locust and I am confused

[Locust Post]

Never had any honey locust but lots of black locust.....my favorite. How is the honey in comparison to black.

 

[blujacket]

I'll be sure to take pics for you......I was thinking of saving some of the thorn clusters for the story behind them.......they are scary!

I have only seen web pictures, but they look scary. I have heard from others beside yourself of the lingering soreness from puncture wounds. There's also been talk of birds impaled on trees. .

 

[blujacket]

Never had any honey locust but lots of black locust.....my favorite. How is the honey in comparison to black.

Both seem to burn and produce same heat to me. I prefer Black for processing though. Love the Locust.

 

[Missouri Frontier]

Lots of honey locust around these parts. Great burning stuff. Load a couple splits of locust, a couple splits of hedge and the rest red oak and you can run around he house in your underware all night laughing your toasty butt off at your propane slave neighbors!
And yes the thorns are a MFer!

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Never had any honey locust but lots of black locust.....my favorite. How is the honey in comparison to black.

Let me show you a pic or 2....
Like sweet apple said, they are not kissing cousins...

 

[Locust Post]

Probably have about 7 or 8 cords of the black like your bottom picture Ram but I don't think I have ever had honey locust.

 

[clemsonfor]

This is good to hear. I have about 1/4 cord of dead standing locust that I cut n split over a year ago. I actually planned on burning it dead of winter this year but forgot and did not move it into the shed when I put this year. Wood up. I still may pull it out to burn this Jan/Feb?? It was near 15% MC when I split it!!

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Probably have about 7 or 8 cords of the black like your bottom picture Ram but I don't think I have ever had honey locust.

Well if you have that much from what I hear, I think you are very good to go, i wish I had more..... In fact, I got a small load yesterday, about 16 pieces 1 cut to 15 in or so, it was bright yellow with alittle green, meaning very fresh? Came in at 40% on the MM it was 18 in wide, my chain was dull and it took some work sawing it. There is five more pieces there, I hope to get tomorrow, this stuff is big and heavy and the parking is not ideal....

 

[Woody Stover]

It takes a little persuasion to get going but it burns forever.

Locust is notorious for being hard to start a fire with, even when well seasoned. Need to load it into an already burning fire

What about Mulberry, does it catch easier? I burned some last year but I always put it in the back/bottom of a load so I never actually watched it light....

Ram 1500, that is some great-looking BL! Textbook bark on that stuff.

 

[Jags]

.....I was thinking of saving some of the thorn clusters for the story behind them.......they are scary!

This one is behind my cabin. Simply scary to look at. Gotta watch the thorns on those bad boys - notorious for giving infections. I jammed one deep into an area around my left wrist. Had to get antibiotics for it.

Exhibit A (for one of the meanest trees you will come across - and this is still a small tree - 'bout 12"):

 

[Woody Stover]

This one is behind my cabin.

 

[Jags]

Poor tree. Its just misunderstood.

 

[chvymn99]

What about Mulberry, does it catch easier? I burned some last year but I always put it in the back/bottom of a load so I never actually watched it light...

Never had a problem with it catching. Its a great wood, but just a step below them (Locust/Oak/Hedge). It will throw off fire bugs, which are fun to watch behind the glass.

 

[StihlHead]

Fortunately I have gotten my locust all cut up into fireplace burning size pieces, sans thorns. One load was 2 years seasoned Thank the Craigslist Gods Many people around here do not know what locust is or how to burn it. Even some pro arborists (where I got mine) had problems burning it. Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is commonly grown in the PNW burbs and was brought here by the early settlers. Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) is not common here. According to OSU honey locust succumbs to canker (a fungus) here and this is about the only place in the US that it is not grown (at least on the west side of the Cascades).

To counter what some have said above, honey and black locust are actually rather closely related species. While they do not share the same plant Genus, they are in the same plant Family (Fabaceae). So that would make them more or less second cousins? Certainly kissing cousins, and far closer than shirt-tail cousins.

 

[Flatbedford]

Those are some nasty thorns Jags. I see a lot of trees like that in the New York City parks. I'll bet they were planted there because of the thorns. If that doesn't keep people from climbing trees what could?

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

What about Mulberry, does it catch easier? I burned some last year but I always put it in the back/bottom of a load so I never actually watched it light....

Ram 1500, that is some great-looking BL! Textbook bark on that stuff.

Thanks, this is the stuff that I pocked up the other day, it was beautiful yellow in color...