The Osage Orange

[lumpy]

Locust is an all-around useful tree. I've used it for fence posts extensively, and run into boards for woodshed floors and the like. Great firewood. Easy to split. High on the BTU chart.

I've a good sized piece of Osage Orange I milled, and it is a pretty wood. Good choice for fly rod handles, etc.

Jay, how long does a locust take to get to a useful size?

[ides1056]

It is a very fast growing tree, and some varieties sucker, so proliferate. I can't say with any authority how long it takes to reach post size. It's best used in the round for posts, because it is difficult to saw. You have to use an ice blade with no set on a Wood-Mizer, and wear a mask when sawing because the dust is toxic, like Walnut. MA considers it an invasive.
I bought a couple log truck loads years ago and sawed some into boards, some into posts, and used the rounds that were small enough for posts; the remainder became firewood. It's not an easy wood to work with, really. Super hard. I bought enough of S4S from a place in Sheffield to do the ground floor in my house: 1/2 Honey Locust, the rest black.
There's an abundance of it over toward Chatham, and I found it over there for less than I could locally, but it's proven to be about as reliable as PT for fence posts, as far as durability is concerned.

[htwoopup]

Locust posts are amazing. Our house on Fire Island (which isn't an island as much as it is a big sand bar) was originally on locust posts. They were used in construction before CCA 6 x 6's became prevalent out there. We reposted the house after the posts had gone through 38 years of sitting in fresh water about 14 feet down and having occasional flooding from salt water in overwashes in storms.

Back to the osages sort of...on my block in Manhattan there are trees that drop a large fruit that looks similar in size but has a smooth skin. I often see people collecting them which I don't really understand because when the fruits are smashed by car tires (they just send you all over the road when you hit them with a bike) they have a smell akin to a newborn with a problem's diapers.

[vertical_doug]

I guess this is a true winter thread which is much better than the usual winter threads which tend to be bitchy.

But I guess we can store up bitchiness for Feb. :)

[Scott G.]

I guess this is a true winter thread which is much better than the usual winter threads which tend to be bitchy.

But I guess we can store up bitchiness for Feb. :)

I can work up good rant on the superiority of spring pole lathes vs. electric, if you'd like.

[j44ke]

Locust posts are amazing. Our house on Fire Island (which isn't an island as much as it is a big sand bar) was originally on locust posts. They were used in construction before CCA 6 x 6's became prevalent out there. We reposted the house after the posts had gone through 38 years of sitting in fresh water about 14 feet down and having occasional flooding from salt water in overwashes in storms.

Back to the osages sort of...on my block in Manhattan there are trees that drop a large fruit that looks similar in size but has a smooth skin. I often see people collecting them which I don't really understand because when the fruits are smashed by car tires (they just send you all over the road when you hit them with a bike) they have a smell akin to a newborn with a problem's diapers.

Sounds like gingko trees? Though their fruit isn't as large as the Osage orange which are about softball size. On gingko trees, the fruits - marble-sized - are just cushioning for the nuts inside. That's what people collect in NYC. You'll see people out in Central Park near the Boathouse where there are several large gingko trees. The fruit can cause skin irritation and the nut has other issues if eaten raw or in large quantities. But the nut is used in Chinese and other Asian recipes.

[Tom]

Beau d'arc. Neat when an unrelated thread provides a little insight into a song lyric. James McMurtry's song there, Choctaw Bingo.

[bigbill]

Beau d'arc. Neat when an unrelated thread provides a little insight into a song lyric. James McMurtry's song there, Choctaw Bingo.

Some first cousin action.

[lumpy]

the dust is toxic, like Walnut.

I didn't know that, and I've been cutting down a bunch of weedy little walnuts in fencelines and brushed-in fields that we are trying to reclaim.

MA considers it an invasive.

Well, I guess we won't plant any of those. We are trying to get some good trees into our neglected woodlot. I think we will wind up just thinning out the weed trees to give the good ones more room, but we've been idly talking about planting some black cherry and walnut.

[ides1056]

Black Cherry will come up on its own if you disturb the soil. There's a substance in Walnut called juglone that is allelopathic and inhibits the growth of other plants. I've planted many varieties of oak. Our native red grows like a weed and is a very useful tree, so look around for a tree you like and collect acorns. Smith has an arboretum on the campus and a map in the greenhouse, I think. I collected English Oak and a few others there. I've a beautiful Shagbark Hickory in West Cummington I've collected seed from to good effect, figuring with climate change it will move North. Black Locust is leguminous, in addition to all its other qualities, so I don't altogether share the State's concern. It's not Ailanthus.

[j44ke]

I didn't know that, and I've been cutting down a bunch of weedy little walnuts in fencelines and brushed-in fields that we are trying to reclaim.

Well, I guess we won't plant any of those. We are trying to get some good trees into our neglected woodlot. I think we will wind up just thinning out the weed trees to give the good ones more room, but we've been idly talking about planting some black cherry and walnut.

Whalen Nursery is in Sheffield. Tom Whalen is the owner. I bet he'd have some good advice.

[Tim Porter]

Fun fact: Osage Orange is gaining a bit of a reputation for use as the back and sides for acoustic guitar building. It apparently has a lot of the tonal characteristics (but none of the aesthetic appeal) of Brazilian rosewood.

[ColonelJLloyd]

Locust is an all-around useful tree. I've used it for fence posts extensively, and run into boards for woodshed floors and the like. Great firewood. Easy to split. High on the BTU chart.

I've a good sized piece of Osage Orange I milled, and it is a pretty wood. Good choice for fly rod handles, etc.

I've heard recently about some folks using it to make turkey slate call strikers with them. I would like to have a Japanese style knife handle made with one.

Fun fact: Osage Orange is gaining a bit of a reputation for use as the back and sides for acoustic guitar building. It apparently has a lot of the tonal characteristics (but none of the aesthetic appeal) of Brazilian rosewood.

Interesting. Was not aware of that.

[hampco]

Some first cousin action.

"Tried to miss it, didn't quite"