Honey Locust...A Love/Hate Relationship

[ks_osage_orange]

Could these be a species of Aralia? Maybe Aralia spinosa? It goes by many common names, such as devil's walking stick, hercules' club, prickly ash, etc.

Aralia spinosa or Devil's walking stick was one that I was looking at also, but the trees in the picture all seem quite large, but probably not outside the range of the species so it may be possible, and the way he describes them growing in clusters and having lightweight wood makes it a possibility??? We may not find a definitive ansswer on this one.

 

[brewmonster]

Aralia spinosa or Devil's walking stick was one that I was looking at also, but the trees in the picture all seem quite large, but probably not outside the range of the species so it may be possible, and the way he describes them growing in clusters and having lightweight wood makes it a possibility??? We may not find a definitive ansswer on this one.

I agree, KS, this is puzzling. The wood of devil's walking stick is described as soft, light, and brittle, so that fits, and the picture of the twig looks just right for Aralia spinosa, but the other pictures don't. He did say it seldom gets over 20 feet, so maybe these are some massive record specimens!

 

[3fordasho]

Honey locust, a thornless type- probably "sunburst" honey locust

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[Wood Doctor]

We have tons of honey locust around here and I rarely cut it because of the thorns. Just not worth it to me.

That may be one reason why this tree is abundant today.

Try cutting osage orange some time. It makes locust seem rather tame.

 

[indiansprings]

We cut quite a bit of hedge or osage orange, I'll take it any day compared to honey locust. Hedge grabs and scratches, that damn locust punctures.

 

[sawinredneck]

Hedge is all I burn at home, cleared many a fence row and felled a lot of tree's, I agree, I'll take a Hedge over Honey Locust!

 

[treeguyinoh]

Osage and honey locust are probably the two best firewood types that I have come across. Locust isnt that bad, just use a little caution, wear gloves. They will puncture a rubber tire, no question. I run the smi pneumatic tires on my bobcat so the tires are no concern, but i have put holes in a few tractor tires that you wouldnt think a little thorn could poke through. Flat free tires or tracks are a must if you want to use machinery for these babys. I use the top of the bar to wipe the thorns off the trunk (throws them away from you) and just watch where i put my hands. On the bright side, guys that scrounge firewood can usually get all the osage and honey locust they want as most people would rather not have either around. If you use them as fenceposts, strip the bark or they will be back in spring.

 

[browneye]

dont mess with them

i have lots of locust trees i can cut but dont...to much touble dealing with all the thorns the last one i cut i swore i wouldnt cut another one..all we burn is hedge........ its way hotter and you have no worries...all though i love cutting hickory they are straight as an arrow and have very few small branches to deal with and it burns great. and you can use it for smoking meat too..but shag bark hickorys are hard on chains...

 

[turnkey4099]

That may be one reason why this tree is abundant today.

Try cutting osage orange some time. It makes locust seem rather tame.

I planted a row of thornless H Locust around 25 years ago. Working the fence last year I found that one of them had developed those wicked thorns. I introduced that tree to the chainsaw the same day.

Harry K

 

[mizzou]

I like honey locust. It makes excellent heat and I don't seem to have the problems with the thorns some others do. The worst is getting gouged a few times with the thorns. I must not be allergic to the toxin since I've never had a reaction. I know some that have and it's not pleasant. Wear gloves and steel shank boots and keep your tires away from them.:big_smile:

 

[treeguyinoh]

Also, dont stop payin attention just bcause you took the thorns off the OUTSIDE. They are usually pretty soft, but still sharp.

 

[tuneshop]

I believe when you speak of thornless honeylocust ,you are referring to male and female of the same species.If you will notice the (semi) thornless ones don't produce pods. The heavily thorned ones produce pods.(and misery).

killing the tree doesn't keep the thorns from creating flat tires....

 

[brewmonster]

I believe when you speak of thornless honeylocust ,you are referring to male and female of the same species.If you will notice the (semi) thornless ones don't produce pods. The heavily thorned ones produce pods.(and misery).

killing the tree doesn't keep the thorns from creating flat tires....

There are many thornless cultivars derived from the naturally occurring variety Gleditsia tricanthos var. inermis. When you see honey locust that has been planted, it's almost always one of these thornless types.

 

[Hedgerow]

There are many thornless cultivars derived from the naturally occurring variety Gleditsia tricanthos var. inermis. When you see honey locust that has been planted, it's almost always one of these thornless types.

That's to be expected, because that's the worst characteristic of the tree. Not sure who would want to plant one of the nasty's on purpose. But are there naturally occurring trees that are "less thorny"? I have cut some with very few thorns, and some that looked like "the tree of death"... All growing in the fence rows with other species that weren't cultivated.

 

[brewmonster]

That's to be expected, because that's the worst characteristic of the tree. Not sure who would want to plant one of the nasty's on purpose. But are there naturally occurring trees that are "less thorny"? I have cut some with very few thorns, and some that looked like "the tree of death"... All growing in the fence rows with other species that weren't cultivated.

Yes, the thornless variety does occur naturally, and as to the difference in thorniness being related to sex, authorities seem to agree that honey locust does not have separate male and female individuals.

 

[iowa]

I just got a grapple truck load of honey locust last night from a tree service. Probably 4 cord on that load. He just called me now. Said he had a monster load with 6 cord on it. All nice sized logs with all thorns taken off. Gonna average less than $40 a cord delivered! I hope I can keep in touch with this tree guy. If so no more scrounging in the woods for me.

 

[mizzou]

I just got a grapple truck load of honey locust last night from a tree service. Probably 4 cord on that load. He just called me now. Said he had a monster load with 6 cord on it. All nice sized logs with all thorns taken off. Gonna average less than $40 a cord delivered! I hope I can keep in touch with this tree guy. If so no more scrounging in the woods for me.

Good deal. I would love to get adeal like that around here. It would be over 2 years of wood for me and no more battling in the brush piles.

 

[burroak]

Does anyone know how well honeylocust keeps? Do the bugs devour it within 2 years? Or will it be left untouched?

 

[mizzou]

Does anyone know how well honeylocust keeps? Do the bugs devour it within 2 years? Or will it be left untouched?

Around here it does pretty well. It does get whatever bug, worm, etc. that leaves the saw dust mess. Keep it off the ground though.

 

[ks_osage_orange]

Around here it does pretty well. It does get whatever bug, worm, etc. that leaves the saw dust mess. Keep it off the ground though.

We get that wood boring bug as well here, it leaves the saw dust. It won't devour the wood within two years though. There is plenty of quality wood left to burn after two years of drying.