Osage orange questions

[jackofalltrades]

I need to hear from some of you folks that use osage orange fairly regular. I can get some in my area with just a little traveling, but I am wondering if I want to go to the effort of doing it. I am scared that it will be really hard to split. I use mauls and if necessary a wedge for splitting. I know folks have used it for fence post for years around here and it is etremely hard. I have read on here where people really love to burn it for the high output but what about splitting it?
Also, how fast does it dry? If it is that hard and dense then I assume it is going need drying times simular to oak. Oak and some hickory is pretty easy to get right here close to the house, but I am wondering if it would be worth something extra to get some osage orange.

 

[smokinj]

Splitting is easy enough cutting can be diffcult. Bushy and very hard on chains.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

It is the densest wood that grows in the US. It can be shrubby/twisted/knotty. If you can get some to have on hand- I bet you'll enjoy it on the coldest nights next year.

 

[Bspring]

You should get at least one load just so you will know. I would really like to try some. My partents have them on their land but that is a 9 hour one way drive.

 

[FLINT]

I don't think I would go much out of my way to get some if I had access to oak and hickory.

I find its a pain to try to make wood out of small gnarly trees, and i hate trying to stack twisted splits - and hate even more trying to load them into the small woodbox of my stove.

A nice tall straight oak or hickory tree will give you a lot more wood and a lot less hassle.

however, if end up with some easily, as a scrounger, I'd consider it a good score.

 

[CountryBoy19]

IMHO, get it.

It splits pretty easy from my experience.

Most people say it's really hard on chains etc., I disagree when you step back and look at the whole picture. Osage Orange is roughly 40% more dense than Oak. If you consider that it will wear your chain 40% faster, then your chain wear is right on par with other woods. I think it gets a bad rap, but most people just don't realize that they're getting the same or more BTU's, for the same or less chain wear. I cut quite a bit this past fall and I honestly didn't even notice the chain dulling anymore than cutting other woods. I would use 1 chain per day cutting, then I would sharpen it that night or the next morning.

Regarding it being twisted etc, it depends. I was cutting in a stand of trees so the hedge trees were more straight and tall. That may have also contributed to the ease of splitting. YMMV, so I would take a look at what trees you have available to cut.

Also, don't overlook any dead/rotten looking trees on the ground. Cut into them to look for the tell-tale yellow wood. Hedge is one of the most rot-resistant woods there is, it will lay on the ground for decades before it rots away. Typically this will be some of the easier to get hedge. Most of the small twigs are rotted off and it makes it much more pleasant to cut, although it's going to be harder then green hedge and it will work your chains harder.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

It's very often planted as a fence row (mash up the oranges and pour them in a shallow trench- they grow in so thick the cows can't get through)- so they are on an edge and exposed to wind. Those trees are knottier and twisted than those growing in a full stand or canopy.

 

[tfdchief]

I would have to agree with everyone so far in this thread. In my younger days, the only thing I cut was "hedge row" osage orange. I split it all by hand. I was younger then..... :smirk: It is truly the highest output wood there is. But if I had oak and hickory near by....(and add they are easier to process) I would not go out of my way to get the hedge. As one poster has said though, you owe it to yourself to cut at least one load just so you know what hedge is all about. You will be amazed.

 

[Thistle]

Dry Osage weighs approximately 62 pounds per cubic foot,it barely floats.Dry Red/Black Oak generally runs around 43,while White/Bur/Chestnut/Post Oak is 47 or ssage hardness rates just over twice that of Shagbark Hickory,stiffness/resiliency is pretty close.

If you're lucky enough to find some Osage that's reasonably straight & not full of knots,it splits pretty easily. Despite its extreme density,it normally has a lower moisture content than most all Oaks,it dries faster with less cracking,twisting or warping/cupping.One reason its a premier wood for custom high dollar archery bows,the Osage Indians preferred it,along with early settlers.

 

[ChipTam]

When I was starting out as a cabinetmaker, I made some of my own planes and, for a number of them, I used osage orange for the plane bottoms. After 40 years, I still use some of these planes on occasion and they're as flat and true as the day they were made. Tells you something about the hardness of osage orange. By the way, I also used wood from motorcyle crates to make plane bottoms. The crates all came from the far-east. Nobody knew the species of the wood but, boy, it was also very hard.
ChipTam

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Osage does resist humidity changes well.

The big reasons it's valued for bows- it doesn't rot ( a little deterioration make a bow wood unusable), it's so hard that it doesn't get marred up in the field, it's so strong that a strong bow can be made smaller and withstand the stress (very good for horse bows). I don't think it has much to do with drying characteristics; osage is normally either dried in full stave form or the sapwood must be removed and the bow taken to near finished dimensions right away to avoid checks and issues.

I've made maybe a half dozen osage bows, a couple with checks. I've seen them with checks you could see right through (we joke that they're peep sights).

 

[onedog]

I burn 85% hedge and hedge is my wood of preference. I split all my wood by hand using wedges. With hedge I've found that it is very difficult to split when freshly cut. Seems a green log will just absorb the wedge and then I play heck removing it. I've found that letting the logs dry out for at least 6 months, preferably 9 months, helps considerably. I doubt that would be a problem with a hydraulic splitter though.

onedog

 

[Naandme]

I have been cutting osage and burning it for several years, we have a large amount here in central Indiana and it is up and down most fence rows. It can be a hard tree to cut due to the brush being bushy. But it will last a very long time with out worry of rot, seasons fairly quickly (about 2 years) it splits alright but I am using gas spliters as far as tough on saws and chains its about like shag bark or black locust. It is a really dense wood as stated by others. It creates a hot fire and burns a long time I love it as far as for as burning and I cut as much of it as I can due to it lasting without rotting away. I believe it to be as good as oak and hickory but can be knoty and twisted but thats the only down side and I can live with that.

 

[ddklahr]

I am located in Northeast Kansas and love burning hedge as we call it here. To me, it splits easier than locust and hickory and it burns hot. When it is really cold out, I will mix about 2-3 pieces in with my oak, locust, hickory, or ash. In my opinion, it is worth having as much as you can get. Last Spring, I came across about 40 old hedge posts laying out in the pasture that had been there for years. I cut them up and am currently burning it right now. We normally will burn it a year after cutting it but have burned it "green" before as long as I mixed it in with some dry and I got along fine. I am hoping to get a moisture tester this weekend so I can take a reading on some hedge that we just split up.

 

[Coach B]

Around here we call it Bois D'arc or Hedge Apple. Really sticky and milky sap if cutting it fresh...and the thorns are a pain in the rear. Usually its so knarly most folks won't mess with it...but boy will it burn.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Around here we call it Bois D'arc or Hedge Apple. Really sticky and milky sap if cutting it fresh...and the thorns are a pain in the rear. Usually its so knarly most folks won't mess with it...but boy will it burn.

yeah, the thorns suck, but the good news is that they're normally on new growth (twigs and small limbs/saplings). If you have to clean up the brush that may be a problem, but I didn't. The landowner where I cut all mine just wanted to make sure the brush was out in the open where he could get the backhoe to it.

The sticky sap wasn't a problem for me, it helps a lot with gripping the wood.

 

[jackofalltrades]

Thanks for all the post folks! I still have not decided what i will do. I know I will cut some if it comes handy for me, but I aint real sure I will go out of my way to get it. It cant be as easy to deal with as what I have right now for sure, but I think it will be worth getting atleast a truck load just to see how it does.