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New guy with home made log sled and some osage logs

Started by osage outlaw, February 19, 2017, 10:11:11 PM

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osage outlaw

Hello, this is my first post.  I found this forum while researching ATV log arches.  I am planning on building one this summer.  I cut mostly osage trees to make longbows out of them.  I hand split the logs into bow staves and let them dry for at least a year before turning them into a bow.  I like using natural flaws in the wood.  I've made several bows with open knot holes in the limbs.  I also like to use snakey grained wood.

Right now I am using a log sled I made out of some plastic barrels.  It works really good for dragging the logs out of the woods and through the fields.  I have to drag the logs down a rough road for about 100 yards and that tears up the bottom of the sled.  That's why I need a log arch.  I load the smaller logs into my truck but the bigger ones are to heavy for me to lift. 

Here are some pictures of my sled and some osage that I cut today.


















I loaded these two by myself.  I really need to make a log arch.






This is my splitting stand.  I took advantage of my sloped yard.  I can roll the logs out and get them to a comfortable height so I don't have to bend over to split them. 



newoodguy78

Welcome to the forum. I like the old saw. It's a wonder your tailgate isn't muckled after loading those logs by yourself. :D Do you sell the bows you make? I'm sure they are works of art.

barbender

Welcome to the forum. Do a forum search for the "deadheader log loader", one of those mounted on a small trailer might serve you nicely, it would certainly save your back!
Too many irons in the fire

47sawdust

Welcome to the forum.Never mind the buckled tailgate,what about the buckled back.That hurts and I'm 1800 miles away.
Mick
1997 WM Lt30 1999 WM twin blade edger Kubota L3750 Tajfun winchGood Health Work is my hobby.

osage outlaw

The tailgate is fine.  I put a plastic bed liner over it before I load the logs.  They slide right over it.  That dodge has hauled literally tons of osage over the years.  My back is a little tender tonight but not to bad.  I'm built like a fire hydrant so that helps with picking up heavy logs. 

I have sold a few bows but mostly I build them for friends or trades.  I hunt with my bows and I've taken 2 deer and a bull frog with them.  I don't know if anyone has seen the Primitive Archer magazine but I've had several bows in it and written an article that was published.  I also use osage for knife scales and hatchet/ax handles. 

Osage is my favorite wood to work with.  I'm doing something with it nearly every single day that I'm home.  I always thought it was just good for firewood.  Once I got into making bows from it I discovered the beauty and strength of the wood.  Here is a hatchet I recently finished. 








I made this one for a friends son.  I used osage that had some curl or figure to it. 






The last knife I made with osage burl scales




Some of my osage bows








I made this one for a friend and he used it to take a deer.







osage outlaw

That old saw is a homelite XL-12 that is quite a few years older than I am.  It's a heavy beast.  It does a good job dropping big trees.  I use a smaller husky for the lighter work.  It feels like a toy after using that old saw.  I've always liked the older homelite saws.  It's a shame they stopped making quality tools. 

barbender

Too many irons in the fire

BargeMonkey

 Wow.  :o. That's some impressive craftsmanship. 👍  I don't know where your located in the country ??? But a cheap alternative would be a "cut-off" of what's called "SDR" sewer and drain pipe. It comes in all sizes but I've seen it in sch80-120 and 3-4' diameter. We use alot of the 6" sch 40 and it's so hard we bevel it with a grinder, you would wear your wheeler out before you chewed thru a piece of the heavy wall stuff.

thecfarm

osage outlaw,welcome to the forum.
Looks like some mighty fine work you do there.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

mad murdock

Welcome to the forestry forum Osage Outlaw! Those are some real nice pieces of handy work you have shared there!! Some nice talent and good eye. That is very nice the way the pieces flow and how the know holds seem to blend and enhance the aesthetics!!
Turbosawmill M6 (now M8) Warrior Ultra liteweight, Granberg Alaskan III, lots of saws-gas powered and human powered :D

florida

Nice wood! How many bow blanks will you get out of that whack of logs? Do you split them up then let them season before you start making bows?
General contractor and carpenter for 50 years.
Retired now!

g_man

Another welcome OutLaw. It is always great to see some unique and interesting wood craftsmanship. I am glad you showed us your beautiful work.
Osage is a new one for me.

gg

osage outlaw

Quote from: florida on February 20, 2017, 04:22:30 PM
Nice wood! How many bow blanks will you get out of that whack of logs? Do you split them up then let them season before you start making bows?

It all depends on how it splits.  Sometimes a log will split cleanly and you can get a lot of staves out of it.  Other times they will have interlocking fibers similar to elm.  I end up with a lot of waste when they are like that.  I found a huge tree laying across a creek bed in 2011.  It was perfect.  No limbs and straight as a telephone pole.  I worked on it for several months and ended up with 109 bow staves from it.  It was to big to haul out so I had to split it into chunks and carry them out of the creek one at a time to a spot where we could get an atv to them.  I split them into staves to let them season.




My brother in law running the saw








Me with the reward for all the hard work.  I used a draw knife to remove the bark and sapwood on the staves. 



osage outlaw

Quote from: barbender on February 19, 2017, 10:38:49 PM
Welcome to the forum. Do a forum search for the "deadheader log loader", one of those mounted on a small trailer might serve you nicely, it would certainly save your back!

I will look that up.  Thank you.


