were two names for the same tree. Which one is used for fence posts that last 100 years and can't be sawn once dried?

Osage orange and hedge is the same thing (around here anyway). Posts last a long time. Anything can be cut.

Oops - I meant to type 'not as bad as elm' in that first sentence. You know elm is terrible wood when my fingers can't even type the word!

It's been said that a good hedge fence post will outlast two post holes!

Sparky and similar heat quality to black locust. I would take this stuff any day.