White Oak or Black Locust

[Craig S.]

If storage space i an issue, locust is the easy choice because it seasons so much faster- nice score!! (but I haven't noticed any pics)

Here's what I piled up (there's more on the driveway not pictured. Will split and stack it tomorrow. Don't want to pile higher than the fence) Little red oak mixed in.

 

[weatherguy]

Lemme give you some advice........
Black Locust is def top of the list for best burning woods... period!
it wont rot so get all you can, stick where ever you can and don't worry about it.
Rent a uhaul truck or whatever is within reason and get as much as you possibly can!
There is a little learning curve to burning it. If you are splitting it, try to stack it by size.
The stuff burns like coal when all said and done, I take smaller splits and mix with bigger splits of oak.
During I pack stove full in the morning at 5am come home at 330 throw in a few pieces of other stuff load stove for the night at 6pm.
Using BL reduces my wood usage by almost a cord compared to using all red oak.. I don't have to fill the stove to the max unless it is one of the brutal winter days. I am heating about 2800sq ft with a summit that's basically at one end of my house.
BL is hard to find for firewood in the western mass so when anyone has it .... well you know
you will be very happy with the BL!
Good luck!

You guys have a lot more of it out your way than we have here in Central Mass, the only locust I ever got was from South Hadley after the Halloween snow storm, it was everywhere, there was some in Springfield after the tornado too but I missed out.

 

[Philbo]

Black locust is the only wood I will go to great, inconvenient, entirely inefficient lengths to obtain. There is quite a bit of standing dead BL trees on both of my opposing neighbors' properties. All of it is into the woods a bit and, being where we are in the Appalachians, it's all on some type of slope. Some of it is on some very steep slopes. Nonetheless, I have started felling and bucking (with neighbors' permission!) some of the smaller standing dead ones and trying to figure out the lesser of the evil ways to get it outta the woods and to the truck...

So far, bucking the whole tree then starting to chuck it downhill, piece by piece has been the winner...it beats loading up your arms and walking it out, but not by much. Most of this stuff is under 12" in diameter so not too big at this point. Everything I've split and tested with the moisture meter is already under 15%...still green locust still has a good bit of moisture in it and can take a while to dry, though. Looks like your stuff is still pretty fresh and not dead.

I write all this honkey-tonk to say that Black Locust is probably the most valuable/useful firewood I can think of, especially if it's already dead by the time you get to the scene. Nothing beats it.

 

[Flatbedford]

.
I write all this honkey-tonk to say that Black Locust is probably the most valuable/useful firewood I can think of, especially if it's already dead by the time you get to the scene. Nothing beats it.

Yup!

 

[albert1029]

Get all you can. even if its 3 splits at a time on a bicycle, it's worth it. Much better than any oak.

good one...

 

[oldspark]

Due to the drying time I would get the BL (done deal), but I did a side by side burn test a few years ago and could not tell much difference between BL and Bur Oak, both excellent woods.

 

[Craig S.]

Here's what I piled up (there's more on the driveway not pictured. Will split and stack it tomorrow. Don't want to pile higher than the fence) Little red oak mixed in.

In the spirit of my daughters' algebra homework, if this pile of rounds is 5' high, and about 14' long and the rounds are an average 18" long, what does this translate to when split & stacked?

 

[AmarilloSlim]

In the spirit of my daughters' algebra homework, if this pile of rounds is 5' high, and about 14' long and the rounds are an average 18" long, what does this translate to when split & stacked?

Drying Btu's?

 

[ShenValSteve]

We never got to burn locust when I was a kid growing up here in the Valley, everyone wanted all they could get their hands on for fence posts. I see a lot more store bought posts now, and I do sometimes get to burn some locust and love every second of it.