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.
Awesome score! :you_rock:
Sweet. Be careful and don't throw out your back.
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.
That's a good deal there.
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?
Quote from: handcannon on March 16, 2011, 07:25:50 PM
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? :D
:icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:
Quote from: Crutch on March 16, 2011, 09:32:42 PM
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.
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.
:icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:
yellow money
Quote from: Bonjour on March 16, 2011, 06:22:03 PM
Sweet. Be careful and don't throw out your back.
:agreed: :anim_25:
Congrats, good luck and be careful. Post some pics after you get a load or 2 or 3.
Matt...
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.
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..... :you_rock: pappy
(http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/P10100133.JPG)
(http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/P10100122.JPG)
(http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/P10100112.JPG)
Now put on the jeapordy theme song while we sit back and watch it dry...
I love that yellar wood.
Very Nice truck load of wood there!! Great find & cant wait to see the calls that come from it.
You should turn some green then treat with Pentacryl. I know it is an expense of 20 plus dollars for a quart or so, but you could trade out a call for a jar to see how it works. It might be a huge benifit to you if you have never tried it.
Quote from: Crutch on March 24, 2011, 09:30:08 PM
You should turn some green then treat with Pentacryl. I know it is an expense of 20 plus dollars for a quart or so, but you could trade out a call for a jar to see how it works. It might be a huge benifit to you if you have never tried it.
I have heard of pentacryl. Have you ever tried it? I once turned a slate call out of osage that I had been told was air dried for "years". The pot warped within a month to the point that it cracked the pot and the slate. I have stuck to kiln dried osage since then for pots.
Can you imagine how many honey pots you have in the back of that truck? There's gonna be a big yellow corner in your shop for a while. Looks like some fine wood bro.