# hedge good or bad to burn?



## jdscj8 (Apr 14, 2009)

is hedge good or bad to burn i know it don't cut worth a crap really hard. But does it burn good?


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## Cutter (Apr 14, 2009)

Can't beat it. Once you get past the thorns. I have been burning nothing but Hedge for three years now. Dry splits flash on like gasoline, and large rounds burn for hours.
Brad


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## Flatbedford (Apr 14, 2009)

What does hedge look like? I don't think we have that here in the East. Some kind of thorny tree?


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## SlyFerret (Apr 14, 2009)

Some people call it Osage Orange, some call it Hedge or Hedge Apple (it's the one that drops those grapefruit sized green balls).

It's fantastic firewood.  It's a little slow to season, but it burns for forever in your stove.  I had about a quarter of a cord of Osage this winter.  I managed to get some crazy long burn cycles out of it.

When you cut it, it's bright orange inside.  Overtime, the color fades to a duller yellowish color.

Watch the thorns and the fine sawdust.

-SF


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## Flatbedford (Apr 14, 2009)

Interesting. I don't think we have those around here. Or, if we do, I've never seen one.


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## Wet1 (Apr 14, 2009)

They are common around the great plains and somewhat to the south.  I've seen them in the Ohio River Valley and as far east as Eastern PA, but not in New England (although there could be a few around).


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## Adios Pantalones (Apr 15, 2009)

You won't finf it in most of NY.  I have a small one that I planted from seed in my yard.

AKA osage, osage orange, bois d'arc, bodark, and others.  Great bow wood.


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## johnn (Apr 15, 2009)

Not worth a Darn,,,I`ll come get it!

  Osage Orange (hedge) = MBTU`s/cord
                                             32.9           Don`t ovefire the stove my friend! Learn the wood before you let just anyone load-er up!


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## Jamess67 (Apr 15, 2009)

Thats a long drive ml. Ill be a nice guy and split the gas for half the load of the crappy wood...lol


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## jdscj8 (Apr 15, 2009)

it grows all over here the old timers grew it for fence posts cause it lasts for a long time without rotting. tomorrow im taking about a half mile of them out along our fence line, its so over grown. just wondering there so hard i didnt know if they would burn hot or not. thank you.   Ill put some picks up tomorrow, with the 988 cat after i push them into piles.


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## johnn (Apr 15, 2009)

That seems to be where the most of hedge is growing in this area also. Probably for the same reason?  I have an old insert that extends onto my hearth by about 8",,,the top plate which usually has cast iron pot holders on it, holds nick nacks. we`ll somehow an antique silver salt shaker jumped off and got itself melted into an unrecognizable pile of silver :ahhh:  Believe it or not,,that area serves as a air chamber for the two vents at the top of my burner supplying forced air from my blower. Ther is like a 6" c-channel welded to the top plate on the inside of my stove , serving as a manifold,,,the heat penetrated this air cooled area and still melted the shaker hh:  Enjoy the HEAT! Start with small loads! I think I`ll wait till gas prices drop again,,,i`ve always wanted to see Nebraska.  I didnt know "cat" made a camera ;-)


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## johnn (Apr 15, 2009)

Sorry jamess67: Got kinda confused on who and where. Sure,,,it`s a deal! Think he has enough for a trailler? Lets take one of those big boy trucks you have! 
 Nice Tree Id section you have! Are you burning with that VC you posted about in 07?


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## Jamess67 (Apr 15, 2009)

Hmm VC having a brain fart. But if its the small stove I posted yes I am. Its rated at 74% efficient, (with a grain of salt). Works great albeit a small firebox. I dont have any big trucks, must have me confused. I do have a trailer though..lol 
I have the tree pics in a zip file I can send you if you wish. Just need email addy.


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## Adios Pantalones (Apr 15, 2009)

A shallow trench is dug along the fence line.  Hedge apples are left to rot and the mash is poured in the trench.  The osage grows up so thick and thorny that livestock can't walk through it- instant fence row.  The wood is incredibly rot resistant.


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## Flatbedford (Apr 15, 2009)

Natural barb wire huh?


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## smokinj (Apr 15, 2009)

Flatbedford said:
			
		

> Natural barb wire huh?


its like cutting barb wire as well


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## Adios Pantalones (Apr 15, 2009)

IIRC, it's the densest wood native to the US.  I've cut into it and seen color ranging from fluorescent yellow to redish orange.  The wood will eventually turn a dark chocolate color (after many years).  I've had mild contact dermatitis from getting the fine sawdust on me in the summer.


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## jdscj8 (Apr 15, 2009)

heres a few pics of how we do things around these parts LOL.  Pics were with a canon, i had to put the cat to work.  there is a pic of before and the rest are after.  the cut stuff is the starting of my, i think 2020 burning year, LOL. my friend kenny helped by cutting everything for me, now i owe him all the wood he wants and alot of beer tonight.  i think were going to try burning some next year and see what it does if it goes good then i will have more piled up to take it off of. the hedge here is bright yellow.  some of this is stuff my great great grandpa planted at least 100 years ago but then it just got out of contol.  i took more out then planed i was having to much fun but oh well. all the pics are of different piles.  let me know what yall think of my back yard remodel.  JD                                                         http://picasaweb.google.com/jdscj8/FenceLine?authkey=Gv1sRgCMnN6daYguaiNg&feat=directlink


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## johnn (Apr 15, 2009)

Thanks Adios! that explains a lot of the hedge row questions. Never knew that mash trench approach. By the way,,just yesterday I came across in some readings,,,Kaolin Clay,,, Is it readilly available?

