Black Locust/Chimney problems

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longboarder2

Member
Feb 14, 2012
87
southern NJ
i know locust has lots of btu's---i burn a pretty good bit of it here. i was talking to a nieghbor the other day who had a chimney fire in a fireplace---he blamed it on burning locust.

seems like an un-educated guess to me. most guys around here split wood all summer into october and burn it in december---they have the way wrong idea about "seasoned" wood. what killed me is that the chimney was only a year or two old and burned casually.

anyone else burn lots of locust and have chimney/flue issues or feel that it would require additional chimney sweeping attention?
 
My stove doesn't run 24/7 but I did put about 2 cords of wood through it last year. Most was Locust. When I cleaned the pipes I got about 3 cups of soot no creosote except for a little shiny stuff at the very top.
Locust that is seasoned burns great, any wood that is seasoned well shouldn't give you any problems. I have guys around here that think dry wood burns too fast. Just be sure your wood is seasoned and you should be good.
 
Species of wood correlation to chimney fire risk is probably about the same as correlation of the type of beer you drink and your shoe size. There may be a little bit of something there, but not much.

It's all about how you burn (hot vs smoldery) and the moisuture content. A runaway load of black locust can spark a fire in an already dirty chimney...and so could a runaway load of balsa wood.
 
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lukem said:
Species of wood correlation to chimney fire risk is probably about the same as correlation of the type of beer you drink and your shoe size. There may be a little bit of something there, but not much.

It's all about how you burn (hot vs smoldery) and the moisuture content. A runaway load of black locust can spark a fire in an already dirty chimney...and so could a runaway load of balsa wood.
Click to expand...

So that's why I only wear a size 11...
 
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The longer I burn wood the more I begin to believe that you really have to be negligent to have a chimney fire. I am always astonished at how little creosote I get in my chimney and I choke the air down for overnights, I sometimes find myself burning the not-so-dry stuff in March when I'm at the end of my seasoned supply :p, etc... On an unrelated note, welcome longboarder! Good to see more Jersey folks around the board. I don't have my location displayed now that I realize it but I'm up toward the Northwest corner of the state. I used to hunt and 4 wheel the pines a lot though.
 
Yep you either have a bad set up or are your burning wrong, amazing how many people come up with hair brain theorys on why they have problems, you see it on here all the time.
Heres my guess, BL is a very dense wood and even when dry can be hard to get going, if it was not seasoned he had two strikes against him, so with his reasoning I suppose it was the BL.:confused:
 
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Locust is very dense and can smoulder if the stove isn't hot enough. In a fireplace it could be tough to get a hot enough fire to get the locust really burning well, and that could cause a lot of smoke and creosote buildup. As I see it locust could be directly tied to the chimney fire. The only other wood that could cause similar problems would be other hardwoods. And softwoods.
 
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Badfish740 said:
The longer I burn wood the more I begin to believe that you really have to be negligent to have a chimney fire. I am always astonished at how little creosote I get in my chimney and I choke the air down for overnights, I sometimes find myself burning the not-so-dry stuff in March when I'm at the end of my seasoned supply :p, etc... On an unrelated note, welcome longboarder! Good to see more Jersey folks around the board. I don't have my location displayed now that I realize it but I'm up toward the Northwest corner of the state. I used to hunt and 4 wheel the pines a lot though.
Click to expand...

Northwest corner?? Sussex County?? We be neighbors maybe??
 
Wood Duck said:
As I see it locust could be directly tied to the chimney fire. The only other wood that could cause similar problems would be other hardwoods. And softwoods.
Click to expand...

There you have it, if you don't burn wood will not have a chimney fire. Excellent deduction.;)
 
Wood Duck said:
Locust is very dense and can smoulder if the stove isn't hot enough. In a fireplace it could be tough to get a hot enough fire to get the locust really burning well, and that could cause a lot of smoke and creosote buildup. As I see it locust could be directly tied to the chimney fire. The only other wood that could cause similar problems would be other hardwoods. And softwoods.
Click to expand...
Really? !!!
 
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I think the takeaway here is that locust is just too risky to burn. If you guys bring it to my house I'll dispose of it for you ==c

mikey517 said:
Northwest corner?? Sussex County?? We be neighbors maybe??
Click to expand...

Not quite that far up-Northwest Hunterdon County near Warren County. My in-laws live outside of Newton though.
 
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You should probably dispose of his leftover BL if he has any. Don't want him to start another chimney fire, ya know...
 
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longboarder2 said:
i know locust has lots of btu's---i burn a pretty good bit of it here. i was talking to a nieghbor the other day who had a chimney fire in a fireplace---he blamed it on burning locust.

seems like an un-educated guess to me. most guys around here split wood all summer into october and burn it in december---they have the way wrong idea about "seasoned" wood. what killed me is that the chimney was only a year or two old and burned casually.

anyone else burn lots of locust and have chimney/flue issues or feel that it would require additional chimney sweeping attention?
Click to expand...

And here we thought it was only pine that did this... And why do they split in the summer? Shouldn't they wait until October to start! Probably wouldn't need the wood until then anyway...
 
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Locust burns just fine in central Jersey. I think the chimney fires correlate mostly to latitude.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
And here we thought it was only pine that did this... And why do they split in the summer? Shouldn't they wait until October to start! Probably wouldn't need the wood until then anyway...
Click to expand...

Wow! I just keep my splitter at the front door. Its my new just in time method. ;)
 
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I think it burns great! Burned it this morning while I put my skillet on top of the stove and cooked 6 eggs and a mini frozen pizza... Going old school.
 
longboarder2 said:
anyone else burn lots of locust and have chimney/flue issues or feel that it would require additional chimney sweeping attention?
Click to expand...

Nope, No problem burning well seasoned locust. In fact, if anything, I would tend to say my chimney looks better burning locust than most woods.
 
Pine is also blamed for chimney fires. Seems both have the potential to burn hotter than other woods. Locust in general has high BTU, but pine will flash out quickly and could ignite creosote during that short hot time. Chimney fires are more common than stovepipe fires becuase the masonry construction is hard to heat up and keep hot. Cold stone and hot smoke equals creosote.
 
locust burned in an open fireplace throws sparks
 
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