Locust trees (thorns)

FaithfulWoodsman said:

I've burned a little HL years ago, but since I've heard it rots pretty easily. Anyone confirm those rumors. How long does it take to rot or at all if covered. I planned on doing the above suggestions while harvesting a couple I've seen but decided to pass based on the rot issue.

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@FaithfulWoodsman I have honey locust that has been css for over 3 years top covered and I see no signs of rot on mine. I've never heard of locust rotting.

The46Zone said:

@FaithfulWoodsman I have honey locust that has been css for over 3 years top covered and I see no signs of rot on mine. I've never heard of locust rotting.

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Good to know. What about bugs? Maybe that's what I'm recalling as said above.

FaithfulWoodsman said:

I've burned a little HL years ago, but since I've heard it rots pretty easily. Anyone confirm those rumors. How long does it take to rot or at all if covered. I planned on doing the above suggestions while harvesting a couple I've seen but decided to pass based on the rot issue.

Click to expand...

@FaithfulWoodsman I have honey locust that has been css for over 3 years top covered and I see no signs of rot on mine. I've never heard of locust rotting.

FaithfulWoodsman said:

Good to know. What about bugs? Maybe that's what I'm recalling as said above.

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As far as bugs what I usually do is spray the pile with termite and ant killer in the spring and summer. That's what I do I have no signs of bugs in the stacks of locust. I do the same with my elm stacks and other species....

I have some of those thorned trees on my property. I shaved them all as soon as I moved in with my chainsaw. I could just imagine crashed my dirtbike or atv into one and getting those into my torso and hands.
I went back the following year and put a deep ring around the trucks. They are dead now..slowing drying as dead standing.

I took a thorn through my leather glove once. Went deep into my middle finger and hit a nerve. I had pain in that finger for 6 months before it went away. Burn them all!

The46Zone said:

@FaithfulWoodsman

As far as bugs what I usually do is spray the pile with termite and ant killer in the spring and summer. That's what I do I have no signs of bugs in the stacks of locust. I do the same with my elm stacks and other species....

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The whole stack top to bottom or just the base? No worries about burning it after the chemicals? Maybe I should try it. I have bad issues with powder post beetles.

I guess I figure if you are having trouble with bugs eating your firewood, your firewood is sitting too long and you shouldn't cut so much.

The only problem I fight in my woodpile is mushrooms and that's from leaving rounds unsplit or trying to save rotten wood instead of throwing it in the brush pile.

Two ways:
1. Only cut the standing dead ones that have been dead for so long that they have no bark or thorns left.
2. With a bulldozer or bobcat when clearing them is simply a by product of land management.

There are so many better trees out there to burn for the effort and wear and tear on yourself and your equipment.

FaithfulWoodsman said:

The whole stack top to bottom or just the base? No worries about burning it after the chemicals? Maybe I should try it. I have bad issues with powder post beetles.

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I usually spray everything from top down usually twice a year, hey seems to work for me.

The46Zone said:

@FaithfulWoodsman I have honey locust that has been css for over 3 years top covered and I see no signs of rot on mine. I've never heard of locust rotting.

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Stacked (off the ground) and top covered is not a condition condusive to rot; the real test is the tree that has been laying on the ground for 10 years or more, or the fence-post that has been in the ground for the better part of 3 decades... honey locust won't stand that test, few woods will.

The locust that I must be running into is more black locust me and my father found a couple truck loads last year while cutting other stuff. The stuff was half hurried and looked like junk on the outside but after cutting one or two of the rounds the stuff was hard as a rock, burns great to. I very rarely ever cut trees down especially locust, it seems it is always clean up jobs or going behind tree clearing crews. Because of this when I do get ahold of locust it usually doesn't have to many thorns on it.

We are darned lucky around here- the Locust we have is Black
Locust, and it is a thornless variety. I've been burning Locust
and Red Oak this winter. I rank the Locust right up there with
the Oak. It is a great wood with a lot of BTU's and it coals well.

Burning some honey locust right now. Seasoned 2 years it burns fine, makes good heat, and is some of the sweetest smelling wood when you are splitting. Really pleasant smell when split. We came into a few cords of honey locust a few years ago. Got paid to cut and remove it so we kept it for firewood.

Just given permission from the road dept to clean up a couple locust trees that fell over they are black locust with almost no thorns.

Black locust and honey locust are totally different trees. Both make excellent firewood, but different chareteristics.