# bodark As firewood



## jimbo64 (Jan 9, 2012)

son just cut a bunch of very old "bodark" not sure of spelling- can this be used successfully for firewood- I always heard that it was creosote maker big time----------anyone have any experience with this- this is one hard wood and been growing forever from the size of the trees.


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## jimbojango (Jan 9, 2012)

hell yeah! we call it hedge in my country!  and it burns like all get out. Let her sit for a year if you get worried about creosote. We burn it green, we burn it dry, we burn it in the cold, we open the windows and burn it when its -10.  That stuff will make heat like you won't believe and creosote won't be a problem unless you burn tons of it all at once.

If you wait to split the stuff for 6 months it'll probably split way easier, and if you split it in 6 months or early next fall by the time it gets cold enough to actually need it then it'll be good and dry and burn without any problems. We toss green hedge in "overnight" and still have a good amount of coals in the morning to get the fire going again.

Make sure you don't stack your stove full of it though. You'll be up at 3 in the morning, with your wife going "its hot in here" and you'll open at LEAST 2 windows, 1 front door, 1 back door and you WILL put at least 1 box fan in said windows.    GOOD LUCK!


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## Hedgerow (Jan 9, 2012)

Bois d' arc... Pronounced bow dark... AKA Hedge, AKA Osage Orange is the Btu heavy weight king... Burns hot... Sparks like crazy... Awesome wood, but don't use in open fireplace...


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## REJ2 (Jan 9, 2012)

Top of the BTU charts here in the U.S. Ive heard it wrecking many a lessor stove.


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## cheeves (Jan 9, 2012)

Burned it in Ohio when I lived out there in the 80's. Every third week in January when it was -20. Indians used it to make bows. Amazingly HARD!! Could get close to 800 degrees out of my stove with it.


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## Hedgerow (Jan 9, 2012)

cheeves said:


> Burned it in Ohio when I lived out there in the 80's. Every third week in January when it was -20. Indians used it to make bows. Amazingly HARD!! Could get close to 800 degrees out of my stove with it.



It's a very devisive wood... Many of my neighbors will burn nothing else... Others won't touch it cause' they've "heard somewhere" it'll burn your house down... :eek2:
In truth, it's a power packed fuel, that when used correctly, will heat your home to the point of awesomeness... You just have to know how to use it...:msp_thumbup:


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## Misfit138 (Jan 9, 2012)

jimbo64 said:


> son just cut a bunch of very old "bodark" not sure of spelling- can this be used successfully for firewood- I always heard that it was creosote maker big time----------anyone have any experience with this- this is one hard wood and been growing forever from the size of the trees.



Dry Hedge Apple aka Osage Orange is the king of firewood! Also try its junior cousin- Mulberry, if you have the chance. 

Mulberry is related to Osage Orange, resembles it, and burns almost as hot.
Enjoy.


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## 4seasons (Jan 9, 2012)

*Score*

That is the best BTU firewood you can get. Kicks hickory's butt. Better than any oak or locust too.


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## ks_osage_orange (Jan 9, 2012)

If you have an air tight stove, you just can't beat it. If you don't have a lot mix it in with lesser woods.


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## Constrictor (Jan 9, 2012)

i cut 6 cords of this solid Gold a few months ago and im looking forward to trying the stuff out!


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## Hedgerow (Jan 9, 2012)

Misfit138 said:


> Dry Hedge Apple aka Osage Orange is the king of firewood! Also try its junior cousin- Mulberry, if you have the chance.
> 
> Mulberry is related to Osage Orange, resembles it, and burns almost as hot.
> Enjoy.



I'm burning Mulberry right now... I rate it better than Ash for heat, but doesn't coal like an Oak knot or Hedge... But a very good and fast drying firewood...


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## ks_osage_orange (Jan 9, 2012)

Hedgerow said:


> I'm burning Mulberry right now... I rate it better than Ash for heat, but doesn't coal like an Oak knot or Hedge... But a very good and fast drying firewood...



I have found that mulberry does throw out some sparks like hedge, but it doesn't seem to get quite as violent as some pieces of hedge can. BTW, I thought the only called it Bodark in Arkansaw? The OP is from Texas. Near the border?


