Locust Burns Sooty

[jatoxico]

Anyone have the experience that Black Locust burns sooty? BL is currently my primary wood as it was last year and it tends to blacken my fire brick. Just checked for the umpteenth time and fresh splits read 17-18%. I put a hunk of ash in last night and in the AM the firebrick is noticably brighter. What's up with that?

 

[Maple man]

how big are the splits and are you giving it enough air?

 

[jatoxico]

how big are the splits and are you giving it enough air?

Over two years all different sizes. Played with different air settings. The stove itself can be plenty hot with much secondary burning and little if any smoke from the chimney once rolling.

 

[Maple man]

that is odd usually locust burns hot but some times hard to start it's a very dense wood i have tons of it my best fire wood

 

[Boom Stick]

I burned it as primary last year and will do same again.....did not get that. I would tool with airflow.....has to be burning lower.....maybe get a hot fire going with smaller splits before putting the bigguns on

 

[bogydave]

Burning it a little hotter should clean it up.
Few degrees colder outside & I bet it burns cleaner.

 

[Bacffin]

Burning it a little hotter should clean it up.
Few degrees colder outside & I bet it burns cleaner.

+1

 

[jatoxico]

that is odd usually locust burns hot but some times hard to start it's a very dense wood i have tons of it my best fire wood

It is dense and it can be like getting a coal fire started. I'll keep after it, maybe like you said even more air but then I'm going through the wood and sending heat up th flue.

 

[jatoxico]

I burned it as primary last year and will do same again.....did not get that. I would tool with airflow.....has to be burning lower.....maybe get a hot fire going with smaller splits before putting the bigguns on

Yeah, could have a point there. I have some oak and like I said, some ash and don't get blackened bricks. Since others are not seeing this I'll keep fiddling.

 

[JOHN BOY]

Yeah i have the same problem with Locust burns like coal Seems like i gotta put more air to it. This is why OAK is my favorite wood to burn and not locust. Dont get me wrong i'll take all the locust i can get, but i keep my splits small Oak just burns better for me.

 

[jatoxico]

Yeah i have the same problem with Locust burns like coal Seems like i gotta put more air to it. This is why OAK is my favorite wood to burn and not locust. Dont get me wrong i'll take all the locust i can get, but i keep my splits small Oak just burns better for me.

The times I have burned other well seasoned wood like oak I found it to be much less finicky than my BL. I need to reload BL on a hefty coal bed with a relatively hot stove (350-400) and plenty air or I'm waiting forever for it to light off enough to see stove temp climb. If I treated oak the same I'd worry about overfiring.

 

[weatherguy]

Wouldnt it be better to maybe do half oak half locust of even 2/3 locust nd 1/3 oak/other species?

 

[jatoxico]

Wouldnt it be better to maybe do half oak half locust of even 2/3 locust nd 1/3 oak/other species?

If I had it, I use other types as much as possible just don't have much else.

 

[NextEndeavor]

I have several cords of BL, cut Jan/Feb/March of this year dried in single rows checking out @ 15 to no more than 20%. Bark just about falls off with little pulling. Burns great and will overfire given a chance. Glass remains clean. It will soot up glass if cut air back to far, just like other woods. I do prefer the smell of oak though.

 

[gzecc]

Wouldnt it be better to maybe do half oak half locust of even 2/3 locust nd 1/3 oak/other species?

I tend to agree. Locust is a great supporting fuel, it should always have a mix of other hardwoods for it to perform to its max.

 

[brian89gp]

Burn it hotter with more air and reload at a hotter temp then you normally would. Starting with a cold or slight warm stove with locust can take a while to get going. Doing it on a hot bed of coals helps a lot.