ID... black locust?

[OhioBurner©]

I've mentioned a few times I cut a load of Locust but since I never even heard a tree called 'locust' before this year figure I'd ask. It was my brother in law that said there were several locust trees down, and after checking the btu chart I told him I'd be there in a flash. I am just taking his word I dont know what they really look like. So far I've cut mostly cherry, and I can honestly say these rounds feel nearly 50% heavier... to the point were a couple large rounds I couldnt get onto the truck bed myself (a couple ended up a tad long, ~24" that didnt help the weight issue). Most of these were standing dead or blow downs, very thick deeply furrowed bark that peeled off easy (and full of bugs) except for the net of poision ivy holding it all together.

I attached a couple crapy cell phone pics of similar trees around (not the ones I cut, but looked similar) for reference. And a pic of what the round looks like freshly split. It seems some of the pieces were more tan (I think maybe it turned more tan after drying) but the fresh split pieces had a yellow-green look to them. Many of the larger rounds my 8# maul just bounces, though I have been able to split some of them. Just a tad stringy too, much harder to separate than cherry. Oh and just for color reference thats a piece of cherry setting on top the round I freshly split.

 

[Wood Duck]

The bark and the wood both look like Black Locust.

 

[JustWood]

mmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmmmm,,,,, Low-cussed!

 

[geoffm24]

yup thats black locust

 

[krex1010]

Sure looks like black locust to me

 

[OhioBurner©]

Sounds like its black locust then... now to see how it burns. Most of the smaller stuff was reading 16-18% while some of the larger pieces were 30%+. So when I split the rounds deep enough I took a reading and then all the splits from that round went into one of two piles, some for this winter and the rest for next year.
Thanks!

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I've mentioned a few times I cut a load of Locust but since I never even heard a tree called 'locust' before this year figure I'd ask. It was my brother in law that said there were several locust trees down, and after checking the btu chart I told him I'd be there in a flash. I am just taking his word I dont know what they really look like. So far I've cut mostly cherry, and I can honestly say these rounds feel nearly 50% heavier... to the point were a couple large rounds I couldnt get onto the truck bed myself (a couple ended up a tad long, ~24" that didnt help the weight issue). Most of these were standing dead or blow downs, very thick deeply furrowed bark that peeled off easy (and full of bugs) except for the net of poision ivy holding it all together.

I attached a couple crapy cell phone pics of similar trees around (not the ones I cut, but looked similar) for reference. And a pic of what the round looks like freshly split. It seems some of the pieces were more tan (I think maybe it turned more tan after drying) but the fresh split pieces had a yellow-green look to them. Many of the larger rounds my 8# maul just bounces, though I have been able to split some of them. Just a tad stringy too, much harder to separate than cherry. Oh and just for color reference thats a piece of cherry setting on top the round I freshly split.

Looks just like what we call Locust around here.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Vote for locust as well.

Excellent wood for overnight burns, can be mostly seasoned when fresh (if that's not an oxymoron), BUT, do not try to light it without an excellent ember bed - it's an absolute pig to start from anything less.

 

[FLINT]

man, that is a nice sized locust tree. very lucky

 

[ChrisNJ]

Vote for locust as well.

Excellent wood for overnight burns, can be mostly seasoned when fresh (if that's not an oxymoron), BUT, do not try to light it without an excellent ember bed - it's an absolute pig to start from anything less.

Indeed, wish I had more pine for the coming winter to help ignite a fresh fire that includes Black Locust, I have come to really like pine for the fast furious fires.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

Abso-tively, posi-lutely Black Locust. Awesome find. Ive come across quite a bit during this falls scrounge. My stock for next year is 70% ash, with the rest a mix of locust and oak. Sweet burning wood, that Locust.

 

[Battenkiller]

Black locust for sure. Lots of it around here, but nobody seems to want to cut it for me. I got one load of locust logs this year and they are already burning fine in my stove. Tough on the chain when bucking, but split like butter with the Fiskars SS. Somebody just told me that the logs with bark still on them have a lot of sand blown into those deep furrows, so that and the hardness of the wood will have you reaching for the file before you know it. I was able to slide almost all the bark off my logs. Nice thing about not having that thick bark is you can fit more good fuel into the stove at night. Even without the bark on, the chain still took a minor beating. Locust is some seriously hard wood once it's been dead for a while.

 

[Wood Duck]

Many Black Locust seem to have the same odd shape of the trunk that your tree has.

 

[OhioBurner©]

... Tough on the chain when bucking, but split like butter with the Fiskars SS. Somebody just told me that the logs with bark still on them have a lot of sand blown into those deep furrows, so that and the hardness of the wood will have you reaching for the file before you know it. I was able to slide almost all the bark off my logs. Nice thing about not having that thick bark is you can fit more good fuel into the stove at night. Even without the bark on, the chain still took a minor beating. Locust is some seriously hard wood once it's been dead for a while.

