Black Locust vs. Red Oak

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Lignum

Lignum

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Messages
1,520
Location
Colerain Township, Cincinnati
I have had the first chance this winter to burn truly seasoned wood, 2 years to be exact. For the first month I burned the Red Oak and loved every bit of it. Lots of heat, hardly any ash, no muss no fuss. This past month I burned Black Locust, and I have to tell you guys, the Locust didn't impress me all that much compared to the Red Oak. There was 3-4 times as much ash, and the hassle of all that ash really doesn't outweigh the fact it has a higher btu that most wood. Have any of you had the same experience?

I only had to clean out ash maybe 2 times in the month with the Red Oak, an I'm cleaning out the ash all the time with the Locust. What is everybody's opinion on this? When the coals are burning down, I open the vent to burn down the ash to no avail. I have a luxury of burning almost anything I want, outside of Hickory, an Osage Orange. In my stove, any wood performs well, and I confess, if I had the choice to scrounge up some Locust, or Maple, I really would lean towards the Maple. Cleaning out that much ash is something I really don't like to do. The Red Oak has spoiled me I guess.
 
wdchuck

wdchuck

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Oct 15, 2006
Messages
3,159
Location
se wisconsin
Send all your locust to me, I don't mind a little more ash now and again.
When the ash pan gets full, I empty it, of greater value is the btu/lb, which wood makes more/less ash, not important to me.
 
2FatGuys

2FatGuys

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
Aug 18, 2007
Messages
768
Location
NC
In my experience, locust with one year of seasoning burns EXTREMEMLY hot. If it is left in an area where it can weather, after the first year, it seems to decay rapidly, and gives little heat compared to the other favored woods.
 
Mountaineer

Mountaineer

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
25
Location
CT
The locust of legend

Everyone I talk to loves burning black locust. They've been dreweling over teh huge one in my yard. They say that it is hard to cut and dulls blades though. Have you had this experience? My only problemm with it is that it's offspring come up like weeds and the sticks that fall are full of spines.
 
Festus Haggen

Festus Haggen

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Jan 13, 2008
Messages
325
Location
Northeast
75% or so of my wood is black locust, most was standing dead when I cut it, plus seasoned for a year at the least. Burns like iron, never noticed a great difference in the ash amounts.

Black locust will NOT decay rapidly after one year, probably not after 20. Only ever seen it rot in under that time after continuous ground contact. We have fenceposts that are 50 years old and up, the bottom is usually gone, but that locust post will hang until the wire rusts away.

Also, locust is rated right under ash for burning "green", meaning it starts out with a lower moisture content, so will burn relatively cleaner than other woods at the same amount of drying.

I've found it to be hard to cut, easy to split, and wonderful to burn. It is a very very dense wood, a trailer load of that bogs the truck down like nothing else. We don't have a lot of oak or hickory around here, but there's lots of dead standing locust in all the pastures to be cut. Sorry it didn't work out for you.
 
Lignum

Lignum

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Messages
1,520
Location
Colerain Township, Cincinnati
Now, now, I did not mean that I was willing to give up my black gold. I was just seeing if anybody else seen that the Locust produced more ash than other woods, that's all. In so far as rotting, I have never seen any Locust break down. Mostly, the locust on the farm was used for fence posts and firewood.
 
Festus Haggen

Festus Haggen

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Jan 13, 2008
Messages
325
Location
Northeast
It is sparky, have to pay attention while the door is open, the sparks can be big enough to go through a t-shirt or singe hair. I'm not crazy about the smell when burning, not like beech, cherry, etc. And it is horrible on chains, especially when dead. Main reason I started touching up my chain after every tank of gas. Cut some tonight, really dead and dry, lots of sparks. Sounded like I was throwing a xylophone into my trailer!

It all burns....
 
SWI Don

SWI Don

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
May 10, 2003
Messages
575
Location
Southwest IA
I'd still like to try it. I found out that may stash is actually honeylocust. :chainsaw: There is some in dad's timber but most of it has been harvested in years past for firewood.

Oh well. I have plenty of Mulberry and Bur Oak to cut.

Don
 
Brushwacker

Brushwacker

Addicted to ArboristSite
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Messages
4,128
Location
Medaryville, IN USA
I have had the first chance this winter to burn truly seasoned wood, 2 years to be exact. For the first month I burned the Red Oak and loved every bit of it. Lots of heat, hardly any ash, no muss no fuss. This past month I burned Black Locust, and I have to tell you guys, the Locust didn't impress me all that much compared to the Red Oak. There was 3-4 times as much ash, and the hassle of all that ash really doesn't outweigh the fact it has a higher btu that most wood. Have any of you had the same experience?

I only had to clean out ash maybe 2 times in the month with the Red Oak, an I'm cleaning out the ash all the time with the Locust. What is everybody's opinion on this? When the coals are burning down, I open the vent to burn down the ash to no avail. I have a luxury of burning almost anything I want, outside of Hickory, an Osage Orange. In my stove, any wood performs well, and I confess, if I had the choice to scrounge up some Locust, or Maple, I really would lean towards the Maple. Cleaning out that much ash is something I really don't like to do. The Red Oak has spoiled me I guess.

Mabe it was a colder month and you burned more wood to , if so more ashes on that account ?
It seems to me you get much more ashes with silver and red maples that we have verses black locust or any of the oaks.
 
Lignum

Lignum

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Messages
1,520
Location
Colerain Township, Cincinnati
Mabe it was a colder month and you burned more wood to , if so more ashes on that account ?
It seems to me you get much more ashes with silver and red maples that we have verses black locust or any of the oaks.

Hopefully so. The main difference between the Red Oak and the Locust was bark content. The Locust has a lot of bark on it, some pieces are limb type and have bark all the way around. The Red Oak has no bark on it at all.
 
Wood Doctor
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
12,558
Location
Omaha, Nebraska
Agree with Festus

I have to agree with Festus, that locust is a very good firewood that burns hot as haides, but you have to season it for at least a year. It will not even begin to dry rot like soft maple will after two years. Farmers have even used it for fence posts, like osage orange.

I also season oak and mulberry for at least a year--otherwise oak will hiss at you like a snake and mulberry will throw sparks.

Locust has a density that actually exceeds oak, both green and dry, thus reaching the same density as hickory. It's rot resistance is phenomenal, and the best way to burn it is mixed with another faster burning species like maple, hackberry, or birch. Hackberry, BTW, has to be dried for at least a year also, otherwise it won't burn at all. Once dry, however, hackberry burns hotter than maple and just as fast.
 
Top