I cut osage alone, sometimes I put large trees on the ground and have to haul the quarters a long way back to the truck. On large trees, out in the middle of nowhere, my first split is done with a chainsaw, it is wedges and a sledge after that initial cut. The first split is the toughest and I prefer to spend 5 minuets with my chainsaw instead of up to 45 minutes banging on wedges. I cut whenever I find osage and get permission to cut, this almost always ends up in 95 degree weather so the chainsaw split is a much better option.
I find I occasionally cut through a snaky grain with my saw but width of my staves I can just about always compensate for the violation by moving the bow blank over a little on the stave.
