Black Locust or junk wood?

[ReggieT]

Ran upon a decent amount of this yesterday while scrounging around some Red Oak I'm suppose to remove.
I've never cut Black Locust...so if its not pics via Internet...I'm still in the learning curve.

I do recall an old friend of mine who was a wood-harvester for over 50 years, saying that black locust will burst the blocks on your fireplace if you chucked in too much @ a time!!!


Does this resemble anything you guys have harvested???

Thanks
Reg

 

[farmer steve]

looks like it Reg,it is a hot burner when dry. saw & haul.

 

[ReggieT]

looks like it Reg,it is a hot burner when dry. saw & haul.

Thanks Steve...let me ask ya something. I rarely see Black locust...now that it seems it could be...but even the Hedge (Osage Orange) I run upon is ALWAYS in residential neighbor hoods.

Whats the best places to scout these two out, Hedge & Black Locust????

 

[longbowch]

Looks like bl. The wood should be kinda yeiiow when you cut it. Maybe the best firewood there is. I just cut some that's been laying on the ground for about 10 years and its perfect. Look for booth woods in old fence lines and old tree lines.

 

[1project2many]

BL can get fairly prolific in a small area and the number of other species under an established community can decrease over time. Trees are fairly easy to spot with deeply furrowed bark that has many "V"s, somewhat jagged trunks, and upward sweeping branches tending to form near the crown when other trees are close by. Leaves are small and many. I've read it can have thorns but I haven't found any with thorns yet. I've found BL around homes, in back yards, along fields in fencerows, and along rivers. Some folks consider it invasive although it doesn't like to compete and can't tolerate high shade. I've never found any in dense forest up here. There are toxins in the wood and seeds so it's not a bad idea to wash hands after handling.
Bark:

Tree:

Goat food:

Decent references:
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/black_locust.htm
http://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/invasive-species/BlackLocustBCP.pdf

 

[haveawoody]

Reg,
Pretty sure that is black locust, also pretty sure lots of PI on and around it.
Do yourself a favor when you get it and remove all the vine on the wood and in your work area first with a good set of gloves.
Then when you cut it to size make sure you wear gloves, a face shield, a dust mask and some coveralls.

When splitting make sure to wear gloves and don't burn that wood for 1 year even if it's ready to burn.
If you can remove all the bark then the PI oil will also be removed and the wood will be totally safe to burn, pretty rare for BL to drop it's bark though even after 10 years on the ground.
PI on the skin and in the lungs from smoke have very different effects on a human body and although your woodstove might keep you quite safe burning it, downwind might be another story.

No rush with BL it burns almost as good as first cured wood after being fence posts in the ground for 30 years

 

[fuzz1500]

My parents live on an old farm . There is a good 1 to 2 acre patch of BL in the middle of the woods . The story we heard..was that the old owners years and years ago planted a section of it for use for fence posts . Those fences havent been used for holdin critters for 50 or 60 years...but the posts are all still there ! Not rhoten or anything . My dad had to remove a few last year to make way for a new trail . He cut one of them up to see what it looked like inside after all these years . It was in fantastic shape ! Pretty amazing stuff , and a real learning experience for me !!

 

[Sagetown]

That's Black Locust Reggie. Down here in Oklahoma (Eastern) it is abundant in certain areas. Has small thorns on the new branches and shoots that come up from the sprawling root system. As for handling, we have no problems with this species. Lots of people burn it for firewood w/o any issues whatsoever.
Osage Orange or Horse Apple trees are a nuisance here. Sawing them will clog your saws up in short time because of all the milky (Elmers Glue) sap. Sprouts up in our pastures, same as Honey Locust. Now Honey Locust are a real pain because of their 3-4" thorns.

 

[fuzz1500]

We call the Osage Orange a Monkey Ball tree in these parts !!!! But I have no idea how that got started !

 

[Sagetown]

We call the Osage Orange a Monkey Ball tree in these parts !!!! But I have no idea how that got started !

Monkey Balls ! Horses actually do eat these things and so do the Fox Squirrels here.

