Took 80 posts to a Knights of Columbus consignment sale. The best big 10' posts about 12" at the base brought 47.50 each. Ill be cutting more of them next year. Overall average was $21 each. 10% commission which I saw as very reasonable. Should have kept the black locust for firewood. $3, $2, $1 . Lesson learned
Black locust dont sell where osage orange is king.

Sounds good. Peeled?

Yeah all locust in my world.
There was an art to bark removal.

I know of a whole one Osage tree.
Big, in a yard, and likely invasive lol.

Nice action Mr. Benson!!

I've heard of the legendary (or is it near legendary?) aspects of Osage orange for fence posts. Farmers (well, at least farmers that still have some cattle) and ranchers here in SD use some sort of wood for corner posts-- this is where I nail skunks by a hind foot to skin out, none of those things come home to my wife's house lot whole, but I don't know what kind of (now usually treated) wood is used for those posts.

We have no native Osage orange or wild locusts of any species. There are residential street locust trees that have been planted in my metro but most not recently.

A person would think that Osage orange would acclimatize their way north, just like possums did but I guess not.

Is black locust as trashy as buck thorn, that crap woody plant has made its way here? We like "smooth" bark trees, with no spikes or "needles" sticking out of them from the trunks.

Different trees in the next state over but that’s not uncommon the scrub oaks south of us by 50 miles are not common in central SD the small towns can have about anything most trees are planted so they must of picked what they wanted to plant. The farms and ranch shelter belts were mostly ash, elm, cedar and Russian Olive.

The kind of trees you’re selling I wish we had them here but they are not here that I’ve ever come across.

I cut hedge post to order for local farmers.
$50 for corners
$35 for brace posts
$20 for lines.
Tops I cut for firewood.

Not peeled. Most is getting too big for posts and is dozed out and burned.
Black locusts have thorns when they are small but they disappear when the trees get bigger.
With the arrival of skid loaders now they set some hedge corner posts that will be there 400 yrs from now.

We have plenty of hedge around here. I cut 2 trees last spring to replace the cedar posts in my split rail fence in front of the house.

But, how did you manage to find trees with 10' long straight trunks to make posts?

The old timers always said a hedge post would wear out two holes.

Ever consider splitting for bow staves?

I have a 5 gallon bucket of Osage Orange mush that I have rotted down over the winter. I got all my hedge balls from upstate Illinois, but have never seen them grow down where I live. Ive been washing the seeds out of the mush and plan to try and get a stand of them going for future use for firewood & posts. I believe the milled lumber is fairly valuable as well, no?

That's what I was thinking. I'd like to find a stave that's long enough for me to build a bow. Seems that most you see are a little shorter than I'd want.

Finding a quality pair of billets and splicing at the handle may be a better option for you. Much easier to find high quality osage billets, then a full length stave.

They don't build fences around here anymore, just bulldoze out all the old ones and grade them flat to get a few more rows of crops in. Same goes for all the old tree lines of hedge apple trees, push them all in a pile and burn them, then bury the remains and plant some beans or corn, spray on enough insecticide and herbicide to kill anything else. Stewards of the land.

That's what I'm probably going to have to do k snow. I'd just like to have one solid chunk.

Jayme,
common practice here too.

Same here........hundreds of Acres of cover for song birds, rabbits and other critters, all gone.

I have a dozen 72 inch staves I’m probably not going to use. I’ll make you a deal. Split, sealed and air dried for four years then kiln dried to 5.6%. These are first class staves but arthrites in my hands and carpel tunnel prevent me from making any more bows. I’m in the mood to sell at $50 apiece plus shipping.

Snap them up Big Sam!!

That's a very generous offer.