Backseat love in the gloaming.

[Woody Stover]

Got a call from a guy who lives about three miles from me, said the county had been cutting back the brush etc. from the side of the road. "Do you want this Hedge-apple, is it any good to burn? They stacked some next to the road. It looks funny...it's yellow. I told the neighbor I'd take care of it."
I said "Yeah, I'll take that."

Cold, blustery day so no sweat...just blood and tears as I got nailed by a couple of thorns.

Although it was already cut, I took the saw...LeSabre saw.
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It ain't much, but I've only got about 1/3 cord of it, total, so I'll grab any amount!
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[swagler85]

Awesome, love that using the backseat! You need a truck, it's always better in the back of the truck

 

[Woody Stover]

Awesome, love that using the backseat! You need a truck, it's always better in the back of the truck

I've got a 5x8 trailer for bigger scores, but I can cram a quarter-cord of splits in the seats and trunk if I have to.

 

[MarylandGuy]

Sure looks a lot like Locust.

 

[albert1029]

seat belt violation....

 

[ArsenalDon]

seat belt violation....

dang...you beat me to the punch line

 

[MasterMech]

I've got a 5x8 trailer for bigger scores, but I can cram a quarter-cord of splits in the seats and trunk if I have to. ​

You might want to reconsider using the backseat for wood hauling. What happens if the vehicle comes to a sudden (and most seriously, involuntary) stop? The trunk and/or the trailer are far safer.

Awesome, love that using the backseat! You need a truck, it's always better in the back of the truck​

"There's somethin' women like about a pickup man....." - Joe Diffie.

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[Jon1270]

'Gloaming' is a great word.

 

[chvymn99]

Thats some high octane stuff right there. Yep gotta be careful of those thorns.

 

[TimJ]

just make sure you serve it at the right time and temperature............and only one scoop per guest

 

[ScotO]

nice haul.....and when you have to leave the wife and kids at home because you need the backseat of the car to bring home a load of firewood? Priceless!!

 

[Woody Stover]

You might want to reconsider using the backseat for wood hauling. What happens if the vehicle comes to a sudden (and most seriously, involuntary) stop? The trunk and/or the trailer are far safer.

Yeah, you're right, I could have put most of that in the trunk...but then my thread title would have been no good.
I only had a few miles to go on the back roads, but you never know. My trailer is down the road, half full of Red Elm, and when I heard about the Hedge all bets were off!

.....and when you have to leave the wife and kids at home because you need the backseat of the car to bring home a load of firewood? Priceless!!

Yeah if I'd had it empty, the wife and pets could've rode in the trailer; A hedge round can't bounce out of the back seat.

 

[firefighterjake]

May only be a small load . . . but the funny thing is . . . a little load here, a small load there . . . and before you know it you'll have a nice stack of firewood.

 

[Blue2ndaries]

Now that's extreme wood hoarding! Making the Firewood Hoarder's Club, Ltd PROUD!

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Wow! Do you know how unpleasent my life would be if my wife saw me putting wood in the back seat?!? My wife loves the heat of the Buck 80 but she doesn't understand about the sickness that goes with it! You're a lucky man to have a wife that understanding.

 

[MasterMech]

wood in the back seat?!?

So..... Many...... Jokes.....

 

[fabsroman]

I am still dying laughing. And people think I am nuts with what I have put in the backseat of my Taurus. Should have seen what I hauled around in the old Fairmont. Thing is, don't think I would ever throw logs in the backseat of the Taurus. Now, that is hard core wood scrounging. If it was in the front passenger seat and trunk too, I would need a new pair of pants. Should try that one day and see how low the car squats.

 

[Woody Stover]

Now, that is hard core wood scrounging. If it was in the front passenger seat and trunk too, I would need a new pair of pants. Should try that one day and see how low the car squats.

I've had the trunk, back seat and passenger front seat piled up pretty good with Oak, Hickory and Ash splits...1/4 cord. No squat though; Self-leveling suspension.

 

[rideau]

Those are serious thorns. Really have to take a look at my neighbors Manitoba Maple (what's left of it). Amazed those thorns don't destroy the car seat. I'm going to try to find some of thta wood...and some locust too. Just cause I want to try burning it. I have far more wood down on my property than I can burn.

 

[Woody Stover]

Those are serious thorns. Really have to take a look at my neighbors Manitoba Maple (what's left of it). Amazed those thorns don't destroy the car seat. I'm going to try to find some of thta wood...and some locust too. Just cause I want to try burning it. I have far more wood down on my property than I can burn.

