Bois d'Arc(Osage Orange)

[CZU]

I know some of you like the Ahrends grips made from the Bois d'Arc (Osage Orange) tree. Some American Indians also liked the tree because of the excellent bows that could be made from them. I'm not so fond of them, they are a PITA. The tree will stunt the growth of any other tree that is nearby, the limbs will entangle themselves with other trees making it nearly impossible to remove them. The only redeeming thing about them is they make good fence posts and termites will walk right on by. I started carving on this one a couple weekends ago. I'll get a few good posts out of it and will burn up the rest.

 

[Fishinfool]

Maybe some of that root wood would make a nice set or two of grips?

A buddy of mine will be cutting down a huge old walnut tree in his yard this fall, and I am going to see what kind of root wood I can salvage, As gnarly as that tree is, there has to be some wood with interesting grain. I really don't know what todays market is for walnut, but it surprises me no one wants to remove the tree for free, let alone pay him anything for it.

Larry

 

[CZU]

Maybe some of that root wood would make a nice set or two of grips. Larry

Maybe so, I'll keep that in mind whenever I get to the point of pulling the stump.

 

[StrawHat]

For most trees to be worth anything to a logger, easy access is important. The tree needs to be a certain thickness and there needs to be a long clear section of trunk to the first branch.

I burn American black walnut on my property. Not worth the bother of logging it.

Kevin

 

[Step N. Mud]

Osage Orange are the wind rows of Kansas.
hedge apples are good for keeping crickets and spiders out of the closets, but not very tasty.

 

[SteveA]

Hedge rows. Windrows are when we're mowing hay.

 

[Lee Barner]

I remember my dad and I cutting a lot of fence posts back in the 50s and 60s and lots of those posts are still there. I have a friend here that makes duck calls out of the old posts when he can find them. lee

 

[Old TexMex]

Yes Osage orange makes some nice grip material!
Steve Jessee made these for my mdl.27

 

[biku324]

Hedge tree corner posts on my late FIL's farm in SW MO have been in the ground since 1940 and are still perfectly sound. Not one is straight.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Hillbilly hand grenade:

 

[caduceus]

One of the whitetail deer favorite foods. Will eat leaves almost anytime of the year. Very high in protein. The "horse apples", fruit of the tree is a food sources for squirrels. I've seen them bite into one and carry it straight up a tree. They are not light weight. Tough wood. In the old days banks insisted u build your home on blocks of this wood. I have never seen it rot nor insect damage . It has many uses.

 

[6518John]

I have always heard them called "horse apples" here in Arkansas too. I tried as a boy a couple of times to feed them to a horse and not a single one appreciated it! They preferred real apples, carrots and peppermints.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Osage makes great firewood, for in a furnace or wood stove. Way too many "pops" and sparks for the fireplace.

When I was 19 or 20, the mid-west was coming out of the Mid 70's post Vietnam recession. I looked at buying a TD-7C International bull dozer that had 900 hours on the tachometer. The seller said it had about 1000-1200 more hours on it, but he disconnected the tach, as the machine was a stationary powerplant for splitting Osage fence posts. He made a splitter out of a 8' hydraulic ram. The machine looked in very good shape, I was really thinking about buying it. On the way home, dad suggested we stop buy the feed mill. We pulled in and ask if the had any Osage fence posts? The owner said Heavens yes! He had been selling them by the thousand for 10 years but his supplier was having trouble finding any Osage to use now days. I never talked to the dozer owner again, I just figured, for the price of the rebuild on the hydraulic system and his price I could almost buy a brand new TD-7E! I ended up a brand new, but smaller 500-E, with a 35 ton winch on the back for almost $8 grand less! I could fell a 2 to 3 foot tree with the dozer faster than with a chain saw, and the root ball was already out of the ground! Great way to clear old fence rows!

Ivan

 

[jtcarm]

Hillbilly hand grenade:

Or Redneck target.

They explode very nicely when hit with a high velocity bullet.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Mom always knew when I was in a hedge apple war when I came home with pop knots and Elmer's glue on my head.

 

[Harrison]

They were planted in parts of Kansas as both a hedge row, instead of a fence, and as a wind break (wind row).

 

[rond]

Neighbers horse comes running for them

 

[boykinlp]

Hillbilly hand grenade:

I'd like to see the inside of one.