locust

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fbelec

Minister of Fire
Nov 23, 2005
3,674
Massachusetts
does anybody have any pictures of locust? i've got two different looking splits that was said to be locust. one has a thin bark almost like a pine, and the other has a thick light weight bark. both are kind of yellow on the inside and the ends show the rings really well. i thru in two splits last night if the thick type. one was triangle shaped split that was 8 by 8 inch and the other was rectangle shaped 5 by 8 inches with the rest of other 6 splits of maple. closed the damper at 12 midnight stove top at 550. check the stove at 7 am it was running 425 and at 9:30 am 325. this stuff is great. everytime i've had someof this wood in the stove it seemed to burn forever.
 
just try to split it. hahalol
it burns great but will dull you saw blade. I got some ten years old- makes a great boat anchor. stuffs like steel.
 
if you run a search, there is lots of pics of it here, like this one
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/47579/

I burn ALOT of it as it grows all over the place on my property. It burns awesome, drys fast but does tend to leave a little more coal. It cuts fine when green and splits like a dream, IF you split it when you cut it down. Standing dead burns as you cut it, some of it splits good, some of it is terrible to split. Overall its by far my favorite wood to heat with.
 
buckdog said:
just try to split it. hahalol
it burns great but will dull you saw blade. I got some ten years old- makes a great boat anchor. stuffs like steel.

i was lucky. i didnt have to use the saw. it was already cut for me. got it off craigslist. the onlt down side was it was only 14 to 16 inches long. my stove will take 24 inch length. and when i split it the bark was coming off and underneath the bark was very slimey and smelt like puke. but now that its dry it's the best. i think this stuff works better than oak.
 
RAY_PA said:
if you run a search, there is lots of pics of it here, like this one
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/47579/

I burn ALOT of it as it grows all over the place on my property. It burns awesome, drys fast but does tend to leave a little more coal. It cuts fine when green and splits like a dream, IF you split it when you cut it down. Standing dead burns as you cut it, some of it splits good, some of it is terrible to split. Overall its by far my favorite wood to heat with.

the first pic looks just like the stuff that i got.
 
Locust has a pretty thick, lightweight bark that shoots sparks when it burns. Its pretty gnarley looking and a lot of mine actually had small vines growing on the bark. If it snaps and shoots sparks more than you're used to , its locust. It leaves embers behind for a while too.
 
watch out for poison ivy!!!!! seems to love locust i found out the hard way... if u see a hairy vine on it run away,,, fast !!!!!
 
Funny you mention Locust. Just last week a tree trimmer I know and haven't seen for over a year stopped by and we got to talking about what he's been up to. He said, you lookin' for some wood, I've got an old boom truck with a load of Locust on it, it's been sittin' there for a year and a half. If you want it you can have it. I went over and checked it out, maybe close to two cord. They're all about 8' long and the truck is probably 35 - 40" diameter. My saw isn't that big. He said he'd cut it for me, no hurry, it aint goin' no where. Doesn't look too fun to split though, glad I've got a splitter.
 
fbelec said:
does anybody have any pictures of locust? i've got two different looking splits that was said to be locust. one has a thin bark almost like a pine, and the other has a thick light weight bark. both are kind of yellow on the inside and the ends show the rings really well. i thru in two splits last night if the thick type. one was triangle shaped split that was 8 by 8 inch and the other was rectangle shaped 5 by 8 inches with the rest of other 6 splits of maple. closed the damper at 12 midnight stove top at 550. check the stove at 7 am it was running 425 and at 9:30 am 325. this stuff is great. everytime i've had someof this wood in the stove it seemed to burn forever.

For pictures of locust, just Google "locust tree" and at the top of the page click on Images.
 
andybaker said:
Funny you mention Locust. Just last week a tree trimmer I know and haven't seen for over a year stopped by and we got to talking about what he's been up to. He said, you lookin' for some wood, I've got an old boom truck with a load of Locust on it, it's been sittin' there for a year and a half. If you want it you can have it. I went over and checked it out, maybe close to two cord. They're all about 8' long and the truck is probably 35 - 40" diameter. My saw isn't that big. He said he'd cut it for me, no hurry, it aint goin' no where. Doesn't look too fun to split though, glad I've got a splitter.

the locust tree that i split was about 22 inches around give or take. i tried hitting it with a maul and it laughed at me then put it thru my little splitter and it would loadup like it was going to stall and pop. that how the whole load went.
 
fbelec said:
andybaker said:
Funny you mention Locust. Just last week a tree trimmer I know and haven't seen for over a year stopped by and we got to talking about what he's been up to. He said, you lookin' for some wood, I've got an old boom truck with a load of Locust on it, it's been sittin' there for a year and a half. If you want it you can have it. I went over and checked it out, maybe close to two cord. They're all about 8' long and the truck is probably 35 - 40" diameter. My saw isn't that big. He said he'd cut it for me, no hurry, it aint goin' no where. Doesn't look too fun to split though, glad I've got a splitter.

the locust tree that i split was about 22 inches around give or take. i tried hitting it with a maul and it laughed at me then put it thru my little splitter and it would loadup like it was going to stall and pop. that how the whole load went.

Ohhh, great! Well, maybe, hopefully my splitter is a little more powerful than yours. I have done a lot of oak rounds that were a good 35" across. Tough to get started, but once they're busted down they're not too bad. Is Locust harder to split than Oak?
 
