Whoa not so fast!

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Richie

Burning Hunk
Aug 13, 2013
157
Central PA
Everyone here rages on the fact that black locust seasons in a year. I was burning some one year stuff (even though I knew better). The cat was stalling and a terrible mess on the glass. I go out today and moisture meter it, it is sitting at 28-29%. If people are not liking locust I know why. It takes time to bring it to perfection. I am in PA and I know different geographies lend different results however my two year stuff is between 20-22%. It really takes three years to make locust scream and I am lucky to have 5 year stuff that is outrageous.
 
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I haven't been fortunate to find any locust in my scrounging. Yet... Haha
 
None of that for me either. It is funny how some wood takes longer than others, but it all depends on the area and geography. Love my meter.
 
I have no idea why-- maybe it's a regional thing, or just a quirk of the particular season of cutting, but for me the three or four lots of BL I've gleaned have seasoned very quickly. For instance, I now have some that was stacked and split around 1.5 years ago: tracked a couple pieces by weight, and the splits had weight-stabilized within six to eight months of stacking, barely fluctuating an ounce or two since then. Around 15-16 mm now.

And yes, the wood in question was all from living trees.
 
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I love black locust, I picked out the thinnest splits that I had, to burn this year, under 20% MC is the only way to go when burning this species in order to get its full effect....
 
bigger the split longer it takes to dry out. If you do not have space to let sit for 2-3 years sometimes longer( lot of variables ), split small.
 
I don't have enough experience with it to know how it does in this location. Most of the stuff I've gotten so far has been dead. I have just let it sit, now everything's got two summers at least. I don't know any other dense woods that dry quick, so I'm assuming fresh-cut would need 2 yrs here...
 
It really takes three years to make locust scream and I am lucky to have 5 year stuff that is outrageous.

I have not found this to be the case. Of course I'm not burning it in a cat stove but I have no trouble with BL or GL that's less than a year old.
 
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