Found a BIG Osage.....

[fujimo]

sounds like you are well on the way down the right path.
it'll be good.
show us the stash when you get it home, after seeing the pic of scrub busters, - man that looks like a ton of work- but very rewarding i am sure!!
take care
wayne

[highpoint forge]

Tree is on private property! LOG is MINE. We measured today. 26 feet long from the base to the first branches. 66 inches around. So I'm guessing 33++ inch diameter log or larger as I was not able to get the circumference near the base. I took it at the first spot I could slip the tape under.

Lots of limbs up top and lots of drama it looks like but job one is the trunk. Opposite side of trunk has some scraggly limbs. Do I cut those off flush? At the base there's some odd snakiness and deviations in the bark. It's a VERY long tree and way more than enough. The good thing is I now know it is safe and can coordinate with the farm manager to work on it when I have time.

     

   

[highpoint forge]

 

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[Paul/KS]

Congratulations. Use enough saw...

[highpoint forge]

I found another one which was already cut and off to the side of the trail probably 9' long and 10" across just needs splitting.

[scrub-buster]

Looks good.  Its down at a nice level to work on.  You might have a tough time splitting around that area at the base.  Keep posting some pictures as you cut it up.

[fujimo]

just looking at the pics, doesnt look to tough to get the limbs bucked off- looks like its lying ok.
man that is a lot of bow wood !!!

[highpoint forge]

That rooty looking bottom is weird.....

[scrub-buster]

For some reason it doesn't seem like osage trees have enough roots to hold their weight.  How long has that one been down?  It will start having second growth on it if you leave it.

[highpoint forge]

Not sure.
An attack must be planned!

[scrub-buster]

I wish mine was on nice flat ground like yours.  Looks like you might be able to get a tractor or truck right up to it.

[highpoint forge]

When you did your belly splits ( saw pics on PA forum) how do you split across the rings? The vertical line splits....how do those go?

[scrub-buster]

I took a sharpie and drew out how I hoped it would split.  I started with the bottom wedge of the stave.  On the middle section I used two hatchets to start a wide split.  I would alternate wedges from side to side as I worked the split to the other end.  After that I split the middle section and the part with the bark still on it into stave width pieces.  I used the wedges to make those splits.  I'm not sure if that answers your question or not.  

 


 


 

[Eric Krewson]

Your tree will be a piece of cake, very little tension. I would make the first cut at the first limb and then work toward the roots.

One thing that will save you a lot of work, sacrifice a grain or two of the heart wood and split off your bark and sapwood like you would doing a belly split, saves hours of draw knife work.

I would definitely split off the outer parts of that gnarly base, not worth the time trying to salvage every ring of heart wood on that beast.

[razorback]

Get busy and buck that tree. Can't wait to see how many staves you get out of it. By the size of it I would say there is more than enough wood in there to keep you busy for a long time. I would not spend too much time try to get every possible stave out of it. You will spend a lot of time and probably end up burning the marginal stuff. Just go for the good stuff.

[highpoint forge]

Agreed on splitting off the sap/bark. Why didn't I think of that? Seems way simpler. And at the end of the day conserving energy and time really is unfortunately more important in my case and the cost of doing business will be the percentage lost to the technique. There's plenty more wood then I could ever use. Seal the ends and the backs?

[highpoint forge]

Originally posted by Eric Krewson:
Your tree will be a piece of cake, very little tension. I would make the first cut at the first limb and then work toward the roots.

One thing that will save you a lot of work, sacrifice a grain or two of the heart wood and split off your bark and sapwood like you would doing a belly split, saves hours of draw knife work.

I would definitely split off the outer parts of that gnarly base, not worth the time trying to salvage every ring of heart wood on that beast.

Hijacking my own thread here... Hey Eric will you look at my mulberry stave thread a few places down and give me some of your opinions...? How do want to devote any time to them if they look like they'll not work out for a first project.

[scrub-buster]

I seal the backs and ends with multiple coats of polyurethane.  Shellac, glue, paint, etc. will also work.  Look for dented cans at your local hardware store for a discount.  I just got a gallon of shellac for $20