# Harvesting Osage Orange fence posts



## fsfcks (Oct 25, 2009)

This is the type of 'logging' that I do. Saturday was lovely in the woods - sunny, slight breeze, just the right temperature, and no ticks or insects. I added a few more 8ft Osage Orange fence posts to my collection for next years fence building. I am not looking forward to moving them - the largest one must weigh over 300 pounds.


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## Austin1 (Oct 27, 2009)

Forget fence post's! I wish I had stuff like that to burn maybe I could get 8 hours of heat out of that? I get 5 hours out of my pine with a fill in the small stove and 6 in the big one. 
I know a few guy's that use Tamarack here for fence post's and they last for years and they do not grow too big making perfect fence posts You could cut a hundred 5'' post's from a small stand of trees.They grow say 8'' at the base and keep going straight up like a lodge pole but are much more rot resistant. But those stands are 100 miles North West of me in the Caroline Region.


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## John Ellison (Oct 27, 2009)

Ugh. Do you load them by hand? I've heard it will last forever.


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## fsfcks (Oct 27, 2009)

I wish I had a fireplace to burn them in! I have literally hundreds of Osage Orange trees i am removing. Only a small handful provide straight enough 8ft sections for fence posts. Round here Osage Orange fence posts should easily last 50 years or more.

Unfortunately I have to load them by hand as I have no equipment. Most are just heavy. Once they get over 8" to 10" in diameter they get next to impossible to manage single handed.


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## deeker (Oct 28, 2009)

I wish I had those osage logs. We use juniper/cedar for posts here. The osage you have would be a great carving wood, or furniture wood if sliced correctly. I have a friend who makes bows from the osage too.

Great pics!!

Keep posting.

Kevin


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## Meadow Beaver (Oct 28, 2009)

My grandpa said that's the best stuff for firewood.


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## fsfcks (Oct 28, 2009)

Well not to rub salt in your (firewood) wounds, but I've also got lots of Honey Locust about the same size and larger. Plus plenty of Eastern Red Cedar which also make good fence posts. All three trees are like large weeds on my property!

I really need to get myself sorted out next year and get something to burn wood. However I live in a suburban city so am guessing I could run into city building code issues.


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## fsfcks (Oct 28, 2009)

deeker said:


> I have a friend who makes bows from the osage too.



Kevin, I meant to ask. What is required to make a bow? Length/width of wood etc? As these are all younger trees I'm struggling to get anything that is even 8ft straight-ish with any decent diameter (5" to 8").


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## deeker (Oct 28, 2009)

fsfcks said:


> Kevin, I meant to ask. What is required to make a bow? Length/width of wood etc? As these are all younger trees I'm struggling to get anything that is even 8ft straight-ish with any decent diameter (5" to 8").



My bow making friend is at work and unable to answer. I will ask and get back with you.


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## brnchbrkr (Oct 30, 2009)

*self bow*

http://www.google.com/search?q=self...ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GWYA_en

http://www.google.com/search?q=self...ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GWYA_en


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## fsfcks (Oct 30, 2009)

Thanks brnchbrkr. Your links to self bows lead me to these two excellent sites:

Fantastic site with lots of Osage Orange info. Link to info on Osage Orange staves. Seem to to be 6ft+ 12" diameter completely straight with no knots, limb growth, or twists. Basically only possible if you trim them that way. None of my trees look like that!
http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_S.html

One mans story of making his first bow:
http://www.sticknstring.com/osagepage.htm


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## osagehunter (Apr 20, 2010)

*Can I buy some Osage Orange*

I would love to buy some Osage Orange, Black Locust, or other good fence post wood if you have them. It is very hard for me to find good fence posts here in Massachusetts. Even if I have to hand hew them, I'd buy them rough. I can also dry them on my property before final shaping. How much to you want for stuff that can be cut to 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 9 - 14 feet lengths?
I'll have someone handle the shipping if that's too tough. But I guess the problem is the weight. If I were to try to ship them, they would simply weight too much. I would need to find someone driving from Kansas to the East Coast. I also need some in Pennsylvania. Well anyway, it's worth a try.
Take care.



fsfcks said:


> I wish I had a fireplace to burn them in! I have literally hundreds of Osage Orange trees i am removing. Only a small handful provide straight enough 8ft sections for fence posts. Round here Osage Orange fence posts should easily last 50 years or more.
> 
> Unfortunately I have to load them by hand as I have no equipment. Most are just heavy. Once they get over 8" to 10" in diameter they get next to impossible to manage single handed.


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