Monster osage tree finished....final stave count

[cracker]

Thats a heck of a tree the pic with both of you in it looks like some of the old logging pics I've seen from the early 1900s. Ron

[HoBow]

You know how to eat an elephant?  One bite at a time. Tons a work, but the reward will be sweet!

[toomanyknots]

I can't even think of how many belly splits your gonna get. I would actually be happy that it's already started to split it's self!

[gstoneberg]

That hurts me just to think about.  Every big old osage tree I've ever cut has been dead on the inside.  Whether you get belly splits will depend on what the weather and ants have done there.  Wonderful tree for bow wood though, you've chosen well.   Getting it split small enough to get up out of that ditch is gonna be a lot of work.  Be careful working so hard in this heat.  Congratulations.

George

[PEARL DRUMS]

Dang Clint! Who says this stuff is easy? You are thee man for tackling that monster.

[luke the drifter]

Lord God Almighty, what a find.  if i knew where you lived, that would be worth the trip to see and even to help out.  You definitely have been living right in terms of bowmaking.  i am even proud to have seen the picture you posted.  good luck to you.

[beetlebailey1977]

Oh my I was just sweating looking at the pictures....that is a monster.  Glad you didn't get hurt on that steep hill.  Should have wood for a long time now the fun of splitting and removing bark and sapwood.  Whew

[osage outlaw]

I'm up for a guess the stave count contest.  Does everyone want to guess now?  If we have a tie, I will draw a name out of a hat or something.  I will mail the winner a stave.  I might let it dry out a little first to save $ on shipping. 

The trees size is what took it over.  The ground is very loose in the woods around here.  All of the roots are intact on it, they just pulled out of the ground  It was still living, it had some second growth sprouts coming off of it.  Most of our osage trees around here slowly fall over once they get to big.  It seems the trunks get so heavy the roots can't support it.

Now the fun of splitting it starts.  I don't think it will be too bad.  I am hoping to quarter each section up and pull them out with his quad.  I should get a lot of belly splits.  The dead center is still 10-12" deep.  Day 2 will have to wait for Friday.  Working 12 hour nights with an hour drive each way doesn't leave much time for anything else.

[toomanyknots]

"Now the fun of splitting it starts.  I don't think it will be too bad."

  Ya, you'll have lots of fun. 

"Working 12 hour nights with an hour drive each way doesn't leave much time for anything else."

And taking down big osage trees in your spare time? Your a machine man.

[osage outlaw]

I can't wait to go back to work so I can rest for a couple of days.  Before starting on the osage tree yesterday, I spent 3 hours walking a river bank looking for some knappable stone.  This primitive stuff is hard work

[sa]

my guess is 39 staves

[cracker]

I'm gonna say 43 I know sometingh you don't.

[Will H]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say 50. Can't wait to see how it goes! Good luck and drink lots of water. 

[osage outlaw]

Some of my plans got cancelled today and I had a little free time.  I could either take a nap before going in to work tonight or start spitting.  Guess which one I chose  

No help and no quad today, just me and my splitting tools.  I started on the biggest piece.  It was leaning upright on the creek bank.  I got it almost split in half and then I got the bright idea to push it over into the creek bed so I could get to the other side to finish it up.  Of course it landed wrong and I couldn't get to where I needed on it.  I moved on to the next section.  I started driving the wedge into it the mighty beast and it spit it back out at me.  It shot up at least 2'.  I caught it in mid air and shoved it back into the log and tried again.  This time it started to split.  Once it started, it went almost to the other end.  I put one more wedge into it and popped it the rest of the way.



I started back up at the top and put the wedge into a natural split.  My plan is to wedge out pieces just like cutting a slice of pie.  The dead center is really helping.  A short time later and I had the first chunk out.  And then another.  I drank the last of my 2 liters of water and started splitting again.  Except while I was taking my water break my hammer somehow gained 5 lbs and become hard to swing.  I completely ran out of steam.  After an hour and a half, this is what I got done.  It doesn't look like much, but it is a good start.  I am glad to see that there is no insect damage and almost no twist at all in it.





So far this is what I have for the stave count guessing contest:

SA - 39
Cracker - 43
Blackhawk - 48
Will H - 50

[RidgeRunner]

Never busted a Osage log that big.
Busted an 18" Osage log a few years back.  About worked me and Cowboy to death.
Our log did not bust as clean as yours is busting.  Man that looks good.
Seal the ends of the splits very soon arter they are busted out.

I am going to guess 65 staves from the three logs that you have cut now.

Keep sweating you will get it done.

David