Size DOES matter ;-) Huge Honey Locust fell into my lap again

[Thistle]

This small local tree service (from small town about 45 miles west of me) I started seeing on Craiglist back in April.Since then I scored 2 p/u loads of medium-large rounds first some primo Black Cherry then a few weeks later in early May some equally nice Honey Locust 14"-20" diameter,roughly same size as the Cherry.

He posts on Craigslist fairly often,when he has stuff that might interest me he gives me a call to have first pick of whatever I want. Last Monday he & his small crew started to bring this large beast down in a front yard in NW part of town.Already had a pile of branches & smaller limbs on the curb,which I hauled home then.Wouldnt be able to finish the job until early this week because of other storm damage jobs across town,but he'd call me when it was done.Last Saturday he called & said he had some green Hackberry,but I had to turn him down because there wasnt enough room in my backyard for a full dump trailer load (just over 2 large p/u loads)

I hadnt heard from him yet so I decided to go over to the job this morning & see what was happening.The huge beast was already down & the biggest,straightest & best rounds left were loaded on his dump trailer.1 previous load of smaller rounds had already been either picked up by someone or they delivered it somewhere.What was on the trailer was the remainder.Just over 1/2 full.Huge crotch above the main trunk was still in the yard,great for firewood but a big job processing that with all the knots etc,so I didnt want that.I thought for a second,seen that primo stuff already loaded & said - "Hey....how much would you charge to follow me home,back down my driveway & dump that? " "No charge at all." I replied,"I still wanna give ya $20 to buy a case of your fav beer,sodas, or a couple pizza/some sandwiches for your lunch today,please I insist"


He normally will deliver full loads to anyone within 10 miles or so for free,if they have the room for it.I knew it'd be a tight fit what with I already had,but it was too good to pass up.You treat your contacts good & they'll remember you in the future.

I ended up with 11 millable rounds,up to 3ft long. Plus almost 1 full p/u load of smaller rounds from 6" to 12" ,which I bucked,split & stacked after lunch.The big rounds diameters from 22" to this 36" beast here.Cant wait to open that huge one up & mill some 2" -3" thick slabs for a big coffee table.Should look quite nice,Honey Locust is stunning once its dried,planed,sanded & varnished.

 

[thewoodlands]

Nice score thistle. Can't wait to see the table.

zap

 

[PapaDave]

I'll echo zap.......table pics on tap.
You guys with your tree service contacts must be living right or something.
What section on CL are you looking at to find this stuff?

 

[golfandwoodnut]

How long do you think it will take to dry the wood Thistle, a couple of years? Are you going to seal it in any way? I think when I mill from now on I am going to do 2 inches or more. It seems like the thick pieces stay nice and the thinner ones sometime split or warp. I guess once they are dried you could always cut them down further.

 

[Thistle]

Here I just look under FREE stuff.Lots of junk on there,so the good stuff dont happen very often.Usually its some idiot wanting you to take down their huge dangerous tree,in a crowded neighborhood no less,and dont forget you must clean up EVERYTHING including the brush,have experience,a good crew,proper gear & INSURANCE. But you can have the wood for free!!

Either that or its haul away someone's brush pile,moldy sofa/mattress with Lord knows what livestock inside it or clean out their garage/basement cause they're too damn cheap & ignorant to PAY someone.

Not really done a survey,but around here not all tree services sell firewood in winter.The ones that do,keep all the wood if they have plenty of storage space.The ones that dont (like my contact apparantly) dont have space & dont want to pay a tipping fee per ton at county landfill to dispose of the stuff.

 

[Realstone]

Wow, you're stuffed to the gills with primo wood. Doesn't get much better than that Thistle. Good on you.

 

[Thistle]

How long do you think it will take to dry the wood Thistle, a couple of years? Are you going to seal it in any way? I think when I mill from now on I am going to do 2 inches or more. It seems like the thick pieces stay nice and the thinner ones sometime split or warp. I guess once they are dried you could always cut them down further.

I've had the Alaskan mill since late '92.Plus Delta heavy duty bandsaw w/ riser block & 1 HP motor for working up/roughing out smaller/shorter (say under 20 lb) blocks/slabs or planks a few yrs before that. I can resaw a 12 x 12 beam,even dense hardwoods.A general rule for air drying is 1 year per inch of thickness,it can vary a little though depending on time of year,wood species,your climate etc.Main thing is have good airflow so it wont mould during drying,but not in direct sunlight or strong winds where it'll crack/warp much faster.Thick short blocks/slabs for woodturning etc arent any easier than standard long thin lumber,just take longer & less likely to warp,bow or twist.

Coarse 3-4 tooth per inch & widest blade your bandsaw (1/2" or 3/4") will accept is recommended.Bi Metal especially,they cost more than standard carbon steel blades,but are more heat resistant when cutting thick green hardwoods & stay sharper much longer.Around $30-33 for the ones I buy,normally last 6 months minimum,depending on usage of course.Once they're dull,in the recycling bin they go.Much cheaper to replace them than to resharpen at a shop somewhere.

