My exploits for today (Osage cuttin)

[Woodland Roamer]

WOW!! man that's some super nice looking osage you scored there cowboy!

Alan

[cowboy]

Sorry, didn't mean to get everybody stirred up . I figure thiers prolly somewhere between thirty to forty bows in there, I think.
 Hey Marie, I'd like to make it to the classic one day - would love to spend time with Pappy and the boys, and everyone else. If it all was to work out, I'd bring a load of staves.
 Lowell: Good reply, haha. if I had been drinking some beverage, I woulda blown some out of my nose - and ohh those growth rings, haha. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder anit it? Meant to count them to see how old the tree was, will do later.

[cowboy]

Been meaning to ask - anyone got any experience splitting out piggy backs?

[tom sawyer]

Looks like some premium staves in that log.

I've split piggybacks, not hard to do.  I like using a froe for this, but you can use narrow wedges or hatchets if you want.  usually you can pop off a piggyback stave that runs along just a couple of rings, and its easy to chase it down.  The inside ones are always knobbier than the outer stuff, more small branches that get covered over with succeeding years of wood.

[cowboy]

Thanks Lennie! Dad had a coupla froe's out in the tack room, I'll see if I can't retrieve one and giver a try.

[tom sawyer]

Glad to hear you have access to one.  Use a wooden mallet on it, or a piece of firewood works.  With the froe, if you start to run to the next ring one way or another, you can give the froe a bit of a twist the other way to get the blade back in the right ring.

[Roger]

Where'd ya say ya got that wood? Looks like my Honey Hole...

Nice haul Paul!...Looks like ya done good gett'en her split up. As straight as that wood is I would take my skill saw and kerf them quarters...might even be three staves in some of em.

R

[cowboy]

Hey Sparky - caught me online . I'm gonna try some piggy backs, then split them into thirds. Never tried to kerf one but will now, think I can get four staves out of most. Some of those quarters weighed somewhere around a hundred pounds - had too, I've handled lots of 100# burlap feed sacks and they were every bit of it.

 Have stumbled across a twenty incher today - in a different town. City guy told me their all fair game in that bunch - might need help

[Roger]

I'm old, but spry still....

And have a good chainsaw...LOL

[cowboy]

ahh, you aint that old!! I have two chainsaws getting new teeth right now. Check your PM

[DanaM]

  Life just ain't fair sometimes

[RidgeRunner]

Cowboy:
I have had much better luck starting the piggy back split at the " stump " end of the log and going up.
Much less tear out.  Follow the growth ring you plan to split up the stave and make sure you will have enough wood in the handle sections.
It is easy to short yourself in the handle area splitting piggy backs.

David

[cowboy]

Thanks David, I'm going to give it a go sometime in the next week. I always start my split at the stump end of logs - they seem to split nicer, just stands to reason piggy backs would be the same. Don't worry DanaM

[DanaM]

Actually I just heard thru the grapevine of an area in downstate michigan that has osage
now if I could only get down there and get some. may have to talk michbowguy(jamie2)
when he gets back from cali. Post some pics of the belly split process I tried doing some with
hard maple it worked so so

[cowboy]

Went ahead and cut that otherin. Had someone to help me up until it was time (had other obligation's) that's at least nine times out of ten usually. This one had a good section of trunk - the rest of it was firewood. Not something i'd smoke a brisket with, but works great for cookin flint . Really need to get serious about getting my huntin gear together, but I'm opportunistic - if it arrises I'll take it ................shew .





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