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## jimbojango (Jan 9, 2012)

ks_osage_orange said:


> I have found that mulberry does throw out some sparks like hedge, but it doesn't seem to get quite as violent as some pieces of hedge can. BTW, I thought the only called it Bodark in Arkansaw? The OP is from Texas. Near the border?



He's SURE not from Kansas! LOL! its hedge! nasty crap.  My wife refuses to allow me to cut it anymore. to much heat for our house..


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## Hedgerow (Jan 9, 2012)

ks_osage_orange said:


> I have found that mulberry does throw out some sparks like hedge, but it doesn't seem to get quite as violent as some pieces of hedge can. BTW, I thought the only called it Bodark in Arkansaw? The OP is from Texas. Near the border?



We common folk refer to it as Hedge. My father owned a saw mill in Waller Texas, and he refered to it as Bodark. The rich folk around Houston liked furniture built out of it... His problem was finding more than 4 feet of it that was straight enough to mill!!!
Hahaha!!!


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## johnnylabguy (Jan 9, 2012)

Hedge apple, osage orange as we call it in my area is the "holy grail" of firewoods. You won't find more heat per square inch than in that stuff! My neighbor and I are sadly using the last of our 2 yr old haul from an old half mile fencerow clearing back then. I have an inefficient US stove hotblast wood furnace in the basement heating my 3000 sq ft almost twice as long as anything else I've burned which includes white oak and hickory. It just coals really well. For example, I loaded the furnace last night and woke up late this morning for work so I couldn't feed the furnace. I still had coals left at 6 pm tonight to get a good fire going again in minutes. And that was with the ash pan open a good full turn which is amazing for my setup. The only knock is it sparks like crazy and can get a runaway fire going with too much oxygen. My brother does like to call it "burn your house down wood" and if not monitored it could!


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## jimbojango (Jan 9, 2012)

Hedgerow said:


> We common folk refer to it as Hedge. My father owned a saw mill in Waller Texas, and he refered to it as Bodark. The rich folk around Houston liked furniture built out of it... His problem was finding more than 4 feet of it that was straight enough to mill!!!
> Hahaha!!!



<--- i have lots of it that is straight. its hidden in tree rows and in low spots in my pastures. BUT!!!! out of the million tree's i have (maybe not quite a million?) only 40 are straight.


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## howard270 (Jan 10, 2012)

We call it bois d'ark (bow darc) here as well, I refer to it as hedge for the Kansas crowd on this site. I have about a half a cord left in my stack at the house to burn and have run about a cord through the Osburn 2400 insert already. I mix it with some standing dead elm I cut last winter and it will definately last throught the night with many large coals in the morning to just throw another piece on and it starts flaming almost immediately.

If I don't mix it with elm it gets way too hot, even with the damper closed it will still suck enough air in through the secondary burn tube air holes to make the house way too hot by 2 am.

The two bad things about the tree is the white sap when cutting a live tree and of course the thorns, but it is worth it for the wood.


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## Hedgerow (Jan 10, 2012)

howard270 said:


> We call it bois d'ark (bow darc) here as well, I refer to it as hedge for the Kansas crowd on this site. I have about a half a cord left in my stack at the house to burn and have run about a cord through the Osburn 2400 insert already. I mix it with some standing dead elm I cut last winter and it will definately last throught the night with many large coals in the morning to just throw another piece on and it starts flaming almost immediately.
> 
> If I don't mix it with elm it gets way too hot, even with the damper closed it will still suck enough air in through the secondary burn tube air holes to make the house way too hot by 2 am.
> 
> The two bad things about the tree is the white sap when cutting a live tree and of course the thorns, but it is worth it for the wood.



Hedge... Ya just gotta love it... Look how it's already cracked inside the trunk... It was that way when I cut it out of the fence... Still alive...

[video=youtube;zHBg_VFDnQE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHBg_VFDnQE&list=UUfB03KVhJRBISPufMa8F7GA&index=28&feature=plcp[/video]


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## tbow388 (Jan 10, 2012)

*Bodock*

I am assuming that this is what you have. Burns great and REALLY HOT. I would burn the crap out of it but use caution when burning it because it does burn so hot.

Mix with other woods or don't use as much.


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