Osage Orange limbs and trees dropped

[Joe Kuhn]

Here's what it looks like at the road waiting for the township and their big chipper. It may not look like that much, but when you're dragging those branches by hand and carrying pieces in a wheel barrow, it takes some time. Had a neighbor come by and ask for pieces to make chairs for little kids. Not sure this is the right wood for that, but they took some.



Next project is to clear the lot of weed trees like these:



and these to the right of the shed. Small stuff. I'll have to be sure I keep my saw out of the dirt.

 

[Stonesforbrains]

Thanks for your note. How long would you estimate that bow to be?

I would estimate that unstrung it’s a five to five and a half foot long bow. My step father always told me that your heart wood was important on the bow making. I believe you want it on the outside of the curve when you string the bow. I believe the the heartwood on the outside of the curve is where there is a lot of the strength in the flex. It’s been a while since I’ve shot the bow so I’m trying to remember. I know he told me that his friend that made his bow said that you need the wood to cure evenly. I have searched for years for good Osage orange trees with straight branches or trunks. I haven’t had much luck. Hope you get some good project stock out of that batch. Might get something nice out of it.

 

[buzz sawyer]

I really appreciate the detail of your post. Have studied up on some videos on the bore cut. Not sure there was enough trunk to do that justice. Note that first fell did leave about 4 inches of hinge sticking up on the one side (another 4 inches) but that was it. I carefully cut that away and the rest of an inch and a half hinge to release the trunk from the stump. It didn't move at all when it was released. Then I worked my way around the branches until it rolled off the stump to one side. This was done very carefully choosing which branch to cut next, anticipating what effect each release would have. It fell off the trunk as anticipated. I'm continuing to post details because I'm here to learn in spite of the abusive posts. At the same time, I'm willing to say no to that next neighbor I mentioned above in my response to JTM. Perhaps I should have left the hinge and done the branches first. Eh?

Will remember to let my saw cool down next time.

In terms of sharpness, I've not had to sharpen my saw yet at all. The bar and chain are new and it just keeps on cutting. Oregon is the brand. I went back later today and worked on that first stump with no cutting issues. I'm amazed, but pleased. I did cut up a crab apple tree with it for the other neighbor, oh, and did some of my own Osage Oranges in my back yard, so it has seen some service.

Thanks again. What are your thoughts about me posting here before doing a fall? I'm thinking I should have taken better pictures by clearing away the small branches and actually measuring things so it's clearer what I'm dealing with. I can surely do that for the added info.

After cutting that much hedge, I'm surprised your chain doesn't need touched up at least. Some do it every tank of gas. Maybe post some close-up pics of the cutters, outside and top. A slightly dull chain will make a saw run hotter.
It's certainly OK to post "before" pics. Some will not offer suggestions for fear of liability should something go wrong - depends on the size and condition of the tree and location. PPE (personal protective equipment) is highly recommended - chaps, safety glasses, face shield, steel toed boots. Your 10-10 does not appear to have a chain brake. I recommend moving up to a saw with one. The cost is WAY less than a trip to the E Room.

 

[Short timer]

After cutting that much hedge, I'm surprised your chain doesn't need touched up at least. Some do it every tank of gas. Maybe post some close-up pics of the cutters, outside and top. A slightly dull chain will make a saw run hotter.
It's certainly OK to post "before" pics. Some will not offer suggestions for fear of liability should something go wrong - depends on the size and condition of the tree and location. PPE (personal protective equipment) is highly recommended - chaps, safety glasses, face shield, steel toed boots. Your 10-10 does not appear to have a chain brake. I recommend moving up to a saw with one. The cost is WAY less than a trip to the E Room.

Hedge is some brutal wood on chains!

 

[Joe Kuhn]

Hedge is some brutal wood on chains!

To clarify, a small branch cutter with long handles was used on the hedge. Will continue with that. Thanks for the caution from you both.

 

[Short timer]

To clarify, a small branch cutter with long handles was used on the hedge. Will continue with that. Thanks for the caution from you both.

Oh sorry, I misunderstood.