 

[turnkey4099]

BL can get fairly prolific in a small area and the number of other species under an established community can decrease over time. Trees are fairly easy to spot with deeply furrowed bark that has many "V"s, somewhat jagged trunks, and upward sweeping branches tending to form near the crown when other trees are close by. Leaves are small and many. I've read it can have thorns but I haven't found any with thorns yet. I've found BL around homes, in back yards, along fields in fencerows, and along rivers. Some folks consider it invasive although it doesn't like to compete and can't tolerate high shade. I've never found any in dense forest up here. There are toxins in the wood and seeds so it's not a bad idea to wash hands after handling.

<snip>

Decent references:
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/black_locust.htm
http://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/invasive-species/BlackLocustBCP.pdf

The BL has thorns on young wood only - anything with leaves on it. They won't be found on wood more than 2-3 years old.

Yes, there are toxins in it. I have been cutting nothing but BL for over 5 years now an have over 80 cords in my horde. I also have a mild allergic reaction (hoarsness and weak rash). It has a bad habit of lots of sharp splinters that hurt like the dickens and are difficult to pull out.
Harry K

 

[ponyexpress976]

We call the Osage Orange a Monkey Ball tree in these parts !!!! But I have no idea how that got started !

Some around here call em monkey brains

 

[ponyexpress976]

I got a section of the very same stuff yesterday. The pile I'm cutting on belongs to an excavator. The area of the pile I'm cutting on, the guy said was dumped there about 15 years ago. Bark was falling off, barely. Log about a solid as a piece of iron and just as heavy!

 

[Bruce 46]

That Black Locust is very, very hard wood, tough to cut, but pretty easy to split if its dry. You'll probably lose alot of that bark when you split it. Best firewood there is in my opinion.

 

[philoshop]

I used to help my grandfather pull 3" to 4" locust trees for fence posts on his farm when I was a kid. A 1930's JD tractor (tricycle front end, a B I think) and a cable. Between the thorns on the trees, the thorns on the cables, and the nasty slivers from the broken saplings, I swear I'm still pulling stuff outta my hands and arms. That was 40 years ago. Wheelies with the tractor were just for excitement.
Granddad would explain in his broken English how the posts had to go into the ground upside down or they would take root and start growing! Never saw it happen because I wasn't dumb enough to disregard his advice, but I imagine it's possible. My cousin owns the property now and a lot of those posts are still there.
Now I'm cutting the stuff for firewood on my own land and I'll take all I can get. Burns like crazy and dries to usable levels pretty quickly. Dead stuff is hard on chains and the slivers are a PITA but some good tweezers and a little hydrogen peroxide will keep ya outta trouble.
Thanks for letting me take a little trip down memory lane.

 

[cheeves]

That Black Locust is very, very hard wood, tough to cut, but pretty easy to split if its dry. You'll probably lose alot of that bark when you split it. Best firewood there is in my opinion.

Mine too!
Hurt my back lifting the stuff in '85. Deceptively heavy!! Throws heat pretty close to coal!!

 

[rancher2]

There is a fair amount of hedge and black locust around here they planted in the 30's for post and most of it never got cut for post so now we are cutting for fire wood. Makes great wood for the Garn.

 

[bing]

I jump at the opportunity to harvest Black Locust, hot wood!

 

[HD2010]

That Black Locust is very, very hard wood, tough to cut, but pretty easy to split if its dry. You'll probably lose alot of that bark when you split it. Best firewood there is in my opinion.

My favorite also. I just let it dry for 2 years.

 

[ReggieT]

BL can get fairly prolific in a small area and the number of other species under an established community can decrease over time. Trees are fairly easy to spot with deeply furrowed bark that has many "V"s, somewhat jagged trunks, and upward sweeping branches tending to form near the crown when other trees are close by. Leaves are small and many. I've read it can have thorns but I haven't found any with thorns yet. I've found BL around homes, in back yards, along fields in fencerows, and along rivers. Some folks consider it invasive although it doesn't like to compete and can't tolerate high shade. I've never found any in dense forest up here. There are toxins in the wood and seeds so it's not a bad idea to wash hands after handling.
Bark:

Tree:

Goat food:

Decent references:
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/black_locust.htm
http://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/invasive-species/BlackLocustBCP.pdf

Super pics!!! But, I gotta ask this...is the goat pic photo-shopped or what????