locust Update

[Henz]

Awhile back I was telling you about this free locust that I got.. I split it all up about three weeks ago and it sits in my yard in three seperat piles. I would say that combined there is 2.5 cord..I was out yesterday checking it out and I think its drying pretty well in that het/sun we had the past 4 days. Once I get it stacked, we will see what happends. many said that it needs a solid 12 months of drying..However, I will be burning it come September giving it about 6 months/

 

[Todd]

Keep us updated. I have 3 cords of the stuff that I plan on burning after I get through 3 cords of oak.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

locust is screaming hot burning wood, youre gonna love it , make sure it dries sufficientlt though , its dense stuff, i love it as long as i dont cut it , its tough on chains , dulls em fairly quickly

 

[Henz]

you see, we had a discussion on this awhile back and I still say that this locust is not really dense at all and its light. An equal sized stick of hard maple would weigh close to 2x as much as the locust would. Must be different parts of the country it is different or something.

 

[Jags]

you see, we had a discussion on this awhile back and I still say that this locust is not really dense at all and its light. An equal sized stick of hard maple would weigh close to 2x as much as the locust would. Must be different parts of the country it is different or something.

Then this stuff ain't the locust that I know. The locust I know will outweigh oak and be comparible to hickory or osage when properly seasoned.

 

[Henz]

nope, definatly not the same, but this stuff is locust..Real thick bark and a yellowish heartwood..I gotta take some pics of it and I will post them.

 

[Mike Wilson]

Sounds almost like black locust, which is what I burn, but yours seems lighter. Regular black locust is heavy as sin, "weave" style bark, and burns forever... its the closest thing to coal I know. Loaded up the stove one night with it, left the next day and did not fill the stove, got home at night and restarted a fire... 22 hours after the last load. Rare, but sweet ;-)

Post a pic.

-- Mike

 

[Todd]

My Black locust is light also. But I think it has been dead for a quite awhile and there were carpenter ants inside some of it. I tried sticking my moisture meter into some splits, and the stuff is hard as a rock. Now you guys got me wondering if this really is black locust?

 

[jason1238]

Adirondack,

Take a piece of that and strip the bark off it. If it's locust, it will come off fairly easily and leave really stringy papery strips attached to the sapwood. If you put a glove on and rub off the papery stuff, you should find little spike starts sticking off the wood. It would seem strange if you do indeed have locust wood that is "light". The stuff I hauled was very much like lead.

I burned some deadfall locust just at the end of this season...I would take it over just about any other firewood out there! It truly does burn like coal, with low blue flames, and I have restarted from coals 18 hours later. If locust is what you have, you're in for a treat!

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Like these others have said, if what you have is Black Locust then you have some of the best "kick-ass" firewood going. It usually dries fairly fast, and is very tough on chains when cutting, and should still be heavy when completely seasoned. Great stuff..

 

[jpl1nh]

Sure looks like locust to me. If you get to see the tree when its live, its one of the ugliest damn trees goin. Makes a mess all over the place, Japanese beetles chew the leaves right up and they fall off early, they look kinda sumac like but finer, the tree produces bean like seed pods and they fall all over the place, plus its always shedding twigs and stuff. Pain in the butt tree! It grows easily from root suckers and is kind of a weed around here in places. I don't know anyone who would plant black locust (except wood burning people) though there are some nice ornamental locust varieties. I just scored 3-4 cord various length for free. The big stuff was about 22 to 24" diam, but the bark was close to 3" thick! When the bark came off it was only 18". Very yellow wood, the grain is kind of curvy and wavy, like sand dunes or a Wyeth painting, very different looking. It is kind of light in a way yet it is HARD wood. My Stihls recovering from a weekend with it. I'm probably not gonna burn most of it til 2009 but from everything I've read I'm looking forward to it,

 

[RonB]

Todd, I'm not so sure you have black locust either. The bark is similar, but my black locust is a uniform cream/yellow color throughout. I passed up some locust that looked similar to your photos the other day because it wasn't as dense as I knew it should be. I went on to fill up my truck with red oak and hickory instead. They were so much denser and I didn't have room for the other locust. Good timing on that find. I had just left Rehab (for my shoulder) and the power line crews were trimming. I just couldn't pass up free fresh hard wood!! Needless to say, my shoulder is still sore. Ha Ha.

 

[Henz]

Well, the bark definatly looks like that and its thick. Comes off pretty easily but the heartwood is like greenish/yellow (since its freshly cut).. I had at the same time some sugar maple that I was bucking up and my Husky 357XP felt that the hard maple was way tougher on the chain than the locust..I will definatly get some pics and post next week.

 

[tradergordo]

I don't know anyone who would plant black locust (except wood burning people) though there are some nice ornamental locust varieties.

It was on the "about forestry" top 10 list of invasive species to avoid (if you let it, it will spread and create a thorny brush). But I did some research on what the best tree would be to plant for firewood - and it seems almost unanimous that Black Locust is #1. It grows FAST (10 years to harvest), when you cut it down, it grows back from the stump using the existing root system (for fast new trees). Its not too hard to split. And its one of the highest BTU woods to exist. People make fence posts out of it - they reportedly can last for as long as 100 years.

I haven't actually planted any yet but they grow in various places (woods and borders) in my town. I gathered seed pods last fall, and have at least 20 of them germinated right now and about 10 already growing in small containers. If anyone is interested in growing them, I can post tips on getting those seeds to germinate quickly (3 days). And if anyone wants free seeds viable for this year, I've got lots of extras - just PM me and send a self addressed stamped envelope.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Another neat thing about black locust is that it's a legume, which means that it fixes nitrogen into the soil, just like a bean plant. You will notice that other species of trees and plants growing around black locust groves grow better than average. The downside of locust is that it grows tall with a wide canopy, so it shades out competing trees, like pine. So you get fertile soil, but a lack of sunlight.

