More Free Locust!

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Jagtec1

Jagtec1

Burning Hunk
Hearth Supporter
Dec 22, 2010
105
PA
I brought home about 3/4 cord of Black Locust from my brother in law's back yard not long ago when his neighbor had a large branch fall. I got a call asking if I wanted the rest of the tree, as they were having it taken down. I certainly didn't hesitate!

Here's a pic of what I still have to pick up.

[Hearth.com] More Free Locust!
 
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Great looking score! I love Black Locust. Great heat, easy splitting, and seasons real well.
 
:eek:Wow! nice haul! In 2 to 3 years that locust will keep ya toasty warm on the coldest nights. you'll want a GOOD bed of coals and/or mix a few locust splits with some soft maple or maybe hackberry or ash to get is going realy well then enjoy the blue flames.
 
Ralphie Boy said:
:eek:Wow! nice haul! In 2 to 3 years that locust will keep ya toasty warm on the coldest nights. you'll want a GOOD bed of coals and/or mix a few locust splits with some soft maple or maybe hackberry or ash to get is going realy well then enjoy the blue flames.
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It's locust, not oak. It'll be ready for this winter.
 
You lucky Dog !
It should be good to go next winter from my experience.
 
Some great BTU's there. Enjoy.
 
Nice! Man a stack of locust is enough to make any woodburner envious!
 
OH...You are in PA......Scotty's probably heading there now, you should not have left that there unattended. :p......Really though Jagtec that is very sweet.
 
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Scotty Overkill said:
Nice! Man a stack of locust is enough to make any woodburner envious!
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I knew you would be lookin Scotty. You beat me too it....I started typing and then got interuppted by a boom that shook the house before finishing the post. Oil well blew up about 5 miles from here the fireman across the street just told me as he headed out.
 
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I am loving the locust I just cut a few weeks back. Got it home w/ bark off, split and measured 14% or less on the MM. It's in the stove as I type, mixed with some oak.
 
Locust Post said:
I knew you would be lookin Scotty. You beat me too it....I started typing and then got interuppted by a boom that shook the house before finishing the post. Oil well blew up about 5 miles from here the fireman across the street just told me as he headed out.
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Wow, I hope everybody is OK out there....
 
I am burning 100% locust as we speak....(because it's all I've got left that ready) it's 20 out... and I'm in shorts in the house... with the stove limping along at a 350 stack...

that bark looks a lot thin to be locust... you sure it's not cottonwood?
 
Bret Chase said:
I am burning 100% locust as we speak....(because it's all I've got left that ready) it's 20 out... and I'm in shorts in the house... with the stove limping along at a 350 stack...

that bark looks a lot thin to be locust... you sure it's not cottonwood?
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I'm pretty darn sure that's locust Bret.
 
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Yes, that is definately locust.........a damm fine looking live tree at that (well, it USED to be living).
I can almost smell the olive-scent from here......
 
the bark on my locust is 1 1/2 - 2" thick... smells like arse when you burn it.... IMHO... but the heat is def worth it... just leave the stove doors closed ;)
 

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Bret Chase said:
the bark on my locust is 1 1/2 - 2" thick... smells like arse when you burn it.... IMHO... but the heat is def worth it... just leave the stove doors closed ;)
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Yes, some trees have the thicker bark. How big diameter was your tree? Generally, the bigger the tree, the thicker the bark.
The honey locusts I cut two years ago were around 200 year old trees....they were HUGE.....never saw anything like them.
The bark on them was only 1/2" or so thick.......

We cut some big black locusts that same summer at another jobsite, they were HUGE as well. The bark on them was very similar to the bark on yours. Super thick, and once dried, fell right off the splits. Most of that honey and black locust is sittin in the stack, its on the menu for this coming winter......
 
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the locust I've been cutting goes from 6" to 22"... I've been taking down an entire stand that the borer got to, and is either dead or dying... Of that stand there are 3 trees left.... because I am neither brave, nor stupid enough to risk wiping out a 3 phase line and laying the trunk on a state road if I screw up...
 
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It's locust.
 
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Bigg_Redd said:
It's locust, not oak. It'll be ready for this winter.
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I've never had any locust, except the smallest of splits, be truly ready to burn in under 2 years. While it is a low moisture wood it is also very dense, more so than oak, so it takes quite a while for the moisture to escape. There have been a lot of posts here about year old locust giving people fits over burnining poorly.

However, each tree is it's own individule life form with individule characteristics derived from such things as rainfall, soil makeup, weather conditions over the life of the tree, even which side of the hill it grew on and so on. It is said that to make a gunstock of very dense and highly figured walnut one needs a stock blank cut from a walnut tree grown in the driest conditions possible. As a general rule that's true, but the most dense and highly figured stock I've ever made came from a walnut cut from a swampy Virginia river bottom.

Life is full of variations and exceptions so maybe he will be able to burn his locust next winter without a problem, but it will burn better in the winter of 14-15 and even better in the winter of 15-16.;)
 
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I've no need to burn it next winter, as there's plenty of Cherry and Mulberry for that season. I'll check moisture though, and mix some in if I feel so inclined. I'm just stoked to get so much free wood. That makes 4-5 cords of free stuff this year alone.
 
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Scotty Overkill said:
The honey locusts I cut two years ago were around 200 year old trees....they were HUGE.....never saw anything like them. The bark on them was only 1/2" or so thick.......
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FWIW, black locust and honeylocust are only distantly related. It's not like the various types of oak, which are all in the same genus.
 
Jon1270 said:
FWIW, black locust and honeylocust are only distantly related. It's not like the various types of oak, which are all in the same genus.
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I understand that......just making a comparison.
Both trees burn with a similar BTU output. I have around 7 cord of honey locust and around 7 cord of black locust in the stacks....
 
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