I use Anchor Seal,a waterbased wax emulsion sealer,used for green lumber,sculpture & logs.Looks like milk,but a bit thicker,dries almost clear.Apply with brush or roller,large surfaces it can be sprayed on.Works best on smooth cut end grain,rough sawn really soaks it up faster.Knots,burls,crotches/irregular grain needs to be sealed also,they dry out & crack fast as much as end grain.Its around $30-35 gallon,you can get up to 200 square feet coverage if your wood is sawed smooth first.Same stuff is sometimes available under different brand names I've noticed,with different prices.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Alot of info there Thistle, thanks.

 

[bogydave]

Mega BTU score.
& Multi use wood
Nice pics

 

[osagebow]

Nice score - looking forward to seeing what you can do with that - good luck!

 

[ScotO]

You lucky bugger, Thistle! You know what I say? You deserve it. Just the fact that you offered a return on that wood speaks volumes of what kind of person you are. Can't wait to see the table, brother! Honey locust sure is a pretty wood when finished.

 

[TimJ]

you didn't waste anytime getting the smaller stuff to the woodpile either

 

[onetracker]

i find that it burns hotter that black locust.

quite a score thistle

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Sounds a lot like people helping people. Great!

 

[chvymn99]

Great Score. I love the smell of that stuff too.

 

[lukem]

I always find it interesting how pretty wood can be from some trees you'd never think about for lumber. We milled some black locust slabs to make some raised beds out of...I ran a scrap thru the planer and rubbed some oil in it just for the heck of it. It almost looks like oak.

Osage is some good looking stuff too. It almost has a metallic fleck to it, but it patinas from bright yellow to a deep reddish brown pretty quickly, so that fleck doesn't last forever.

 

[Thistle]

Great Score. I love the smell of that stuff too.

It does smell pretty good now that you mention it.Not as good as White Oak,Black Cherry,Hickory or Black Walnut though,but pleasant.Certainly better than green Red/Black Oak in mid/late summer,that is sour & nasty IMO.

Even though HL is quite plentiful in the Midwest,its not often found in large or pure stands like several Oaks,Hickories or even Walnut occasionally.This one was a thornless cultivar of some kind,same as the wood I got in early May.I rarely am lucky enough to get any but maybe once every 5-6 years.

The area where this was taken most of the houses were built in early - late '50's,part of the post-war expansion.About 3 1/4 miles to my north,slightly east.Never realized that neighborhood over several square blocks had that many large HL in their front yards & on grassy strips next to the street,guessing 15-20% of total coverage.These are obviously among the earliest thornless hybrids first planted around here.Most seem to be healthy,this one had some broken off/grown over limbs & a few small hollow spots in upper trunk from past storm damage.Certainly the biggest thornless one I've seen or cut.

About 20 yrs or so back I remember seeing a very old one with thorns in farm field/edge of pasture that had fallen over.It was around 43" & partly hollow,still barely growing.They can be quite resilient if the roots are well established.

 

[Thistle]

I always find it interesting how pretty wood can be from some trees you'd never think about for lumber. We milled some black locust slabs to make some raised beds out of...I ran a scrap thru the planer and rubbed some oil in it just for the heck of it. It almost looks like oak.

Osage is some good looking stuff too. It almost has a metallic fleck to it, but it patinas from bright yellow to a deep reddish brown pretty quickly, so that fleck doesn't last forever.

Same with Mulberry,its distant cousin.No matter how careful you are about keeping it away from sunlight or using a clear oil or varnish - its gonna lose that bright yellow-yellowish orange hue fairly quickly.I have a Osage mallet I turned many years ago from some dead Hedge my fav Uncle cut from one of his hedgerows in NW Missouri.Even with clear varnish its almost a chocolate brown now,will still be around long after I'm compost.

 

[Realstone]

Even though HL is quite plentiful in the Midwest,its not often found in large or pure stands like several Oaks,Hickories or even Walnut occasionally.This one was a thornless cultivar of some kind,same as the wood I got in early May.I rarely am lucky enough to get any but maybe once every 5-6 years.

The area where this was taken most of the houses were built in early - late '50's,part of the post-war expansion.About 3 1/4 miles to my north,slightly east.Never realized that neighborhood over several square blocks had that many large HL in their front yards & on grassy strips next to the street,guessing 15-20% of total coverage.These are obviously among the earliest thornless hybrids first planted around here.Most seem to be healthy,this one had some broken off/grown over limbs & a few small hollow spots in upper trunk from past storm damage.Certainly the biggest thornless one I've seen or cut.

I see quite a few locust trees up here, but I've never seen one in the bush. Lots in urban areas, and some adjacent to farms. This is confirmed by an Ontario gov. website that says that Locust is not a native species. If that is the case, this is one invasive species I welcome I was interested to read in your post about a thornless Honey Locust. I have not seen a locust yet up here with thorns, so I assumed that they were all Black Locust. I wonder if some of them are the thornless Honey's.