There are several ways I can come home from work.  Which way I take home on any given day depends on my mood and the season.  Many of the ways are pretty rural so I can see a bunch of wildlife late in the afternoon.  Anyway, this afternoon I decided to take one of the more rural routes in order to get a gander at some turkeys that hang out in a certain area.  I come over a hill and I see this crew working in the tree line on this one farm.  As I pass by, I notice they're working on clearing part of this tree line and, looking at the tree piles, something caught my eye.  I pulled over, got out and struck up a chat with these guys.  Turns out they're clearing so they can run some new water lines through the area.  I asked what they had planned for the cleared trees and they replied it was going to be stacked and burned.  I asked and was given permission to pick through the downed trees and take whatever I wanted.  Well, looky what I found.




All pieces are at least 68" long with no limbs or visible knots in the bark.  The bigger halves I can easily quarter and get a total of four staves.  I haven't been down that road in weeks, so it was just shear luck I decided to head home that way today.  I'm tickled pink, to say the least.  Got the ends sealed up and they're sitting in my garage to cure for a bit.  

i know im gonna sound like an idiot but...what kind of wood is that?

nice rings! did you buy a lottery ticket on the way home?

Oh la la, that is some fine osage with great ring pattern. Way to keep an open mind and follow your intuition.

bois d'arc

O happy day!!  

I'm sittin here eatin a bowl of ice cream and droolin at yer Osage!

You hit some puuurrrttttyyyyy stuff there!

YELLA WOOD!!!! YEAH BABY!<><

Quotenice rings! did you buy a lottery ticket on the way home?

No, but I probably should go out and purchase one.  :D  

There were other piles I didn't get a chance to pick through this afternoon.  I had to be somewhere.  I do plan on making another stop by there tomorrow after work to see what else I can find.    :D

Nice Rings!!     What a cool find  :cool:  
Don't forget to dust for bugs while you're waiting on em to cure - that's too nice of wood to have some beetles gnawing on it.

Makes a southern boy's heart soar, or sore (cause he needs some, too!)

so should i pm you my address?

We have a hole fence row of that crap growing in one of our fields...just kidding on the crap part.

We do have about a quarter by a half mile fence row of mostly Osage in this one field of ours.  I have a friend that is going to help me cut some this spring during turkey season.  

Very nice find!!!

What does a person need to look for when it comes to finding a good log?  Diameter and length?

Josh

Great stuff!    

Josh, look for 6-8" diameter, at least 6ft straight. Also look at the bark, make sure it doesn't twist around the trunk.

Nice looking bodark.  Now get the bark off and seal it back and ends.  Take the sapwood if you have time to do it as it will check when drying.  

Mike

Thanks, Mike.  I've already got the ends sealed up and was gonna break out the draw knife this weekend for some sap wood removal.  Here in middle TN, when we find decently straight osage like this, we treat it like gold.  Most of what we have is twisted and bent.

Thats treasure right there....bowdoc