I agree... it was hell on my saw. Now understand my saw was already starting out the day impaired, I mean being new to maintaining my own saw and it being the third or fourth full day of cutting my saw had been filed by hand many times (free hand) so it wasnt as good as it could have been. Plus all those sharpenings I had never heard about filing the rakers. The bark I could easily slip off most of the tree but still a lot do to branches and other abnormalities especially under the truck against the ground, and the web of ivy holding it all together that I desperately tried to get off but some remained. A couple of the larger rounds I noticed the saw was wanting to track to one side. Yeah it was a bad day for the saw... think I ended up taking most the paint off the bar. Since then (this was the end of september) I did get a HF electric sharpener but after reading about it here I am thinking of possible returning it (its unopened still) and going for the pferd or grandberg. Still on the fence about that one, but one thing is for sure I cant get a chain super sharp free hand, especially after doing it freehand for 4 or 5 times in a row.

Well I think our indian summer is ending today. Yesterday was 68* tonight suppose to get down to 20*. Might be trying that locust soon! Or actually I'll probably leave it alone and save it for jan/feb when I really need the extra btu's.

 

[ccwhite]

Yes sir! That is black locust. Here in the buckeye everyone just calls it locust because its the only variety of locust we have. I cut a lot of that and love it.

 

[FLINT]

Yes sir! That is black locust. Here in the buckeye everyone just calls it locust because its the only variety of locust we have. I cut a lot of that and love it.

you should have honey locust in Ohio, it just grows in totally different areas than black locust. honey locust is more of a bottomland/swampy wet area tree - like the floodplain of a big river. black locust is an open dry hill/ridge tree.

 

[Danno77]

Honey locust was my thought, too. Reading ID after ID, I was too chicken to speak up, lol.

 

[ccwhite]

Yes sir! That is black locust. Here in the buckeye everyone just calls it locust because its the only variety of locust we have. I cut a lot of that and love it.

you should have honey locust in Ohio, it just grows in totally different areas than black locust. honey locust is more of a bottomland/swampy wet area tree - like the floodplain of a big river. black locust is an open dry hill/ridge tree.

I live on the eastern border of ohio (west virginia lite) Very hilly lotsa ridges. Not in the floodplain not bottomland or swampy. Black locust.

 

[Wood Duck]

I think there is probably Black Locust and Honey Locust in your area, but Honey Locust is probably less common and more local - I bet there are a few spots nearby where Honey Locust grows, but Black Locust probably grows over most of the area and is probably very common. The tree in the original post is definitely Black Locust, not Honey Locust, you can tell by the bark, wood, etc. Your pics seem to give a pretty definitive look at the tree, and I think this is one of the more certain IDs Ive seen on this forum. Wild Honey Locust have very nasty thorns - they are large and fierce enough that anyone who saw a Honey Locust for the first time would comment on them. If you come across one you'll know what it is. Balck Locust have thorns on the smaller branches, but they are in the same general size, shape, and density as rose bush thorns, not 6 inch daggers in large clumps like a Honey Locust should have.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I'll guess serviceberry. Or maybe lilac.

 

[FLINT]

oh yes, sorry for the confusion,

I was not suggesting that the tree you cut was honey locust. definitely black locust,

I was just saying that I bet that you had honey locust somewhere in ohio - not necessarily where you live or cut wood.

 

[CTYank]

Sounds like its black locust then... now to see how it burns. Most of the smaller stuff was reading 16-18% while some of the larger pieces were 30%+. So when I split the rounds deep enough I took a reading and then all the splits from that round went into one of two piles, some for this winter and the rest for next year.
Thanks!

Definitely black locust, from the bark and the color of the wood.

Black locust burns beautifully, once it's REALLY dry. Might seem like it's dry enough, but it always seems to get better with more drying. So, I store it near the stove, end-grain facing the stove, for a few weeks before burning it. Makes a noticeable improvement, IMHO, including greatly reducing the time it takes to start burning.

Knocking the bark off speeds up the drying.

 

[Free Monomoy]

Black Locust. We have quite a bit of it here on Cape Cod. It is not native and was planted over a century ago to fuel railroad engines. It grows extremely fast and is similar to a weed in that it can root out and sprout all over the place. In some areas it's considered a major nuisance and our local land conservation trusts clear it regularly (it rarely gets wasted) As you already know, it is one of the highest BTU woods available in the USA. Depending on how straight it grows it can be easy to split or a twisted mess of wood fiber. If you have a good load, bring out the splitter. My only gripe with locust is the amount of junk that is under the bark in short order. The worms love it and it can be a bit of mess and hold moisture. Otherwise, it's a great low moisture content hardwood and can be burned on the greener side in a pinch. When it's cold as cold out in midwinter, I count on a stove full of locust to make it through the night and still kicking off heat in the morning.