Dead Black Locust

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Scooter422

Scooter422

Burning Hunk
Aug 24, 2014
198
Indiana
So my uncle said I could come over and get some downed trees in his wood lot. He said there was nothing good back there. So first load was a lot of Box Elder he has already bucked up. Then next time out I went through and found numerous Black Locust trees down with no bark. Never rotted like some of the red oak I stumbled on. So next 3 loads were all black locust and still a bunch out there. Guess a tornado went through about 2 years ago and dropped a ton of stuff. Never burned black locust and guessing this will be good to go by next winter.
 
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Usually wait 2 years for black locust.... But this being dead and no bark, you may luck out for next year. What's its MC content when you first split it.... The bark actually helps prolong the burn and keeps its shape throughout the burn, creates some great coals that helps with the heating....
 
Haven't had a chance to check MC yet been scrambling to get my bins filled ASAP. Yeah bark was gone. Only knew it was black locust cause there was one standing by all the downed ones and once I cut into them wood was tough and had that light yellow tint. Got some honey locust last fall and that will be awhile before I can burn it. Another guy wants some mullberry and hedge cut down so getting pretty lucky so far.
 
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Without bark, bang the locust together. It will produce a very nice high pitch when dry.
 
Yeah sounds like they are hollow when they hit the concrete. I'll hit them with my moisture meter tomorrow and see what the verdict is.
 
Scooter422 said:
found numerous Black Locust trees down with no bark. Never rotted like some of the red oak I stumbled on....guessing this will be good to go by next winter.
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You'll have to test to make sure but much of it may be ready if the trunks aren't too big. I like Oak but that rotty sapwood... Never have to worry about BL rotting. :cool:
 
You should be fine , I have been lucky too with scoring dead black locust. With one years seasoning it was down to the teens om the MM meter with wind and sun seasoning. I hope to find some more this spring. You Lucky Dog !!
 
No rounds are just right...not too big not too small. I'd say right around 18" diameter. Reminds me of the hedge I split. Kinda stringy. Hope it doesn't pop like hedge in the stove.
 
I burn a lot of BL. The longer you let it sit the better it burns. I have some that was laying down on the ground ten years. I split it up and no rot at all. Still would not burn well the next year. Be patient with it. It really burns great seasoned correctly.
 
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Paulywalnut said:
I burn a lot of BL. The longer you let it sit the better it burns. I have some that was laying down on the ground ten years. I split it up and no rot at all. Still would not burn well the next year. Be patient with it. It really burns great seasoned correctly.
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Absolutely right, this is one wood that it makes no sense to rush, seasoned correctly it gives off a much superior burn and heat as opposed to when burning it when it's not quite ready......
 
I'll keep an eye on it and watch the mc. I just got some silver maple to go with all the primo stuff I have. My bins are hickory, hedge, oak, and locust. Don't want to burn all the good stuff next fall. Seems I come across the top tier stuff constantly. Not much soft stuff. I'm not picky....I grab what I can.
 
When we bought our house 23 years ago, we had to cut up a large Black Locust that had fallen across a lower old farm road.
I never thought I would "use" it for anything....


:eek: It laid there bucked in pieces in a pile, under an old apple tree for 21 years until I got a wood stove 2 years ago.

Bark was gone (rotted), a few pieces on the bottom were questionable.
But 80% of them rounds were split last spring, stacked, dried and burned GREAT this past winter.:) (burning some right now)

:cool:
 
This last winter was my first year burning wood so still have a lot to learn. Wasn't sure if I throw nothing but the hot stuff in if it would be to much for the stove. Seems like everything I have for next winter is very high BTU. But I'm sure with spring somewhere around the corner there will be plenty of soft stuff to mix in with it. Been lucky to find good BTU wood so far but I'm very persistent when it comes to tracking down free wood.
 
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Scooter422 said:
This last winter was my first year burning wood so still have a lot to learn. Wasn't sure if I throw nothing but the hot stuff in if it would be to much for the stove. Seems like everything I have for next winter is very high BTU. But I'm sure with spring somewhere around the corner there will be plenty of soft stuff to mix in with it. Been lucky to find good BTU wood so far but I'm very persistent when it comes to tracking down free wood.
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You are blessed to have good wood available.

FYI. All wood has basically the SAME BTU's per pound.

The benefits of one species over another is in BTU's per volume.

http://www.mha-net.org/docs/v8n2/docs/WDBASICS.pdf
http://www.mha-net.org/docs/v8n2/docs/WDBASICS.pdf
Moisture content always changes BTU output also.
 
Ok so tested mc a bit ago and the majority of the splits were at 15%. One piece tested at 22% in a darker part of the split.
 
15% should be right in the sweet spot for burning. For me anything around 20-22% or less is good.
 
When the saw chips are brown instead of yellow, that's pretty dry. I got a bunch off the ground a few years back, pretty small barkless trunks, and it was all ready to go, <18%.
 
Well it will have 8+ months to dry out even more. Gonna grab ever bit of it out there!!!
 
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Your lucky with that score... Love burning that black locust.. (Not sure why they call it Black Locust when it's yellow on the inside but whatever). Very good burning wood.
 
Thanks! Reminds me of hedge but lighter in color. Real stringy and pretty tough on the chains. Dulled my 3/8 chain pretty quick so went to the .325 micro chisel and seemed to do better with all the dirt around.
 
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