Those are the first thorns I've run across. None on the BL I've gotten or on the bit of Hedge I got before. I think this one had been trimmed, it was next to the road. There were a few trunk pieces, then just smaller limbs. I immediately wished I'd at least brought a bow saw for those thorny branches. Appears that BL grows in your locale but I don't know if Hedge is found that far north...
Manitoba Maple? The only thing I'm coming up with is that it's a nickname for Boxelder?

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Nice Locust haul! We've been burning a bunch of that this winter. Lovely wood, every bit as good as Oak- if not better!

I've never seen thorns in any I got.

 

[Redlegs]

It looks like Osage Orange or "hedge apple" in the top pict. Just looked again and I am almost certain. If the spot were the thorn bitcha' swells up, gets a little stiff, or starts to feel like arthritis - then you know it Hedge.

If you haven't burned any in your setup before, I will add one word of caution: it burns HOT! Stoves dealers out west here will tell you that burning loads of straight hedge will void your stoves warrenty. Not sure how they would know??? but they say it get so hot that it warp the stove, or bust a weld? I mix it in with elm or mulberry. If you follow this guys chart...
(broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm)
it looks like hedge is 25% more BTU (heat) than white oak, and nearly a 50% increase over white ash - just to give you an idea.
I am not sure how scientific the numbers on thissite are, but I linked it to demonstrate the high BTU output probability of hedge.

BTW, you're luck you got it on the ground and cut to length. It is usually a PITA to get down, as it can grow in clumps with the crowns all twisted together. It "clings" to everything aroun on the way dwon, and when I cut with my neighbor on a nearby woodlot, we end using his tractor and drag it out to a clearing for bucking and cutting. Enjoy!

 

[Redlegs]

Oh, and if you haven't been around the stuff, take that big round, and stand it up on end. The rap on it with your knuckles like you're knocking on a door. It just "feels' harder than other stuff on the pile. After it drys a little, try taking two small rounds ( like 2in dia) and bang them together like drumsticks...it sounds different than other wood. JMHO.
Good score again.

 

[Woody Stover]

If you haven't burned any in your setup before, I will add one word of caution: it burns HOT!...I am not sure how scientific the numbers on thissite are, but I linked it to demonstrate the high BTU output probability of hedge.

BTW, you're luck you got it on the ground and cut to length. It is usually a PITA to get down, as it can grow in clumps with the crowns all twisted together. It "clings" to everything aroun on the way dwon,

I haven't burned any yet, except a couple of dead branches I found behind my MIL's house. Not really enough to test it. Even though it's all over the place here, I just got my first score of it a couple months back. Probably<1/3 cord. That was easy pickings too; Just a few logs for me to cut up and load. That was storm damage, so it's fresh wood and I'll let it sit a couple years. The little bit I got here is fresh, too, cut by the county on the road right-of-way.
Most BTU charts I use have it at about 33 MBTU/cord. I have good control of the burn with my stove, but I will be careful.
You're right about the feel...it is super-dense and solid, almost like a piece of steel.

 

[Redlegs]

You're right about the feel...it is super-dense and solid, almost like a piece of steel.

Thats exactly what I was aiming for above. The sound of two pieces banging together sounds more like some kind of metal or something, more than a "wood sound". I grew up in central PA, and once I moved out here and found this stuff I was amazed at it.

There are old farmsteads down on the COE ground with fence rows made 3 strand barbed-wire and "hedge posts" -good sized branches or limbs cut 7 ft long, and 5-6in dia - that are still standing. Locals say the farmsteads were are nearly 100yrs old and the hedge posts and cut stone home foundations are all thats left. Kinda neat.
A little more on hedge... (broken link removed)

If you can find a hedge -post that was put into the ground after it was cut fresh, and is still in holding together pretty well, the wood is sought after for prized duck calls.. When its fresh cut and stood on end as a post, they say all the sap runs to the bottom and turns the wood a green-ish tint. People search old farmsteads for a decent post, dig them up and re-use the green bottoms to turn for duck calls.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/1256655...dworking_mid&gclid=COzXv5P-6rUCFYxDMgod7T8AnQ



One last page on Osage Orange...follow to the bottom and there is a link for ordering saplings.
http://www.standridgeranch.com/OsageOrangepage1.html

Maybe I could start selling/shipping out the Oranges - they are full of seed and folks could start thier own hedge rows???