Cutting Osage?

[TroutGuide]

So I am going to cut as much osage as I can find good wood on Saturday.  Lots more than I can clean up in a weekend because this is a one shot chance to go on a friends land in another state and cut as many logs as I want to haul home.  I will seal the ends as soon as they are cut.  So what do I need to do to keep the logs good untill I can get the sapwood off and seal the backs.  I will work up alot this winter but some may end up siting for years in the barn.  Does it matter if it is split or not?  Also is it a waste of time to try and save limb wood?  I want to make the most of this and be set for a long time.  I know it is going to be alot of work to get these to stave form and I want to be able to stretch out that work over a longer period of time if posible.  

So what would you guys do if you had a chance to get a truckload of osage but didn't have alot of time to work on it imediately?  

Thanks
Trout

[Paul/KS]

Cut it, seal the ends and store it in the barn is all I do. I usually wait a few months before spliting it.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Its splits much cleaner after a month or two of sitting around.

[Dean Marlow]

I have cut and split a-lot of Osage and tried it many different ways. This has been my best outcome as far as ease of splitting, storing a large quantity of Osage and preventing a-lot of checking. Split the log in half. Seal the ends with hot wax or a product called Anchor Seal. It is cashy but the best for wet wood.Then store your half logs some where out of the weather. Then very important spray your half logs with an insecticide before it warms up. In fact I will spray my logs 2 or 3 times in one summer. Just remember a-lot of Osage logs are a-lot of work. I have less checking if I leave the bark on for 6 months then debark them. A little more work but less checking.Dean

[Pat B]

I agree with Dean. If I had osage around here that's how I'd do it. d;^)

[snakebit40]

This thread came at the perfect time. I'm heading out to get some Osage next week. Thanks for the advice!

[DVSHUNTER]

What they said. Seal it good, spray em good.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Peeling and sealing backs seems like a great plan until you have 70-100 staves laying in front of you with bark on them. Its a bit daunting. I just finished up a mega load of hedge. I 1/4'ed most of them and sealed the ends only. I will split them again in a year or five. I dipped my ends in a gallon of deck sealer, so far so very good. I have no checks starting.

[mwirwicki]

Generally speaking, I don't remove the bark and/or sapwood until I am ready to make the bow.

[TroutGuide]

What bug spray do you recomend?  Glad to hear that you leave the bark on for a while and just split and debark when needed.  That makes it easier to think about getting more than a few logs.  I do not know how many good trees I will find but there are 5 acres covered with osage that I will pick through.  I just hope we do not have to carry all the logs out of the thick stuff. If there are any realy large trees with straight trunks do you recomend trying for them or just stick with the small to medium trees.  We have a very large saw that we can cut the big boys in half with if it would be worthwhile, we could even make slabs if it would be usefull to cut lams or boards from.  What do you think?

Trout

[scrub-buster]

The big trees can hold a ton of good staves if your willing to put in some work.  You can get belly splits that don't need debarking and sapwood removal.  I think what you need to do is find the straightest trees with the fewest limbs and no twist to the bark.  Cut those trees.  They will be the best.  I have found that osage trees that grow in the bottom of a wooded valley near a creek or water source will be tall, straight, and have thick rings.  I would suggest you cut what your equipment will handle.  If you have a tractor that can haul out big logs then do it.  But if you have to haul them out by hand or by quad, stick with smaller trees.  Seal the ends as soon as you cut the tree.  I prefer to split my trees into staves and debark/remove sapwood as soon as I can.  I had a bunch of staves ruined after the bark loosened and they checked everywhere.  Now I peal them and seal them, then seal them again.  I have cut a bunch of osage over the last few years and these are just some of my opinions/methods.  Find out what works best for you and good luck.

[TroyH]

As you can see, everyone does it slightly different.  I never remove the bark until bow making time but others do it differently.  What everyone does in common is seal the ends as soon as possible.

[Roy from Pa]

Wish I lived in the midwest, our Osage trees in Pa don't have nearly the nice growth rings sage from out west does. I would drive half way across the U.S. for a nice load of Osage.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

If I cut one a little bigger than I can pack I will quarter it. what ever it takes. I leave the bark on and seal the ends. I'll 7 or 8 at a time when I'm ready build a few and rough them out and seal so they dry quicker.

[John Scifres]

Outside of the advice above, I'd say don't bite off more than you can chew.  Trust me on this one.  I mean, how many bows will you make?  I have made a bunch of bows and I still can't imagine more than 20 per year unless you are a pro.  It's a shame to waste good osage just 'cause you want it.  

On the other hand if the land is getting cleared cut whatever you can get.

But, 5 acres of osage isn't much really.  Find the straightest, cleanest 4 logs you can find and get 'em.  I generally don't mess with limb wood.  Only cut what you can get inside or the bugs will eat it within a year.

[okie64]

I would recommend getting the largest trunks you can get out of there. If you dont have time to split em within a month or two after cutting then cut the logs about a foot longer than you want your bows to be that way you can cut the checks off the ends later on down the road, they dont usually go very deep into the log. Definitely seal the ends with something. I rarely ever take the bark and sapwood off of split staves until I'm ready to make a bow from it but I do spray them regularly with pesticide.

[scottm]

That explains it.I just cut a large tree last week and split it right away.It was very stringy.Guess i should have let it set a while first.i was under the impression i needed to split it immediatly.Ill know nextime.

[TroutGuide]

I'm not trying to be greedy but I hope to get as many good trees as I can find and haul.  I do not think it would be wastefull if I plan on using, trading, giving, and possibly selling them.  The landowner wants them gone so I just have to pile limbs up and take the trunk and he will be happy. I am helping him out and getting a lifetime supply if I can keep it preserved.  I will split most of it and store in the rafters of the barn or stacked out of the weather so it should last if I spray occaionaly.

[Eric Krewson]

When you cut too much osage you split until you pass out, pick yourself up when you come to and continue. I just found this old picture taken back when I was osage cutting crazy.

   

I learned my lesson on this haul, never again. I split, debarked and removed the sapwood on this pile of osage in a couple weeks. My hands and fingers were swollen up like sausages from all the draw knifing.

I only cut one tree at a time now.

[SportHunter]

Great pic Eric, very funny.