Gotta pick up some osage... PICS ADDED!

[lightsoutcalls]

In September last year I started delivering pizza a few nights a week to help make ends meet.  (Get off my day job at 4:30, start my evening shift at 5:00 - yuch!)  On Monday of this week I made a delivery and saw where a tree was being taken down between a couple of trailer houses.  I noticed from a distance the end of a limb that had been cut (about 8" across) was yellow... hmmm.  On closer inspection, I recognized the bark on the trunk and the brush on the ground... OSAGE/BODARK!!!  This tree has a base that is AT LEAST 3' across, likely more.  I asked the property owner if they were taking the tree all the way down... yes.   I then asked if they were going to get rid of the wood... my brother is going to use it for firewood... DOH!!!  I gave her my business card and told her I would be interested in some of it if he doesn't want to haul all of it.  She called last night and asked if I could haul all of the wood off...  YIKES!  Her brother is going to cut it into 2' blocks from her description.  I told her I would get a pickup load... she asked if I could get it all...  There will be way more than my F150 can haul (weight and volume) in one trip.  Looks like I have some lifting to do Saturday morning.  I'll try to remember to take my camera with me.  

[bnew17]

Awesome score!

[Bonjour]

Sweet. Be careful and don't throw out your back.

[handcannon]

Looks like we will be seeing quite a few "golden" honey pots in the future. Sounds like you found a "gold" mine. Ok, I'm finished with my gold puns. Good eye Wendell. Hope its all good wood.

[Ga Knifemaker]

That's a good deal there.

[Crutch]

Don't mean to hijack a thread but it seems I have seen some osage that was brownish orange. Was that in the limb wood or my imagination?

[stinkpickle]

Looks like we will be seeing quite a few "golden" honey pots in the future...

LOL!  No doubt.  How many can a truckload of wood make?   

[bowhunter84]

 

[lightsoutcalls]

Don't mean to hijack a thread but it seems I have seen some osage that was brownish orange. Was that in the limb wood or my imagination?

Osage changes color as it ages.  It is light sensitive and turns from a bright yellow to shades of rust, brown or olive as it is exposed to light and handling.  It has a milky sap that I hope won't be too thick this time of year.  I plan on going for blocks that I can load without feeling it the next day.  I have to remember that I will have to "process" the wood with my chainsaw at a later date.  I love the wood, but cutting it is a booger!  My dad went by the place yesterday and said there is a limb in the center of the tree (where it branches into 5-6 sections) that could be sawn for lumber if they don't cut it down into blocks.  I saw one block cut the other day that was about 16" across and had a large, hollow star shaped crack in the center.  Even if I only get striker blanks out of the wood, I will be happy.

[handcannon]

Bribe you a couple of highschool boys to load it up for you in trade for a couple honeypots that way it will save your back. Tell them they will get the strikers when they finish unloading it. LOL. Heck, If I was close enough you could bribe me easily with a call. I'm easy to persuade, just ask my wife.

[harvester]

 
yellow money

[hookedspur]

Sweet. Be careful and don't throw out your back.

[Trophy_Taker]

Congrats, good luck and be careful.  Post some pics after you get a load or 2 or 3.

Matt...

[lightsoutcalls]

I took some pics but haven't remembered to post them... duh...

I ended up with about 16 blocks or so from about 12" across to about 20" across.  Those with natural splits in them got split with a maul to expose more surface grain for drying purposes.  Even if I don't get anything but strikers out of it, I think it was a good find.  It was cool to see how the "heart" of the wood was WAY off center on the blocks.  The pics will do a lot in explaining this...  On some of the blocks, the rings of the end grain are very close together at one side and 1/2" apart on the other side.  These are the blocks that the "heart" of the wood is only a couple of inches from one side of the block.  Weird...  I got the ends sealed with some old Kilz latex paint.  This stuff is almost day glow green... left over from my middle daughter's bedroom from about 4 years ago. 

[pappy]

Wendell, that is one nice score, I had a similar incident, except it was a huge tree in a grave yard....they cut it down and like yours it wa 3" accross, I had two trucks out there, my son inlaw and SMURF .... and we cut a load in no time, my only fear is that when I finnaly get to turn a pile of pots that instead of sounding like turkeys......they'll go.....bbboooooooooo..... pappy