  Sorry Jamess67! I was in the photo buckett very briefly and saw a couple trucks thinking they were yours> I also didnt scroll back to verify VC, however yes I believe were talking about the same stove. I also think that I came across the trees from an earlier post,,,least wise the page layout looked the same, I`ll PM you,,,thanks john


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## stockdoct (Apr 16, 2009)

Natural barb wire huh?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exactly.

Osage Orange has an important part of American history.   In the southern midwest, it was planted tightly together in a long line, or hedge, stretching for miles.  Cows and horses were corralled in by the twisted barbs, and property owners designated their lot-lines with "hedge" wood.  Supposedly, in the early 1900, there were 100,000 miles of O.O planted throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas as a natural barbed wire/property line.


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## Cutter (Apr 16, 2009)

I have read somewhere that an 8" fence post of OO will only lose one inch in size after being in the ground for 100 years. The stuff just does not rot. We have a pipeline that cuts through our land. It was installed in the late 1950s. Along the edges of the easement there are still piles of hedge that is still very sound. Only a little bit of lichens growing on them. I have considered cutting some of it up to burn but it is so darn hard that ie eats up chains like Cheetos. So I only cut it when it is green.
Brad


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## smokinj (Apr 16, 2009)

Cutter said:
			
		

> I have read somewhere that an 8" fence post of OO will only lose one inch in size after being in the ground for 100 years. The stuff just does not rot. We have a pipeline that cuts through our land. It was installed in the late 1950s. Along the edges of the easement there are still piles of hedge that is still very sound. Only a little bit of lichens growing on them. I have considered cutting some of it up to burn but it is so darn hard that ie eats up chains like Cheetos. So I only cut it when it is green.
> Brad


Get the in-ject-chain from baileys 35 cents a drive length it cuts slow but well worth it (that wood will be the best wood you every had!)


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## jdscj8 (Apr 16, 2009)

So when i burn it i should mix bigger rounds in with my walnut and oak to keep it from over firing. we are putting in a new Blazeking king parlor model in a few weeks so its going to be a learning experince in its self. i'm not to sure how to run these cat stoves yet and would hate to over fire it right from the start.


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## KarlP (Apr 16, 2009)

Its not coated in gasoline or anything.  A couple pieces aren't going to overfire the stove.  Just don't stuff your firebox full of it in single digit temps without working your way up to it and knowing how your stove reacts.  Start with a 1/2 load and watch the stove temp for a while.  Then a 2/3rds load, etc....


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## smokinj (Apr 16, 2009)

jdscj8 said:
			
		

> So when i burn it i should mix bigger rounds in with my walnut and oak to keep it from over firing. we are putting in a new Blazeking king parlor model in a few weeks so its going to be a learning experince in its self. i'm not to sure how to run these cat stoves yet and would hate to over fire it right from the start.


you save that wood for jan. feb.


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## Flatbedford (Apr 16, 2009)

jdscj8,
That quite a lawn tractor you've got there.


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## mike1234 (Apr 17, 2009)

jdscj8 said:
			
		

> is hedge good or bad to burn i know it don't cut worth a crap really hard. But does it burn good?



It's horrible, so I will just come and take it off you hands for you, and it's not that long of a drive for me.  It'd be nice if you'd cut it up in 24" long lengths for me, and split the big stuff, just for taking it off of your hands!   :cheese: 

It burns HOT, it has low water content the day after you cut it, I save all of mine for the really cold weather, and burn everything else when above 0.  
One stove salesman told me that anyone who burns it exclusively will warp their stove, not sure if he was full of something or if that is close to the truth, but ou might want to watch it.  It pops like crazy, so be careful with it.

As for rotting, it is used for fence posts around here, because it is too hard for the termites to mess with, but if you don't get your fence staples pounded in the first year, you might never get them in.  I found some old posts someone had cut up on my property over 11 years ago (that is how long I have lived here, and I didn't do it), they were laying in the dirt, and in some places covered with dirt, and I could of used them for fence posts, but I cut them up for firewood.  I figure I only have another 4 or 5 years to burn them before they start to rot.


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## johnn (Apr 17, 2009)

You`re really getting some good friends off this post!! If your other two buddies get there before me  that`s OK,,,I like Oak and Walnut also :coolsmirk:  Just put it in a pile of its own and tell, everyone in the house "HandsOff". All good info above,,You`ll see the difference when you decide its time to try it. Its the air rushing in when you go to add more that really gets the popping going.


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## wendell (Apr 17, 2009)

SlyFerret said:
			
		

> (it's the one that drops those grapefruit sized green balls).



Finally I know what kind of trees those are. And now, I really want to cut one down and burn it!


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## jdscj8 (Apr 17, 2009)

My wife still thinks i go alittle overboard with it when i take it out. But bigger is better right?


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## jdscj8 (Aug 5, 2009)

Grandma always told me to cut them green fruit balls up that fall off the trees and put them around the house (basement, under bed), barn, wood pile, where ever to keep the spiders, ants, and other bugs away. A few years ago my wife thought grandma was nuts and got rid of all them, and within a week spiders and all kinds of bugs were invading the house, so she cut some more up and within a few days the bugs were gone again. Now when grandma tells her old remidies she listens.


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## smokinj (Aug 5, 2009)

jdscj8 said:
			
		

> is hedge good or bad to burn i know it don't cut worth a crap really hard. But does it burn good?




it cuts ok with a 70+ cc saw and a very sharp stihl rs chain


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## leftyscott (Aug 6, 2009)

Wet1 said:
			
		

> They are common around the great plains and somewhat to the south.  I've seen them in the Ohio River Valley and as far east as Eastern PA, but not in New England (although there could be a few around).



I grew up in eastern PA (Bethlehem).  Growing up, we called 'em "monkey ball trees".  
Some genius thought it was a good idea to plant one on the grounds of my elementary school.  We had some great monkey ball fights when those suckers dropped on the ground.


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