I have a fence line of hedge trees. Probably a quarter of a mile long. I believe they could possibly be 80 years old or more. Could that be possible? They seem to be getting near the end of their life cycle if there is such a thing. The bark is getting loose and splitting on some. Some are cracking where the branches meet the trunk. Anyway I have cleared some brush and added some tile to this area and have plans to raise corn and beans along these hedge trees. So, I am thinking it is time to harvest them. I have a young farmer that needs hedge posts in order to fence his farm offer me 2 posts for every 3 that he takes. He will pile the unused branches/limbs. So, if he cuts 1000 posts he will get 600 and I will get 400. Plus he said he would buy some of my share if I didn't want all of them. Does this sharing arrangement seem fair? I don't know what hedge posts are bringing. I know they sell at livestock auction barns occasionally. I guess my main question relates to the "he gets 3 posts and I get 2 posts" arrangement. It doesn't sound to bad to me considering he is doing all of the work. Anyone have any thoughts?
- Thread starter andy r
- Start date
Adirondack case guy
Well-known Member
Wow, he does all the work and you sit back and watch your post pile grow. You not only have posts to sell, but you are getting tillable land back that has become overgrown. I would be out there at his side helping him.
Loren
Loren
David from Kansas
Well-known Member
In our area line posts (4" to 8" tops) sell for about $10 each. Big corners can go as high as $20. I agree with the other that you have been offered a fair deal. By the way, there are hedge (osage orange) rows in my neighborhood that are 100+ years old. I have a pasture that my grandfather owned that has many of the posts still in the fence that have been there longer than I can remember and I am almost 77 yrs old. If you ever plant a good hedge post you will never have to replace it, no matter what your age.
gene bender
Well-known Member
can you still drive a steeple into them they do get pretty hard with age
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
You've found a sucker grab the deal before he wises up.
hillbillyhim
Member
How long do the post need to be? Been thinking about cutting some on a farm we just bought. It was cut off about 40 years ago.
Moonlite37
Well-known Member
Bos D'Are, Hedge and Osage Orange are all the same. They bear a fruit that slightly resembles an orange or grapefruit. even the crooked limbs make good posts.Locust is different but also make good posts, both much better than treated posts
Bill in IL
Well-known Member
Sounds like a good deal for both. You will benefit greatly from the field cleanup alone. In this area line posts 7? long and 4-8? diameter will bring 8-14 dollars each depending upon size on a good day. Corner posts 8? long and will bring 15 and up to 30 for the super heavy ones.
With that said it he wants to be dishonest he could cut you a check for all the small posts or leave you a big mess but I dont see how you can loose with free fenceline clearing. Could be lots of good firewood after post cutting from an 80 year old fenceline.
With that said it he wants to be dishonest he could cut you a check for all the small posts or leave you a big mess but I dont see how you can loose with free fenceline clearing. Could be lots of good firewood after post cutting from an 80 year old fenceline.
Mike(NEOhio)
Well-known Member
- Location
- Newbury, Ohio
Osage are pretty common around here. FIL used to set them aside when he cut for firewood. A lot of the posts are still solid from who-knows-when they were put in. He would also save short pieces to make bucking and felling wedges. Very heavy and hard. Used to mallet heads and chisel handles, too.
That is a fair deal for you both. Years ago anything related to wood/trees was generally 50/50 share. With the higher cost of machinery and labor his 40%/60% is well in line.
I quit burning wood. I still have trees in the pastures/fence rows that need cut. I have two fellows that cut up the trees I want gone. They do a tremendous job cleaning up. They give me 20% of what they feel the wood is worth. I think it is a great deal for all involved.
I quit burning wood. I still have trees in the pastures/fence rows that need cut. I have two fellows that cut up the trees I want gone. They do a tremendous job cleaning up. They give me 20% of what they feel the wood is worth. I think it is a great deal for all involved.
Keith Molden
Well-known Member
Just remember, from experience we've had, if a hedge post dries out, it's like driving steeples into steel. They get hard, but will last. They also make excellent fire wood if split when still green.
Andy,dad had hedge posts cut in 1960. We set them in 1961. I was on the farm this past summer for the first time in 30 years. Those posts are as good as the day we set them. The corner posts still have the bark on them. They sell Staples for hedge posts. They are about 5/8th inch long. We used them, they are a little rusty but still holding the woven/barbed wire to the posts. Yes, hard to drive if your posts have been cut more than a year. The treated posts we used for "road fence" are rotted off long ago. You have been offered a super deal by this young man. He is probably gonna get awfully tired of dealing with the thorns and super heavy wood.
Sounds like a good deal to me. Not that I have any experience harvesting osage orange. My experience with it is my Grandpa and Great grandpa came out to the farm I am on now the year after they bought it with a railcar load of posts they harvested in Illinois. Put in fence that summer and moved out here the next year and our family has been here ever since. Posts are still here also and still good.
OH by the way, the summer they put in that fence was 13, 1913 to be exact.
jt
OH by the way, the summer they put in that fence was 13, 1913 to be exact.
jt
I have been renting (free) my neighbors farm for pasture. He is in his 90's now. Have a deal with him I cut the posts for me and take any firewood, burn the brush and take out the stumps with a grinder. Then pay him $2.00 for each post. His farm is over run with hedge trees.
Make sure and use Tordon RTU and treat the stumps as soon as you cut them or there will be a worse mess from sprouting within a year or two.
I treat them even if I plan to grind the stumps as they will sprout from the roots left behind.
Make sure and use Tordon RTU and treat the stumps as soon as you cut them or there will be a worse mess from sprouting within a year or two.
I treat them even if I plan to grind the stumps as they will sprout from the roots left behind.
I agree with the post below - you've found a sucker shake hands before he wises up. Back in high school I cut posts out of a neighbor's fence line. I kept all the posts as long as I cut the tree off at the ground and dragged the limbs into piles for him to burn. He got a clean fence line (he replaced the fence) and I got all the posts. I did leave him 4 to do the corner and brace posts.
IHC pickups
Member
Take the deal. I love cutting hedge posts and putting in fence.
Here in the flint hills of eastern KS. as long as the spring fires do not get to them they last a LONG LONG time. I planted some corners that were 14" across the bottom 15 years back and that fence is still bow string tight.
Here in the flint hills of eastern KS. as long as the spring fires do not get to them they last a LONG LONG time. I planted some corners that were 14" across the bottom 15 years back and that fence is still bow string tight.
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