Burning Locust

Crabby said:

Just wondering if anyone burns nothing but locust. If so how was it? I have 4 cords of nothing but locust to burn this year in my Englander 30. I am just wondering how the temps were just burning locust, I am afraid it may burn way to hot. I don't want to stuff it full and burn run it like normal if it's going to get away from me on the temps. I am just curious to see if anyone out there has done this.

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I have never burned it but I have a few cords of it drying for use next winter so I will watch this thread with interest.

I've burned a fair amount of locust over the years and found it to burn similar to oak. As far as burning too hot, every stove and flue arrangement is going to be a bit different, so it's important to monitor your own situation to determine how it's going to burn. Of course, a lot has to do with how dry the wood is. Start by mixing some in with other wood to see what you notice. If you don't have anything but locust then just go easy with the initial burns until you find out how it's going to burn in your set up.

I've burned full loads of BL and never had a problem but never burned it in a big non cat like the NC30. I think you'd be fine, maybe just throttle back a little sooner than normal.

I have a hard time getting it going as I doesn't like to take off by itself. Have had good luck putting a small split or two of something lighter (silver maple) with a load of BL. Then hang on for the ride. She likes to burn hot!

I request 100% locust from my wood guy, and for the past two yrs have burned ~ 6 cords.

this may seem silly, but besides burning very hot, I like the way it burns down, and the remaining ash is easier to shovel - for some strange reason...

You didn't specify black or honey, don't know if it makes a difference. I burned quite a bit of straight honey locust last year, that had been split and dried just 1 year, and it burned ok, but needed the second year of drying. I tried to mix it as much as possible with other wood, as it would coal up pretty bad in my stove. With just a couple of sticks of another species, usually ash or oak, it would burn down pretty good. Didn't have a problem with overheating the stove though, my BK has pretty good air control.

I'm very new to wood burning but I have 2.5 yr old bl been in a shed and is dry as can be and it burns very very hot in my 13-nc almost to hot for my liking right now learning the stove.

My word of caution is to watch for sparks when opening the door on locust. I've never burned wood that sparks as much as it does.

Last season I burned 1.5 yr old BL and red oak separately. In my set up I noticed longer hot burns (8.5-10hrs) with minimum ash burning the BL. The red oak had a higher peak temp with a little shorter of a burn (8-9hrs) with bit more ash.

As other mentioned, every set up is different. I'll have a better report once we get further into this season. Now that same wood is 2.5 yrs old. I'm getting well ahead of my consumption.

I mostly have all oak and locust with some ash and maple mixed in. Personally I wouldn't fill up a non-cat with all locust because it will burn very very hot. Try to mix it with some other wood if you have it. Now if I had a cat stove I wouldn't hesitate to fill it to the brim with locust. In fact I put in 3 large locust splits and 3 oak splits in the stove at 2 this afternoon and the stove cruised at 750 for 2 and a half hours. If the other three would have been locust I would have hated to see how hot the stove would have gotten.

I have stuffed my Fireview with BL and had no problems. But the Fireview is a very easy to control stove. Yes, it can be hard to get started. When I was in the BL only section of my stack I split a bunch of it way down to kindling size for when I was restarting without a real good bed of coals. I also found that even with a good bed of coal it was best to reload in stages. I got going again faster with less smoke that way. About 1/2 my wood this year is BL. Seasoned from 2 years on up. Some was very, very deadfall 2 1/2 years ago. It was almost like petrified wood when I processed it. Sparks off the chain and all. Should be toasty.

Flatbedford said:

Some was very, very deadfall 2 12 years ago. It was almost like petrified wood when I processed it. Sparks off the chain and all. Should be toasty.

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I can relate to that, the dead standing will test your file skills.

My personal favorite Crabby, I can pack the Summit full and it heats and controls great, I have also learned it gets even better with 4 year + if you can keep a prime stash that long.

I burn full loads of BL no problem just keeps us warm.

I'd probably be an unhappy camper with nothing but BL to burn. Ideally, would want to have at least 25% softer woods on hand to mix in and help with startups.

Having said that, if necessary I could probably adjust to an exclusive BL diet; just wouldn't want to be forced to do so.

philaphire said:

My word of caution is to watch for sparks when opening the door on locust. I've never burned wood that sparks as much as it does.

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Have you tried burning Mulberry yet? Talk about sparks ......YIKES

philaphire said:

My word of caution is to watch for sparks when opening the door on locust. I've never burned wood that sparks as much as it does.

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I don't think locust (at least BL) sparks at all. Does anyone else think locust sparks?

gzecc said:

Does anyone else think locust sparks?

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Like the fourth of July!

philaphire said:

My word of caution is to watch for sparks when opening the door on locust. I've never burned wood that sparks as much as it does.

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There's a burn mark on my rug that agrees with this comment...

BL is a very tight grain wood. Looking at the cut end you barely can see grain or rings so it will burn pretty hot and long. I've burnt quite a bit.
I really like it. It has to be dry. Like red oak 3 years seasoning. I do feel it burns much better with some other softer wood with it.
I do burn it by itself and it does spark up the stove. I think in a fireplace it would burn a rug pretty good. Mulberry and osage too.

I've burned many full loads of 30+ year old shed-stored locust in my castine. You've gotta be careful, but nothing about it ever felt dangerous. I agree with what others have said - startups can be smokey and STINK if you don't add something that'll light off quickly, whether that's another type of wood, or just some BL split into small kindling. It's kinda like coal - easier to burn if you keep it going, but you can't beat the heat.

Let it dry till the rings split then it will burn.

A place I cut has tons of dead BL this picture was taked the day it was cut and split.

I wouldn't burn exclusively locust until the middle of winter. I don't have a lot so I like to save it for really cold weather. I have pine, maple, cherry, and walnut for shoulder season and transition to mostly red oak and locust as it starts to get colder (which apparently will be next week!).

gzecc said:

I don't think locust (at least BL) sparks at all. Does anyone else think locust sparks?

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Yeah, sparks pretty good for me! I love BL though nonetheless.