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Thread: Osage Orange trees

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
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    Frederick MD
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    Osage Orange trees

    Hi all, long time lurker but have not really posted before.

    Anyhow I live in Maryland and have have an osage orange tree thats about 60-80 feet tall. The main trunk is about 20-25" diameter and extends fairly straight up from the base about 20-25 feet. Think a log like that has any value? I know the stuff is used for fence posts, bows and makes some nice firewood. At this point I would probably be willing to give the tree away, just because the green fruit it drops is a nuisance. Figured I would see what you guys think.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wes Mansfield View Post
    Anyhow I live in Maryland and have have an osage orange tree thats about 60-80 feet tall. The main trunk is about 20-25" diameter and extends fairly straight up from the base about 20-25 feet. Think a log like that has any value? I know the stuff is used for fence posts, bows and makes some nice firewood. At this point I would probably be willing to give the tree away, just because the green fruit it drops is a nuisance. Figured I would see what you guys think.
    Hello Wes!

    A lot of logs have value, but the question is how much. The value of wood in the tree is typically pretty low since 1), you really have no idea what the tree is like inside until you cut it, and 2), it is a WHOLE lot of work to fell, limb, clean up, load, haul, saw, sticker, dry, store, and market! (A log like yours might weigh as much as 5000 lbs!) Each operation increases the value so while a stack of milled boards/slabs/tuning blanks might be pretty valuable the tree itself might not. All the osage I have was free for the hauling. (I think I still have 3-4 osage logs waiting for me to saw)

    Osasge is good for turning (I turned a tool handle from a piece today) and I love to use it around the farm for garden stakes and such. It won't rot so I use it for a variety of outdoor things.

    Yours sounds like a pretty good sized tree and the straight log is a big plus. If you want to try to sell it or get it sawn into boards and such you might call some local sawmills and see if they are interested. You might locate them with woodfinder.com or check the WoodMizer web site. WoodMizer keeps a list of people with WoodMizer sawmills who are willing to saw. Some have portable mills and will come to your property. One might want to buy the log.

    JKJ

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    It would be worth more to me as an individual woodworker than it would be worth for "commercial" purposes for the reasons that John speaks about. If you're a woodworker, then if the tree is coming down for some reason, by all means look into getting it milled and drying it for use in projects.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #4
    Another factor to consider is the tree in an urban/suburban setting? Or, is it 'in the wild'?

    Many sawyers may balk at cutting an urban tree. It can have anything from a clothesline to an engine block inside. And around here, Osage grows in mainly in fence lines - usually with the wire fence grown into the tree (even 'wild' ones).

    The sawmill forum might give better answers, but maybe metal detectors have gotten cheap enough that these hidden treasures don't scare them off....?
    Last edited by Malcolm McLeod; 09-25-2017 at 10:43 AM.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm McLeod View Post
    ...
    The sawmill forum might give better answers, but maybe metal detectors have gotten cheap enough that these hidden treasures don't scare them off....?
    The detectors are not too expensive but they don't detect too deeply, at least those I have and have used. I think the usual deal is unchanged - if metal in your log ruins the sawyers $30 blade you pay for a new blade!

    Even non-urban trees are suspect. A tree out in the middle of the woods may have been on a farm at one time and have barbed wire embedded up to 4-5' above the ground. I know from experience what sound a ceramic electric fence insulator makes when it wins the battle with the bandsaw blade!

    You are usually safe to saw above 5' but there goes the butt log.

    JKJ

  6. #6
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    Aug 2013
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    You show me a Osage Orange 60-80 tall, straight, and in Maryland and I'll buy your family a dinner. Welcome to the Creek. Show me a pic of this unicorn.
    -Lud

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Justin Ludwig View Post
    You show me a Osage Orange 60-80 tall, straight, and in Maryland and I'll buy your family a dinner. Welcome to the Creek. Show me a pic of this unicorn.
    My first thought when reading about this tree was I was ready to hook up the big trailer and drive to Maryland! I've had some big osage before and would love some more.

    The Wood Database gives the normal distribution of this tree is south central US, with a diameter of 1-2', height 50-60' - but there are always outliers. I remember a huge osage "horse apple" tree in western Pennsylvania on the edge of the playground where I went to elementary school. (Well, I was small but it looked huge to me!) I've seen them all over Kentucky and some in Ohio.

    A friend called me once to see if I wanted some osage on a tree that had died. Turns out that tree was on some registry as the largest Osage Orange tree in Tennessee! The largest sections were gone by the time I got there but the stump cut flush with the ground was over 3' in diameter. The logs I got were mostly straight, 2' dia and smaller. BTW, this tree probably wasn't 30' from the farmhouse - they had built a patio/rock garden around this massive shade tree! I was told they were dismayed when it died.

    JKJ

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    ...
    - they had built a patio/rock garden around this massive shade tree! I was told they were dismayed when it died.

    JKJ
    I'm guessing they didn't spend much time in this garden? Hedge apples (the fruit) dropped 60' onto your head might evoke a certain lust for chain saws!

    Legend has it (...I consider my grandmother to have been somewhat legendary) that the fruit repels cockroaches if a few are placed in the back of cabinets and closets. You're on your own with the problem of the other 300lbs of them you need to get rid of.

  9. #9
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    John, while Osage Orange naturally came from the central part of the country, my understanding is that Lewis and Clark brought back samples to Thomas Jefferson in Philadelphia and from there it got somewhat distributed here in the east as it was discovered to be great for natural fence rows, etc. I have seen one "monster" OO tree locally and while the initial trunk wasn't very long, the three or four main branches above it probably had 12-16' of relatively straight conformation. It was massive and from a "shade tree" perspective, reminded me of a big old southern water oak. Sadly, that tree disappeared one day...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  10. #10
    Osage are highly evolved,...use the two sex system. Only the females bear fruit .

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Frederick MD
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    Hey thanks for the great info! The tree is every bit as big as I said. Will try and get some pics up. I like to make long and recurve bows when I get the chance, but like some have mentioned it would be a tremendous amount of effort to go from tree to usable stave. Still if I do have the tree cut down I will probably keep the best parts and/or offer some up to any local woodworkers who want some.

    The tree borders my property a couple hundred feet from my house and a farmers field. So the fence concern could be pretty realistic.

  12. #12
    A log from this tree might be valuable to the right person. Since the tree is near a property border, it almost certainly contains some metal but hopefully that is confined to the lower 5 ft of trunk. The standing tree has value only to you the property owner.
    _______________________________________
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  13. #13
    Join Date
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    You could very well be correct on the type of tree, but I would be very skeptical on the given description if it is osage. That is well outside its normal range, and the shape/growth style of the tree is not common to be very straight with only a single trunk.

    The easiest way is to take a knife and take a chunk of bark off somewhere. They have a white soft sapwood that is maybe 1/4-1/2" thick and a thin bark layer. You should be able to get to heartwood very quickly, and the color will be very distinct, almost safety yellow. As Mel points out, they are diescous, so it could very well be osage but never bear fruit.
    Grady - "Thelma, we found Dean's finger"
    Thelma - "Where is the rest of him?!"

  14. #14
    Osage orange has stipular thorns on the twigs. Like on a rose bush. Paired thorns at the base of the leaf petiole. Very similar to the the thorns on black locust, which are also stipular.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    New Hampshire, USA
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    The guys who cut and sell wood for making acoustic guitars would be very interested in a log like that. Osage orange has properties that work well on acoustic guitars, but is not all that common because it's hard to find straight and wide logs. I don't know of any tonewood suppliers in Maryland, but perhaps with a little digging you could find one.

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