I asked a friend to be on the lookout for some orange. I saw him tonight and he said he had some that blew down about a month or month and a half ago..Not sure but has probably been laying on the ground..Can I salvage it ?

Thank you..Crow

Northern Illinois..rain snow cold warm

Heck Ya.

Go get it...

Seal the log ends with something as soon as you cut it.

Elmer's glue, varnish, paint, etc.

What RC said. Run...don't walk.

That tree will still be good 20 years from now. I've made bows from trees that were down for decades.

Yes osage resists rot. I too have made bows with wood that was laying or standing dead longer than I've been alive. But, the longer it lays, the greater the chances of it splitting itself with drying checks and/or bug damage, and they can cause you a lot more work, and ruin some of it. If it's good stuff, get it as soon as possible.

Crowfoot PM sent.

What size tree do you guys normally like to use..

Look for trees, or straight sections of trees, with straight bark running along the length of the tree. If the bark swirls around the tree, then the grain inside is swirling also. Also try to avoid branches or knots. If you can't find straight 6 foot long section, then anything 3 feet long will work. You will just have to Z splice them together to get a long enough bow stave.

I like trees between 8 to 12 inches in diameter. But free Osage is free Osage:)

Not if it's on state or federal ground.

AN early TBM magazine article was written by an OH farmer who made a bow from an osage fence post his grandfather put in 73 years before, then killing a 160" whitetail buck on the same field......

Osage is the "Chuck Norris" of bow wood.....

Crowfoot,not try to hi jack your thread,hoping to help out and learn somethings myself.

I have a ton of this on my farm and my TSI (timber stand improvement)program requires me to kill all invasive trees/ shrubs. Unfortunaly osage/hedge is on that list.

I cannot possibly cut all this as I will not be able to walk thru the timber with all the tops. Most of the small 4-6" I am cutting and going to use for fence post. The bigger trees I am just ringing the trees and killing. Some of the best trees I am letting alone hoping they do not find on inspection.

Will the trees I kill still check and possibly get bug damage if left standing? I have trees up to 24-30" dia., Cutting one is a monumental undertaking. Is there a market for these?

I remember that article Michael, good story and one hell of a buck.

The tree that has been blown over might not be osage. Go check for your self. We have osage on our farm over 100 years old and I never seen one tree blow over in 70 years of my life time.

They blow down all the time on my property. In fact, in the last 3 or 4 years I've only cut fallen osage trees. If they are still standing I let them grow. They get top heavy and the roots can't hold in the soft soil.

It depends on where they're growing. Sometimes, like when growing in a fence row, they hold each other up. I once cut a 20" osage tree in such a row, it stood stubbornly after the cut. I cut a 6' section of the trunk and took it away. The rest of the tree still hangs there today, 20 years later.

Jeff, I have had the same thing happen with a smaller tree. It was about 8" dia. and lifted off the stump when I cut it and just hung there. I cut a six foot section and, as you said, the rest is still hanging there.

Big Nine, I am not expert but some of that timber might be pretty valuable. I would check for informed opinion in your region. Straight, knot free logs of 6 feet or more might be worth a lot, with the ends sealed and the wood aged. Smaller ones too, but they are less likely to be straight grained and knot free.

Bow builders would certainly be interested but there are many other uses for this very fine, dense and durable wood. - lbg

longbowguy. most of the forester/timber buyers in this area are not interested in osage. I am going to leave the good trees stand and try to convince the forester doing the inspection that there is value in these trees . like you stated.

Show the forester this picture, Mike's Osage at Twin Oaks. The staves averaged about $50 each, some for less and some for more.

A friend brought an old Osage fence post he saved from his grandparents farm when they removed a fence. Old Osage fence post that he said would be close to 100 years old. It took some work but they wrestled a great shooting bow out of it.

Back in the early 70ish I sold a wagon full of 7 feet osage for one to two dallars a piece. Took alot of them that were left over and build a fence at that time. Fence is getting in bad shape but the osage post would go another 45 years.

Crowfoot

novice suggestion

I know yours is already on the ground, but when you try to cut one down be careful if its in between a cluster of trees, osage is very springy it will literary bounce back at you if it hits another tree, i nearly killed my wife cutting one down she was on the opposite side no way for the tree to even fall on that side.

Made several bows from fence post that had been in the ground 75 years or more, just get the outer crust off and the wood is solid inside. Bugs would be the only problem Goob, but wouldn't worry to much about that if you get them pretty soon. Pappy

Today is the day I have time to ickup the osage my buddy saved for me. Its alittle riffed up ,but I'm sure there are some stages in there..more to follow

Guess I should use spell ck

It is about 10ft. Long so I can get rid of some bad spots. They also cut about half way through about 3 ft. from the big end..I will see how it goes. The center is pretty close to one edge so that will dictate my first split.

FIRST thing I'd do is cut the ends back, an inch or two at a time, until the drying checks were all gone, then seal then ends with two coats of shellac.

That thing needs attention right away. Consider it on life support. Don't just throw it in the garage and walk away from it. I'd be on that sucker like a guinea on a June bug. If you want more specific help, you should post more pictures detailing all of it's issues.

You're making me want to go out and fetch some hedge.

One of my tropical wood contacts was a hardwood flooring mill. I asked him why they don't use more osage and he said they would if it was available. One thing they don't like about it is how much it darkens with age. But in some applications this would be desirable.

That big crack in the end is telling you where it wants to be split at, I would get the log split before I started cutting it back to get rid of any end checking.

Cut 2 ft off each end. Then split on the center. One half got alittle crack off my center line so I had to go with it...Now the main problems..Do I need to finish removing bark and then seal..The ends are sealed but I am toast for the day.

Some I reduce more tomorrow.Very nice growth rings and pretty darn straight.

Definitely seal anywhere sap wood is exposed. If any are still totally covered with bark, you can spray them with some bug spray to keep borers from damaging until you debarkb later on. The sapwood will let moisture leave very quickly, will check, and these checks will go down into the heartwood very easily.

Are you sure that's osage? The color looks more like mulberry... or even locust. Maybe it's just your camera.

Compare the color of yours to the osage in Eric's picture up above.

I was second guessing that myself Jeff.Where there was bark it looked like it. My friend said he had some locust also that he could get. I thought maybe because it is pretty wet. He said it was osage but maybe not.

The one end pic and the bark pic look osage but the side must be the light?

I know it was hard hard hard

It is dark, not yellow.

I bet it's locust. Do you have a black light? Black locust is fluorescent. It will glow under a black light like it's radioactive. Osage will not glow at all.

I'll check it out..thanks Jeff

I think it may be too far gone..Good practice anyway.

2 down.. one may be good to 64"

2 down.. one may be good to 64" I will deal them and in time I will see how far down it goes.

This was the bad cracks in the first pic. Alittle work and I think it will be ok.

We don't have Osage growing up here, but that sure looks like black locust to me.

That seems to be the consensus. Bow wood none the less.

Plenty of checks in it, aye. You'll be lucky to find a bow in there. I wouldn't waste too much time on it... not with a drawknife. I'd split a bunch off the top with wedges, or better yet, cut down an inch or so with the bandsaw just to see how deep they go.

Not osage. Looks like black locust to me. You need to remove the white sapwood. Maybe you can get below those cracks to some solid wood.

I went down through one ring and it got much better..I will have plenty of wood to go own a couple more. Sealed it up for now as I had other stuff that needed taken care of before the weather came in.

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