Locust questions

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begreen

begreen

Mooderator
Staff member
Hearth Supporter
Nov 18, 2005
107,124
South Puget Sound, WA
I was driving down the main road this weekend and noticed a batch of trees with white Xs on them. Thinking that means they are coming out I swung around and confirmed first suspicions. The are marked and they are black locust. I knocked on the homeowner's door and a nice fellow there told me that the town was taking them out soon. So I left my name and number. I mean hardwood, right here is softwood country? How could I not want to try it?

Today I get a call about the trees. I can have the rounds delivered in random lengths (whatever is fastest for the tree guy to section). So now I need to figure out how many dump truck loads of wood to take. My gut say take it all, but I do want to be realistic. These are 4 mature black locusts. The biggest is maybe 60 ft tall and has a base trunk diameter of about 36" I would guess. Anyone have a rough idea about how much wood there would be in a 10 yd. dump truck filled with 16" to 60" lengths?

Ironically, the locals don't want to touch it. They say it never burns right, but after a little probing I found out that they meant that it never burns right if burned the same year it's cut. So, next question is about how long will this take to season if cut into rounds? How long after it's split?
 
Nice score!

I would look at it like this. A 10 yard truck is 270 cubic feet. A cord stacked is about 90 cubic feet or so of actual wood.

How tightly will the wood be in the dump truck? Hard to say, but maybe it will be 60% to 80% wood if tightly packed?

(.60 x 270)/90 = 1.8

(.80 x 270)/90 = 2.4

I would say it would be about 2 cords, depending on how they stack/load it.

How much room do you have?

Pete
 
Take all of it. Even if you have to stack it 30 feet high to make it fit on your property.

2 years stacked in a single covered row will make it dry. Black locust is a smidge better than White Oak. Even Black Locust bark throws out btu`s.

Black Locust will not rot. It will have very few bugs because of its natural toxins. The smoke is pungent but when dry there should be no smoke.

Burns hot and long.

If your a soft wood burner you will be amazed. You will probably pinch yourself often.
 
What a great score. I'd say 4 Mature trees with trunks 36" will give you around 3-4 cords depending on how many branches. Take it all and let it dry for 2 years. Your new T-6 will love you for it and all those soft wood burners out there will be so jealous.
 
Is locust easier to split green or dry? Does it make a difference?
 
BeGreen said:
Ironically, the locals don't want to touch it. They say it never burns right, but after a little probing I found out that they meant that it never burns right if burned the same year it's cut. So, next question is about how long will this take to season if cut into rounds? How long after it's split?
Click to expand...

Black locust is a really hard wood to start a fire with, and it's also possible it doesn't burn well if you don't have an insulated firebox to keep the temperature high like in an EPA stove. Being unseasoned doesn't help, of course. One DC year seems to be enough to season black locust, it's not the wettest wood to start with.

I concur with the others, BTW - take it all, even if you have to park in the street to make room. I'm lucky if I get 1/2 cord of locust a year.
 
If that's the same black locust that we have here in Pennsyvania I say take it all. You can bury it under 3 feet of dirt, dig it out in 20 years and burn it. You can use it for fence post. It takes several years to weather to a fine shade of grey. I wouldn't burn it for at least 2 years.

I pulled 40+ year old posts just last summer and burned 'em, yep, they were seasoned just right!
 
Hey BG I wanted to be clear, I mean, I pulled out locust posts that were IN THE GROUND FOR 40 YEARS, and burned them! The stuff is amazing. The reason people don't think it burns well is it takes a long time to season properly. If it's the same as the locust round here, it will be kind of yellow/green when split. It will season in a year to a kind of light brown/amber color..... It takes a long time for it to turn grey, which is when it burns best :)
 
This spring I pulled some locust post that had been in the ground about twenty years. About all of them were sound above ground and will be cut up for winter wood. Streight grained locust splits fairly easily but knotty peices are better left for a splitter or the days when you are feeling Superhuman! I say take it all, it will be right there for however long it takes you to use it up.
 
I cut and burn a bunch of locust, if you dont split it green, you better have a splitter! Let it season for a year, and its fantastic.
 
Hey BG - 4 yard trees of locust that size is probably gonna be some where around 4 to 5 cords. Trust me - take it all. Split green if you can.

Locust makes great stove chow if properly seasoned. Use your normal "lesser" woods to get a fire established, then load 'er up.
 
Thanks all. Good tips. Seeing that I have a full time job and already way too much to do on my plate, I'll be lucky if I get it all cut up into 16" rounds this year. I will split some of the rounds just to start the drying process because I'm curious about the wood. But it sounds like if I treat it like madrona - 2 yr drying time, hard to split dry, then I will be ok. Glad I got the splitter this spring. It sounds like it's going to be earning its keep.
 
author="BeGreen" date="1217354463" Seeing that I have a full time job........
Click to expand...


Yeah, they have a tendency to get in the way of all the fun stuff. ;-P
 
Ain't it the truth! Gotta go now.
 
Good score!!! TAKE IT ALL!!! Give it a good year to season. You will be good to go..
 
Well if you take it all and can't split it right away then those 3 to 5 cord will
be heating your house for a couple years. If your greedy like me tell them
3inches and up. It may sound like to much but if hard wood is hard to come by
out there then it will be wise to take eveyrthing but the tiny branches.
 
I just had the same good fortune, my next door neighbor is having 2 large and 5 medium black locust taken down and offered them to me, I told him I'd take every stick.

Incidentally, this spring I split and stacked about a cords worth of old large beech and maple rounds he had in pile for years behind his garage. He asked if I could do it, I said sure and when he saw the job finished he offered me all his locust that he's having a tree service take down. He doesn't like the thorns and the tree service told him it was garbage wood. He said to me "Wood is wood, right? It all burns" and I said "That's absolutely correct", explained why I like locust (and why others don't) and thanked him for heat we will enjoy from it. One good turn deserves another!

I'm hoping for 4+ cords, it depends how those large trunks split out. Black locust around here (mostly hardwood forest) grow like poles with rather sparse crowns.
 
My 2 cents worth....like many have said - take it all- even if it sits unsplit or you will live to regret it....

I get my wood from a local tree service company. It's all hard woods minus the black locust. The owner woun't let it off of his lot...keeps it all for himself.....I can't even bribe it off of him. This guy has been in the business for 30 years - at least - and he knows his wood!

Enjoy a great deal.

P.S. If you can't split it etc., hire a few teenage boys and rent a splitter and they will have a blast and you will be helping out young males eager to do something really fun. My nephew and a couple of his friends helped me out this spring and they had a blast. Had the job done in no time. I just had to keep up with a steady supply of fuel -oops- I mean the food to keep their energy up. ;-P
 
I told them I would take it all, but it turns out the local forest stewards assoc. will be getting the core wood that is mill quality, but I will get the rest. Hopefully delivered tomorrow. None of it will be split, this is straight from the tree service.
 
I don't think it's a good idea for you, sorry. Will they deliver the dump truck loads to Ohio? :) :) :)

Ken
 
i was given 4 lucust trees that a relative had dropped two eyars ago. i bucked them up and split them. I think they are easier to split when green, but I have a power splitter so I guess I couldnt really say. I mixed the wood with hard maple, oak and some soft maple. I dont like burning just one specie at a time, would rather have it mixed. I still have 1.5 cord of it that I will burn this year from last year. My moisture meter read 18% so it should be perfect
 
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