 

[Todd]

Well, the guys that cut it down for the city said it was Locust and while I was bucking it, I noticed that even tho it was lighter than similar sized oak and maple it was alot tougher to get through and my chains didn't last long. I can barely pound a nail into a split of this stuff. The heartwood color is yellow/green and white just under the bark. What ever it is it's going in the stove!

 

[Henz]

YEAH THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE STUFF i HAVE!

 

[Todd]

Any pics yet? I'd like a comparison.

 

[Jimfound]

My Black locust is light also. But I think it has been dead for a quite awhile and there were carpenter ants inside some of it. I tried sticking my moisture meter into some splits, and the stuff is hard as a rock. Now you guys got me wondering if this really is black locust?

Thats Black Locust allright. The yellow color of the wood is usually a good tip off. Also is very stringy if you cut it relatively green. The bark definitely has a papery underlayer as someone mentioned as well. Great firewood.

BTW...new here. Hey everybody.

 

[Mike Wilson]

FYI, I know that around here, and in parts of the UK, Black Locust is referred to as the Shipmast Tree. Apparently they planted forests of it here, for use on ships, etc. It generally grows very fast and straight, and is very tough. Not quite oak, but much faster growing.

-- Mike

 

[Gooserider]

I don't know anyone who would plant black locust (except wood burning people) though there are some nice ornamental locust varieties.

It was on the "about forestry" top 10 list of invasive species to avoid (if you let it, it will spread and create a thorny brush). But I did some research on what the best tree would be to plant for firewood - and it seems almost unanimous that Black Locust is #1. It grows FAST (10 years to harvest), when you cut it down, it grows back from the stump using the existing root system (for fast new trees). Its not too hard to split. And its one of the highest BTU woods to exist. People make fence posts out of it - they reportedly can last for as long as 100 years.

I haven't actually planted any yet but they grow in various places (woods and borders) in my town. I gathered seed pods last fall, and have at least 20 of them germinated right now and about 10 already growing in small containers. If anyone is interested in growing them, I can post tips on getting those seeds to germinate quickly (3 days). And if anyone wants free seeds viable for this year, I've got lots of extras - just PM me and send a self addressed stamped envelope.

Sounds like cool stuff - does anyone know if it will grow in northern MA? (I figure zone 5?)

The GF's property has lots of swamp maples on it that I'm gradually taking down, (many of them are not real healthy) and I wouldn't mind planting something that is a better burning replacement tree...

However you mention it growing into a thorny bush if left alone - what do you need to do to stop that?

Gooserider

 

[count brewski]

Save the bark, it's the best kindling in the world

 

[tradergordo]

Its NATIVE range only goes as far north as Pennsylvania, however it is currently growing in all 48 continental states including Maine. Its a pretty vigorous tree that can grow under diverse conditions. Unfortunately for you, Massachusetts is THE ONLY state that specifically PROHIBITS black locust imports/planting despite the fact that it is already growing in every county in your state except for one (an island). To control the brush you would need to mow or weed wack around the trees occasionally, or just pinch/twist/cut new shoots as they pop up.

Sounds like cool stuff - does anyone know if it will grow in northern MA? (I figure zone 5?)

The GF's property has lots of swamp maples on it that I'm gradually taking down, (many of them are not real healthy) and I wouldn't mind planting something that is a better burning replacement tree...

However you mention it growing into a thorny bush if left alone - what do you need to do to stop that?

Gooserider

 

[jpl1nh]

I don't know anyone who would plant black locust (except wood burning people) though there are some nice ornamental locust varieties.

It was on the "about forestry" top 10 list of invasive species to avoid (if you let it, it will spread and create a thorny brush). But I did some research on what the best tree would be to plant for firewood - and it seems almost unanimous that Black Locust is #1. It grows FAST (10 years to harvest), when you cut it down, it grows back from the stump using the existing root system (for fast new trees). Its not too hard to split. And its one of the highest BTU woods to exist. People make fence posts out of it - they reportedly can last for as long as 100 years.

I haven't actually planted any yet but they grow in various places (woods and borders) in my town. I gathered seed pods last fall, and have at least 20 of them germinated right now and about 10 already growing in small containers. If anyone is interested in growing them, I can post tips on getting those seeds to germinate quickly (3 days). And if anyone wants free seeds viable for this year, I've got lots of extras - just PM me and send a self addressed stamped envelope.

Sounds like cool stuff - does anyone know if it will grow in northern MA? (I figure zone 5?)

The GF's property has lots of swamp maples on it that I'm gradually taking down, (many of them are not real healthy) and I wouldn't mind planting something that is a better burning replacement tree...

However you mention it growing into a thorny bush if left alone - what do you need to do to stop that?
Goose, maybe black birch would be a good choice to introduce. It likes pretty much the same conditions swamp (I think thats the same as red) maple does. Black birch is pretty fast growing, attractive, easy to split, tastes great!, and is excellent firewood. Certainly zone appropriate for your area.

Gooserider

 

[Eric Johnson]

There's quite a bit growing in Central New York and a lot around where I grew up in Wisconsin. I don't think it does as well further north. Like Red Oak, there's none that I'm aware of in the Adirondacks, but some a little further south.

The green colored wood is the sure tip-off. There's no stronger domestic wood than black locust, I don't believe. And it's the best firewood you can burn.