BLACK LOCUST?

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I just got a load of what I believe is locust. I thought it was black locust, but it may or may not be. (Pic below)

The pic of the small pile of logs (page 2 of this post) by Coal Reaper looks like black walnut to me. I have a bunch of that ready for this season!
 

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I just got a load of what I believe is locust. I thought it was black locust, but it may or may not be. (Pic below)

The pic of the small pile of logs (page 2 of this post) by Coal Reaper looks like black walnut to me. I have a bunch of that ready for this season!

Hard to see, but looks like Honey Locust. Awesome score!
 
Mo congrats yet. Gotta unload trailer of oak before i go get this. Truck is packed to the top of the cap too. Maybe ill just take the old truck for a workout.

Get the locust, it is better than oak. Oak rots, locust doesn't.
 
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After waiting three years, I am just now getting into my Red Oak, and so far, I;m thinking that last year's one year seasoned Black Locust was a better fuel than the Oak. Maybe I'll switch to a BL, Oak mix.
 
Nice fishin. The last pic i posted may very well be black walnut.

A third of the trees on my property are oak, along with poplar and some black birch. Is there a secrete to keeping oak from rotting? What factors make it rot? Bark? Humid climate? Rain? All of the above? Think small splits are better so it seasons faster and not left so long to be susceptible to rotting?
 
Split and of the ground, Oak should hold up just fine for a few years. I am burning Red Oak right now that was cut split and stacked in 2009 and there is no rot. Some fungus here and there, but no rot. It was stacked three rows deep on pallets in good sun and never covered. I have cut Red Oak logs that have sat on the ground for 5 years and only the bark was rotten. I wouldn't worry too much.
 
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Every month I'm cutting dead mostly Red/Black Oak that's been on the ground for up to 10 years at least.Some is marginal (maybe a few small hollow spots/ants/grubs or some soft patches) but most is very good to excellent.Up in the air or leaning against another tree it lasts even longer.Some of the dead White Oak has been gone 20 years,that stuff is incredible once the bark & sapwood are rotted away.Not unusual to see a few sparks when cutting that.
 
Nice fishin. The last pic i posted may very well be black walnut.

A third of the trees on my property are oak, along with poplar and some black birch. Is there a secrete to keeping oak from rotting? What factors make it rot? Bark? Humid climate? Rain? All of the above? Think small splits are better so it seasons faster and not left so long to be susceptible to rotting?

Rotting, bugs, fungus, and wet are the common causes here. Most of the oak here is Oregon white oak, and it rots pretty fast on the ground. Bugs drill into it and it truns pithy pretty fast (3 inch stuff goes in a season on the ground). Fixable by keeping it off the ground and dry, or leaving it as a standing snag and falling it later for firewood. I found that my birch that I dropped on my property 2 years ago did not keep very well in the racks. Some cherry that I scrounged for after it was left on the ground was pretty rotten after 4 years. The cherry that I cut from my property here is all fine though. The cottonwood I cut is finally dry after 2 seasons, though we did not have a summer here last year. This year we had a long late summer and no rain for 3 months straight. A record here, and I finally have a lot of good dry wood to burn this fall/winter season. This year I have a selection of: black locust, doug fir, alder, cottonwood, maple, cherry, birch and mimosa. I never burned mimosa before. I will not run out of wood this year and I am building up for next. Next year I have white oak and more fir.

People simply do not know what black locust is here, or if they do, they do not know how to burn it. It is up there just after madrone in my book. Madrone is what I consider the best in premium firewood. I do not have any madrone to burn here now though. Tonight it is barely above freezing, so I just tossed a nice fat BL log onto my stove for the night. It will coal up nicely by morning.
 
Nice fishin. The last pic i posted may very well be black walnut.

A third of the trees on my property are oak, along with poplar and some black birch. Is there a secrete to keeping oak from rotting? What factors make it rot? Bark? Humid climate? Rain? All of the above? Think small splits are better so it seasons faster and not left so long to be susceptible to rotting?

Being on the ground or uncovered next to a building.

It is not that oak just rots away if properly cared for; it doesn't. It is just that locust can be neglected, abused, heck buried in loam and still doesn't rot.
An example is one storm I gathered so much wood that I didn't finish processing for five years. The red oak at the bottom of the pile was junk, the locust pristine.
White oak is far more rot resistant than red, but not nearly so much as locust.
 
Yah, people pay big money to stay in shape? Run about with a chainsaw and a spliting maul and you are good to go.
 
Finally got the two loads of locust and trailer of oak all split up. Three cords maybe for 2014/15. I love big rounds with all that heartwood. Still got more bl at friends place.
 

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That looks very good. You'll be reaping some nice coals in your fireplace in the future. Enjoy.
 
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