First time locust burner

[trailrated]

I have about 2 days worth of my seasoned wood left. I cut myself short this year and with the cold weather the stove has been eating through it at a record pace. Anyway, I had to look to purchase wood which I don't normally do. The person that returned my call had a bunch of locust split up.

I head over and it is indeed dry, but could use more season time. The tree has been down about 4 years I'm told so I say what the hell and load up about a cord. I Get home and split some pieces and check with the moisture meter. I'm getting 20-25% and I'm happy with that.

Well, it sure does take this locust a while to get going and I bet I'm losing a lot of heat up the stack. I started mixing it with a couple pieces of my wood and it really helps to get it going. I know locust is very good wood, but I think its to early for the batch.

 

[trailrated]

So I loaded up the stove for the overnight with all locust, This load is burning great. Must of been a better coal bed then earlier??

 

[Woody Stover]

Even when it's dry, it's still slow to establish a new load, similar to some other dense woods but maybe a little more so. I'd feel lucky if I found some 20-25% wood at the end of winter! Even with a good coal bed I'll usually toss some Ash or whatever on the coals, then put the BL on top of that...

 

[Dune]

So I loaded up the stove for the overnight with all locust, This load is burning great. Must of been a better coal bed then earlier??

Yup

 

[D8Chumley]

If you lived closer I'd trade you that difficult burning stuff for some easier-burning stuff I have

 

[claydogg84]

Locust is similar to Oak as it's not exactly the fastest to light up, but once it gets going it's great stuff. I rarely use it on morning re loads as I don't have the patience to sit and wait.

 

[jatoxico]

Locust; the wood that's already halfway to being coal.

Likes it's air and I find it to be a great mix in wood. Hits it's stride as other wood in the load is starting to tail off.

 

[Paulywalnut]

You would see a big difference if you could mix it with something else. Walnut, cherry, ash....but you only have BL so it will take time for it to take off. I have 15% locust right now but it's been split 3 years. Split your pieces smaller or thinner and it might burn better. Good luck next year. Start scrounging earlier.

 

[Wood Duck]

If you can find some pallets or scrap lumber that mixed with locust would be a good recipe. The softwood lights fast and burns fast and should help ignite the locust.

 

[trailrated]

Thanks fellas for the info. I'm still struggling with the wood for it takes a while to get going. You guys are spot on, especially the comment about it likes air. I have been running the stove with the damper more open but since I'm still figuring out this wood, I still shut it down when leaving the stove.

I was planning on splitting it smaller today but we got 6 inches of snow so that didn't happen. Was out the tractor plowing most of the day.

 

[midwestcoast]

Yep, you can't leave the stove too early with a load of locust in there. Might just go nuclear when you're expecting it to start cruising.
Other than mixing in drier, softer wood the only thing I find that helps is reloading a little sooner on hotter coals.

 

[JA600L]

Locust is pretty amazing firewood. Do yourself a favor next time and grab lots of bark from the tree. That stuff dried makes awesome kindling.

 

[bwise.157]

First time I used locust scared the crap out of me! I wasn't thinking, and loaded a Quadrafire 2700i full of it on top of a hot coal bed. Took a bit to get going, but once it did my stove was walking and talking like no other! I had never heard so many sounds coming from the stove, and don't want to ever again. Luckily I didn't damage anything. Ever since then I do a 50-50 mix of locust with other wood. I normally use it for overnight burns since it lasts longer.

 

[bwise.157]

First time I used locust scared the crap out of me! I wasn't thinking, and loaded a Quadrafire 2700i full of it on top of a hot coal bed. Took a bit to get going, but once it did my stove was walking and talking like no other! I had never heard so many sounds coming from the stove, and don't want to ever again. Luckily I didn't damage anything. Ever since then I do a 50-50 mix of locust with other wood. I normally use it for overnight burns since it lasts longer.

 

[MarylandGuy]

I love locust, but it seems to take a while to season. Many have said it will be ready in a year, but that has never been my experience. My stuff needs a couple years at least and it's split small. I do mix it with other wood to get it going.

Burning all locust in a stove will require some babysitting of the air lever. But if that's all you have, then go for it.

 

[CountryBoy19]

So I loaded up the stove for the overnight with all locust, This load is burning great. Must of been a better coal bed then earlier??

Locust is my go-to wood for placing on top of a hot coal-bed for this reason. Most other wood burns up pretty quickly but locust likes a hot coal-bed. I don't ever cold-start my stove on locust because it's so slow to get going and I want to save every bit of locust I have for those cold nights where I'm forced to load up on top of coals and still want a long burn...