I was talking to a guy last night about my sizable collection of locust in the woodpile. He said locust causes more creasote than any other wood. I have not seen any evidence of that. Burns hot and long for me. Anyway, I didn't argue. What does everybody think?
Locust=creasote?
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I think this has been covered 100's of times on here! Creosote is caused by poorley seasoned wood. I think everyone knows someone who says things like this, I have had people tell me that scrap 2"x4"'s will cause a flue fire because of so much creosote produced from it.
Locust has a reputation of needing extra time to season. Some say 2 years vs. 1 year for most other wood. (They say White Oak likes 2 years as well) So on average, Locust in the hands of impatient newbies might tend to produce more creosote than other faster drying woods. Just a thought.
I sure wouldn't burn it green! Heaviest darned wood I remember ever handling. The stuff must be particularly loaded with 'bound' moisture that needs to escape. I'd give it a lot of seasoning time.
I sure wouldn't burn it green! Heaviest darned wood I remember ever handling. The stuff must be particularly loaded with 'bound' moisture that needs to escape. I'd give it a lot of seasoning time.
Not my favorite wood for its extra long lasting coals but no ... tell him any wood can produce creosote if it's not seasoned.
Their are so mant expert out there that think their right but have no clue. No point in aruging.
Their right, and thats that.
Their right, and thats that.
I think Cluttermagnet hit it- people don't dry it enough. By the same token, I have wondered here a few times if folks in the east have not thought pine was ready to burn because it felt light- and did not give it enough drying time, leading to the impression that it causes creosote.
^ many years ago when I first started to burn I was told to avoid Pine cause it burned too hot because of its sap. The neighbors said Pine was OK for fireplaces but not wood stoves. It made a lot of sense to me cause the pine I did cut down was used for outdoor fires and it was obvious that it burned much hotter and faster than other leafed tree wood...whatever ya call them.
savageactor7 said:
Ya know, we've ALL heard that about pine & other softwoods...
"It's dangerous to burn that stuff! It's too soft & has too much sap & you'll have a chimney fire!"
Tell those folks to take a ride up to Alaska & ask what kind of hardwood grows up there...
The answer is NONE...They still burn wood, tho...
They burn birch, pine, fir & whatever they can & they don't have any more chimney fires up there than we do in the "Lower 48..."
Sometimes it is best not to attempt to confuse them with the facts when their mind is already made up. Go ahead and get all the locust you can get!
DAKSY said:
Yeah OK there's truth there... I was just relating what was told to me 30 years ago when I didn't know jack about wood burning.
This guy that says locust causes more creosote is probably eyeing up your pile 
Locust is one of the best burnin' woods I've ever had.
The stuff takes a long time to season proper, from a fresh cut tree I'd split and stack and wait 2 or more years before burnin' it.
I burned some last year that was over 48 years old. It was NOT punky. It was old fence post, and burned just fine.
Locust is one of the best burnin' woods I've ever had.
The stuff takes a long time to season proper, from a fresh cut tree I'd split and stack and wait 2 or more years before burnin' it.
I burned some last year that was over 48 years old. It was NOT punky. It was old fence post, and burned just fine.
At the bottom of this site is the rankings of moisture %. Locust is extreamly low.
http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html
http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html
My experience with it is that it DOESN'T take an extremely long time to dry. I wouldn't push it and burn it on the green side, but I've read that next to Ash it is one of the woods that people use green in a pinch. I've heard those kind of statements also; "Apple clogged my chimney". "Maple is no good for the chimney" etc. Like someone else said, any green wood will give you a problem. Let that Locust dry out and make your own decision on it; you'll find that it is an EXCELLENT fuelwood!
Locust can and will burn green. However, like any other wood, you will be warmer if you season it first. The beauty of locust is that it is extremely rot resistant, so much so that it is almost a shame to burn it. As far as the creasote forget it. Total B.S.
Two years ago a burned about two full cords of Locust that had seasoned about a year. No problems. Some time back an older fella told me to mix my wood especially when burning anything questionable. I check my flue / chimney every year but never have any build up.
I like locust, one of the best woods to yet be burned through my stove, long and hot burn... I agree on the mixing of the woods, and not to burn just one kind... the good burners help equal out the weaker ones, and seem to win and burn it all hotter...
I just checked my chimney after burning 1.5 cords of 2yr old Black Locust and it's clean, no need to sweep til next spring.
I like locust too, high heat value, splits good, rot resistant. I cut up a locust butt log that was cut about six years ago by the electric cooperative for transmission line right-of-way maintenance. The sap ring was punky - the rest looked fresh! Pretty color too!
We've been burning Locust and it is great for BTU's and no problem what so ever with chimney build up........ONLY ONE BIG problem that I can see with the Locust is that it builds coals up by the tons. I would hate to burn nothing but Locust because of that. Mixed seasoned woods is my preference.
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