So far during my inaugural burning season I've burned many different varieties of oak and maple (read: whatever I can get my hands on) and I'll take locust over any of it any day. The load of locust I got from a tree that had fallen across a road burned hotter and longer than anything else I burned before or since. Here in New Jersey locust trees are everywhere-it's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
 
We have almost nothing but locust around my house and I fine it extremely easy to split. I have been splitting 20in rounds with and 10 pound maul with no problems. My 18 bar chainsaw doesn't like to cut it but splitting is easy.
 
andybaker said:
fbelec said:
andybaker said:
Funny you mention Locust. Just last week a tree trimmer I know and haven't seen for over a year stopped by and we got to talking about what he's been up to. He said, you lookin' for some wood, I've got an old boom truck with a load of Locust on it, it's been sittin' there for a year and a half. If you want it you can have it. I went over and checked it out, maybe close to two cord. They're all about 8' long and the truck is probably 35 - 40" diameter. My saw isn't that big. He said he'd cut it for me, no hurry, it aint goin' no where. Doesn't look too fun to split though, glad I've got a splitter.

the locust tree that i split was about 22 inches around give or take. i tried hitting it with a maul and it laughed at me then put it thru my little splitter and it would loadup like it was going to stall and pop. that how the whole load went.

Ohhh, great! Well, maybe, hopefully my splitter is a little more powerful than yours. I have done a lot of oak rounds that were a good 35" across. Tough to get started, but once they're busted down they're not too bad. Is Locust harder to split than Oak?

Black Locust seems to split just about as easy as Oak as long as it's not twisted knotty stuff. I had no problems splitting 6 cords of it a few years ago. Also takes a little more air to get going cuz it's so dense, but once it's burning it will burn hot for a long time and produce coals forever.
 
andybaker said:
fbelec said:
andybaker said:
Funny you mention Locust. Just last week a tree trimmer I know and haven't seen for over a year stopped by and we got to talking about what he's been up to. He said, you lookin' for some wood, I've got an old boom truck with a load of Locust on it, it's been sittin' there for a year and a half. If you want it you can have it. I went over and checked it out, maybe close to two cord. They're all about 8' long and the truck is probably 35 - 40" diameter. My saw isn't that big. He said he'd cut it for me, no hurry, it aint goin' no where. Doesn't look too fun to split though, glad I've got a splitter.

the locust tree that i split was about 22 inches around give or take. i tried hitting it with a maul and it laughed at me then put it thru my little splitter and it would loadup like it was going to stall and pop. that how the whole load went.

Ohhh, great! Well, maybe, hopefully my splitter is a little more powerful than yours. I have done a lot of oak rounds that were a good 35" across. Tough to get started, but once they're busted down they're not too bad. Is Locust harder to split than Oak?

for me it seemed the same.
 
Todd said:
andybaker said:
fbelec said:
andybaker said:
Funny you mention Locust. Just last week a tree trimmer I know and haven't seen for over a year stopped by and we got to talking about what he's been up to. He said, you lookin' for some wood, I've got an old boom truck with a load of Locust on it, it's been sittin' there for a year and a half. If you want it you can have it. I went over and checked it out, maybe close to two cord. They're all about 8' long and the truck is probably 35 - 40" diameter. My saw isn't that big. He said he'd cut it for me, no hurry, it aint goin' no where. Doesn't look too fun to split though, glad I've got a splitter.

the locust tree that i split was about 22 inches around give or take. i tried hitting it with a maul and it laughed at me then put it thru my little splitter and it would loadup like it was going to stall and pop. that how the whole load went.

Ohhh, great! Well, maybe, hopefully my splitter is a little more powerful than yours. I have done a lot of oak rounds that were a good 35" across. Tough to get started, but once they're busted down they're not too bad. Is Locust harder to split than Oak?

Black Locust seems to split just about as easy as Oak as long as it's not twisted knotty stuff. I had no problems splitting 6 cords of it a few years ago. Also takes a little more air to get going cuz it's so dense, but once it's burning it will burn hot for a long time and produce coals forever.

i did notice there are a ton of coals left. but that's a good thing making it easier to start the next load that is spaced out a few hours.
 
I have had little trouble cutting or splitting locust. But ill let the wood set for a month or two before i split.
Letting it dry some before i split works for me.
 
only trouble i had was the bugs. the guy i got it from had it dropped and the next day i was there to pick it up. as i was splitting it the bark fell off of it right away, almost like it was dry except when i touched it under the bark it was slimey and smelt like puke. awful.
 
I once processed a cord of locust. The bark was also falling off and slimey. I think, I must have touched my eye during the processing. My eye swelled shut for a day. Can't be sure it was the locust. It was a very wet spring that time.
 
In my experience its great to burn, splits OK if its straight. If its twisted or knotty its a bear. I think oak my be a tad easier to process. Oh and this is black locust im referring to.
Mike
 
gzecc said:
I once processed a cord of locust. The bark was also falling off and slimey. I think, I must have touched my eye during the processing. My eye swelled shut for a day. Can't be sure it was the locust. It was a very wet spring that time.

i read somewhere on the web when looking for some poison ivy shots that some people can get the same reaction to locust as poison ivy. don't know how true it is.
 
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