Quote from: BargeMonkey on February 20, 2017, 02:12:52 AM
Wow.  :o. That's some impressive craftsmanship. 👍  I don't know where your located in the country ??? But a cheap alternative would be a "cut-off" of what's called "SDR" sewer and drain pipe. It comes in all sizes but I've seen it in sch80-120 and 3-4' diameter. We use alot of the 6" sch 40 and it's so hard we bevel it with a grinder, you would wear your wheeler out before you chewed thru a piece of the heavy wall stuff.

I work for a large waste water organization and I've never seen any pipe that size.  The guys in the field might use it be we don't have any at the plants.  I'll ask around.  Thanks.


And thanks for the warm welcome everyone.  I'll be exploring the forum during my slow times at work tomorrow.

livemusic

I note that your location does not show when you post; it would helpful if you would amend your profile to include your location.

You have found some really big osage orange. Any idea how old a tree like that is? The ones we have around here grow rather short and gnarly and not straight and tall. Impressive trees you found.

Nice work you do. How many pounds of pull does a finished bow pull? How many pounds does one need to kill a deer?
~~~
Bill

BargeMonkey

 Didn't realize you had the experience and contacts in the industry. We have been on a little job trucking 4'x68'L steel pipe just about every day for the last 8 months, on that job lays all the SDR, tile, culvert and steel cutoffs some are bigger than 4', I saw your post and the light bulb went off and I said maybe I should save a few of those from the dumpster because when this phase of the job is done all the shorter stuff will be thrown out. Half why I even asked where you where from to see if I should scout the pile when i got home and grab a piece.

osage outlaw

Quote from: livemusic on February 21, 2017, 08:42:36 AM
I note that your location does not show when you post; it would helpful if you would amend your profile to include your location.

You have found some really big osage orange. Any idea how old a tree like that is? The ones we have around here grow rather short and gnarly and not straight and tall. Impressive trees you found.

Nice work you do. How many pounds of pull does a finished bow pull? How many pounds does one need to kill a deer?

I updated my location in my profile.  I'm in S.E. Indiana.

I'm not sure how old that tree was.  The growth ring ratio of early to late wood is important for bow making but I don't count the rings.  Usually osage trees are short and gnarly like what you described.  The trees on our property are different for some reason.  Some of them grow very tall and straight.

I like to make bows with a 45-55 lb draw weight for a hunting bow.  I've made them as light as 20 lbs for a young girl as a target bow. 

osage outlaw

Quote from: BargeMonkey on February 21, 2017, 08:53:23 AM
Didn't realize you had the experience and contacts in the industry. We have been on a little job trucking 4'x68'L steel pipe just about every day for the last 8 months, on that job lays all the SDR, tile, culvert and steel cutoffs some are bigger than 4', I saw your post and the light bulb went off and I said maybe I should save a few of those from the dumpster because when this phase of the job is done all the shorter stuff will be thrown out. Half why I even asked where you where from to see if I should scout the pile when i got home and grab a piece.

I'm not sure if I could get permission to take a section home.  They are a little funny about stuff like that.  Even if its going in the trash.  I live in S.E. Indiana.

osage outlaw

Quote from: barbender on February 19, 2017, 10:38:49 PM
Welcome to the forum. Do a forum search for the "deadheader log loader", one of those mounted on a small trailer might serve you nicely, it would certainly save your back!

Thank you very much for recommending that loader.  I had not seen anything like that before.  I am going to get a small trailer and make something like that instead of the atv log arch.  I was wanting to get a small trailer to use around the property anyway. 

dustyhat

Welcome as well Osage Outlaw, looks like your getting the job done. would like to get my hands on some of those trees.

horselogger50

Beautiful work on the hatchet and knife and bows.

78NHTFY

Very nice thread here!  And maybe some historical interest --am in middle of reading Stephen E. Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" and came across the following, where Lewis of the Lewis & Clark expedition of 1804 - 06,  as he camps near the Osage River/Missouri River, in Missouri, includes cuttings to be sent to Thomas Jefferson in Washington from trees gotten 300 miles to the West from the Osage Indian village.  He named the tree the "Osage apple" (now called Osage Orange) and said it was perfect for making bows, writing: "So much do the savages esteem the wood of this tree for the purpose of making their bows, that they travel many hundred of miles in quest of it."  Ambrose writes: "It was Lewis's first description of a plant unknown to science.  There are trees growing in Philadelphia (at Fourth and Spruce Streets) and the University of Virginia (at Morea, a guest house) today that grew from the cuttings Lewis sent.   All the best, Rob.
If you have time, you win....

wesdor

Welcome to the Forum.  You have some impressive work here!  I am especially impressed with the photo of the staves - that is a LOT OF WORK.  The handles are also top notch.

Has anyone mentioned that we love pictures?  And you have included some great ones.


osage outlaw

Thanks for the comments.  Osage trees have an interesting history.  They were utilized for hedge row fencing by the early settlers.  They spread them across a large part of the country.  Once barbed wire was invented the use of hedge rows faded away.  Our property lines are marked with osage trees planted a couple feet apart.  I'm guessing it was well over 100 years ago judging by the size of the trees.  Since then they have spread throughout our property. 

I got all of those logs split into chunks and stacked them in my garage to keep them dry.






After a few days of work I'm about half way done with the stack.  The pile on the left are the finished bow staves.   There is a red oak burl on the floor in front of the osage.  I cut it from a fallen tree.  I have a friend who turns bowls out of them. 




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