 

[Joe Kuhn]

After cutting that much hedge, I'm surprised your chain doesn't need touched up at least. Some do it every tank of gas. Maybe post some close-up pics of the cutters, outside and top. A slightly dull chain will make a saw run hotter.
It's certainly OK to post "before" pics. Some will not offer suggestions for fear of liability should something go wrong - depends on the size and condition of the tree and location. PPE (personal protective equipment) is highly recommended - chaps, safety glasses, face shield, steel toed boots. Your 10-10 does not appear to have a chain brake. I recommend moving up to a saw with one. The cost is WAY less than a trip to the E Room.

I love the helmets with the pivoting hearing protection. I want one. Recommendations?

 

[buzz sawyer]

I love the helmets with the pivoting hearing protection. I want one. Recommendations?

Check these. Bailey's is a site sponsor, always nice to check them first. I also like their Woodland Pro chains and synthetic oil.
https://www.baileysonline.com/safet...rotective-equipment-ppe/forestry-helmets.html

 

[Joe Kuhn]

Oh sorry, I misunderstood.

Not a problem. I didn't specify how it was done.

My other neighbor saw this work and brought over the video of his mother-in-law's three, 40 to 50 foot firs, all dead & dried up, in her suburban front yard. One is 5 feet from the sidewalk with no where to go but into the street. The other two are closer to the house and he claims they wouldn't touch the house if they fell that way. Could probably drop them in the right order, but there were other taller trees above these with their branches inter mingling. That's what did it for me. Told him no. The problems I see:

1. Inter mingling branches.
2. Dead for a long time.
3. My lack of equipment, safety and otherwise.

There happened to be a flyer in the mail yesterday for a certified arborist. I referred him to it.



All this and the alert from my friend Danny earlier in this thread says I'll be better off moving on.

 

[Ax-man]

Now that you tangled with a Hedge tree your ready to step up to another nasty Illinois tree that I hate worse than Hedge . This is none other than our infamous common Honey Locust with 6 to 12 inch thorns growing up the whole length of the main stem and large thorns sticking out of all the branches that go through gloves and soles of boots and flatten tires . I don't know what is worse an ornery Hedge or a thorny Locust . If I had to chose I would probably choose Hedge even though both trees are are a fight from the first cut right to the very last cut. I always kind of jokingly refed to these trees and a few others as tangled brush piles on roots.

I am not going to say one way or the other how good a job you did . You got the job done but what surprises me more is you got it done with that old Mac 10-10 . I know I am going to get hung out to dry making that statement but yellow saws never worked for me and have avoided them for the most part.

 

[Joe Kuhn]

Now that you tangled with a Hedge tree your ready to step up to another nasty Illinois tree that I hate worse than Hedge . This is none other than our infamous common Honey Locust with 6 to 12 inch thorns growing up the whole length of the main stem and large thorns sticking out of all the branches that go through gloves and soles of boots and flatten tires . I don't know what is worse an ornery Hedge or a thorny Locust . If I had to chose I would probably choose Hedge even though both trees are are a fight from the first cut right to the very last cut. I always kind of jokingly refed to these trees and a few others as tangled brush piles on roots.

I am not going to say one way or the other how good a job you did . You got the job done but what surprises me more is you got it done with that old Mac 10-10 . I know I am going to get hung out to dry making that statement but yellow saws never worked for me and have avoided them for the most part.

Have not worked with Honey Locust, but when I was a boy I hunted rabbits in the woods while my dad cut firewood to sell for extra money. Wish I had paid attention more. From what I do remember he cut what was already on the ground. A barrel company had gone through the woods before we bought it and snitched the best oak wood, so we cleaned up what they didn't take and sold it to feed the family over the winter months on the farm.

I just like taking things apart with a sharp saw. Man that thing can cut.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

Troll

He’s just a bag of dicks.

 

[Joe Kuhn]

...Maybe would have used a bore cut...

Talked to an arborist who was treating a tree down the street and as soon as I told him about the first one he said, "bore cut'. Showed him my pictures and he didn't change his recommendation. Further confirmation there buzz. Thanks.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Now that you tangled with a Hedge tree your ready to step up to another nasty Illinois tree that I hate worse than Hedge . This is none other than our infamous common Honey Locust with 6 to 12 inch thorns growing up the whole length of the main stem and large thorns sticking out of all the branches that go through gloves and soles of boots and flatten tires . I don't know what is worse an ornery Hedge or a thorny Locust . If I had to chose I would probably choose Hedge even though both trees are are a fight from the first cut right to the very last cut. I always kind of jokingly refed to these trees and a few others as tangled brush piles on roots.

