What kind of tree is this?

[wmfamily]

They are SO hard to kill.

Tordon will kill them pretty reliably. My Mom spent many a day in the pasture cutting and painting them. If you do not apply it immediately after cutting you most likely won't kill it.

 

[MossRoad]

Not that far from you and @MossRoad, I remember we used to have some huge specimens that were in the 50'+ range, 80-120 year old trees, based on the age of the houses around them. I think in the 1880s they were a popular ornamental tree in parts of the Midwest. I always thought they were a bit of a sleeper tree; no showy flowers, or scent, and then these cryptic fruit that suddenly were yellowish monsters.

All the best,

Peter

This is a friend of ours house... the entire north side is osage orange. Huge trees, some well over 2' in diameter and 60+ feet tall. We know, because they fall on his yard every year.

 

[Runner]

Here are a couple that have been trimmed up to look decent.

The branches tend to curl down toward the ground, you you have to keep after them... As mentioned, stumps just keep re-sprouting, even after multiple Roundup applications. I think these things would survive a nuclear attack. Note that even the tiniest little sprouts already have thorns on them.

Even if you grind them off, the sprouts come up out of the root system that is left underground.