I am not going to say one way or the other how good a job you did . You got the job done but what surprises me more is you got it done with that old Mac 10-10 . I know I am going to get hung out to dry making that statement but yellow saws never worked for me and have avoided them for the most part.

I've seen sparks fly when cutting dry locust. But then, it doesn't POP in the fire like hedge.

 

[chainsawman123]

The neighbor down the street is going to sell his house and asked me to help clear his Osage Orange limbs that have killed about half of the grass in his back yard.

His son purchased a pole saw and we spent our first weekend dropping limbs we could reach and dragging them to the curb for the township to pick up. This month we're working on his 2 Osage Orange trees that need to go. They were clearly not tall enough to touch the house when dropped.

The first one has quite a bit of lean to it and some rotted trunk as you can see below. The one to the left of this first tree needed to stay (hidden by branches).

View attachment 857846

I chose to notch it relatively high and short. Short because of all the rotted trunk. (You can see the second one targeted to go to the right of the one with the notch, but again, just the part to the right that is leaning towards his house needed to drop.)

View attachment 857847

The hinge was pretty thick on this first one, so there was more falling work to do to get the whole trunk on the ground. It was stuck on the stump with a thick hinge so I whittled away at it, but it finally was loose so I could then go to the branches. One thing I learned about branches is when a tree is on the ground, you have to reverse how you do them or your saw can get bound up and then you've got trouble.

For branches when a tree is on the ground, instead of cutting below and then on top as you would when a tree is standing, you reverse the procedure and cut above and then below. Then everything falls away and you aren't standing there with your saw's bar stuck in the branch. Duh. It's sort of a bridge (H) type of pressure situation rather than a tee (T) when a tree is standing. When a tree is on the ground, you make a short cut on top and then cut through from below because of the pressure on the middle & top side of the branch. This reminds me of my mother's clothes line I used to see when I was a boy.

Here's another view of that first tree's wedge. Get out of the way!

View attachment 857848

The second tree was wedged closer to the ground and I took a second pass at it to get an even shorter stump. It had a much thinner hinge that broke completely through and was easier to get to the ground.

View attachment 857850

The rest of the story is just a lot of work, but I did learn some things about my saw as well. Here you can see the gold dust I was able to produce with it. I like this saw. It has a nice bark to it and goes through this hard wood fast. I'm sure it helps to have a new bar and chain.

View attachment 857851

I ran it out of gas and after filling, it didn't want to start. I had to turn out (richen) the Low end screw for some reason. Then it started, but didn't want to cut well at the high end, so the high end screw had to be turned out as well. I didn't turn either screw much, just about a quarter of a turn. I went the wrong way on the High end screw at first, but that was pretty obvious when it ran even worse, so I just reversed it and got back to cutting pretty quickly. I might have it all backwards in terms of how I turned the screws, but it doesn't matter. If it's worse, you go the other way.

I'm certainly open to feedback on my whole story. I'm learning a lot from this and enjoy hearing from you guys with the experience.

if he wants to give a way the free wood ill take it if your close to leb pa

 

[Joe Kuhn]

if he wants to give a way the free wood ill take it if your close to leb pa

We're in Illinois.

 

[chainsawman123]

ow

 

[Joe Kuhn]

if he wants to give a way the free wood ill take it if your close to leb pa

I think I'll grab it today and find a way to split it...

 

[Joe Kuhn]

Did some more work on the side of the house yesterday. Before and after:



All hand work - dragging to the road, small weed trees and brush. And itchy. The fun stuff is over. Today we work on the side of the shed where we noticed the weed trees have grown up through a short chicken-wire type of fence. Will have to cut the trees free of the fence before we take them down. They're very small.

 

[Joe Kuhn]

Another Before:

After:



That thin one on the right is intertwined up top in it's branches with the other tree, so I left them both for the experts. That's a plastic fence. I'm not taking any chances.

We got it done, but had to deal with a lot of this:



My saw definitely needs sharpening now.