LOCUST....Is it worth it?

[haveawoody]

Wood Doctor,

Yeppers and same for ash.
All the hardwoods need 6 months or more to dry properly cut green.
Standing dead, have at it and burn a week after you split.

 

[BrokenToys]

I tell everyone I know locust is great and they call it junk; so call me Fred Sanford. They keep giving it to me and I keep right on taking it !!
Never have enough Locust on hand !!

 

[haveawoody]

BrokenToys,
LOL


My neighbour has delivered me a bunch of dead elm this year.
Got to be getting on for 15 cords now as he removes them from his property and drops them over in log format.

He has a wood stove and tells me he hates elm.
Who am i to argue

And to top that off it's all been rock elm so far.
Any they say xmas only lasts for 1 day LOL

I've had people drop in large quantities of sugar maple, hickory and black locust along with many others over the years just because they didn't want to go to the dump.

 

[ri chevy]

You must have a horse shoe buried on your property somewhere.

 

[haveawoody]

ri chevy,

Or someone has experienced splitting elm with a maul and didn't like it much LOL

I work partime with 2 tree removal companies so wood deliveries out of the blue are semi common.
Some people have an odd idea of what is good firewood though and what is not.
And I'm way cheaper than the dump
Shredder gets work overtime some days though when someone drops in toatal crap.
Got to take good and bad i guess, my clayish garden loves crap wood chips tilled in so it's not bad either way.

 

[millbilly]

I live about 3 miles from a fence company, they only installs split rail fence. I get truck loads of old locust post that people have replaced because they look old and weathered. Shame on them. I just block them up and and do the slow burn.

 

[ri chevy]

ri chevy,

Or someone has experienced splitting elm with a maul and didn't like it much LOL

I work partime with 2 tree removal companies so wood deliveries out of the blue are semi common.
Some people have an odd idea of what is good firewood though and what is not.
And I'm way cheaper than the dump
Shredder gets work overtime some days though when someone drops in toatal crap.
Got to take good and bad i guess, my clayish garden loves crap wood chips tilled in so it's not bad either way.

Ahhh. I figured that you had an in with a tree company. :msp_thumbup:

 

[Arbonaut]

Guys mentoned everything I love about Locust. They make dense shade, grow very fast for a tree that hard and also fix nitrogen because it is a legume. The beans feed wildlife and smell like vanilla, too. I just farted, and it does not smell like vanilla.

 

[haveawoody]

millbilly,

Got to love locust.
One of the few woods that can be stuck in the ground for ages not rot and still burn great.
I guess you must hope for very windy fence smashing days

 

[haveawoody]

ri chevy,

About 3 months a year I'm on call for 2 services.
It's good fun and decent pay for 3 months but as a full time job I'm not sure my bones would last.
Right around 3 months of cutting and hauling about 1 decent tree a day and I'm ready for beer season
Takes another 3 or 4 months to split what i hauled so i have lots of time for the beer festival

 

[ri chevy]

I agree! It is hard work. Back breaking if you will. :msp_thumbup:

 

[asg13]

U guys mix to burn with oak or whatever? Ive noticed it does not hold a coal bed well!

 

[darkbyrd]

U guys mix to burn with oak or whatever? Ive noticed it does not hold a coal bed well!

I keep some poplar and pine splits near the house all the time, I use them to get a cold stove warmed up quickly, or to get something going from a low coal bed. If I already have a good fire going, and I'm, say, loading for the night, I load according to temps. If it is going to be a real cold one, I'll load it full of just oak, or just locust. Sometimes, less oak, more maple. Or cherry. I generally keep my wood in 4 stacks (doesn't always work out like that, but here goes) pine/poplar, oak/hickory/beech, black locust, and everything else (cherry, gum, maple, you name it). So, to not answer your question, I always mix a drink before loading the stove with oak. Hope that helps!

 

[Morgan in AR]

How does hickory match up? Plenty of that around too!

The thing I don't like about hickory is that you can't leave it sitting outside, or it will rot into a mushroom pile quite quickly.

 

[Woodcutteranon]

Blade?

Locust is awesome firewood. It doesn't carry a bright flame but gives excellent coals. Locust is good wood for campfire cooking or for your last log you throw on the fire before you go to bed at night

 

[haveawoody]

asg13,

Silver maple is a great startup wood with semi decent btu and cures in 3 months.
My fav for coaxing a coal bed back to fire and for starting underneath fires that really did go out overnight.
A couple pieces of silver maple a bit of kindle and in record time the hardwood above is burning well.

Lots of people won't even bother to get silver maple, but wood that burns with decent btu, starts easy, splits easy,can be made into kindle easy, burns clean and cures in 90 days.
I can't for the life of me figure out why it would't be a rare item to find.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Let the Rounds Dry--But Not All

Wood Doctor,

Yeppers and same for ash.
All the hardwoods need 6 months or more to dry properly cut green.
Standing dead, have at it and burn a week after you split.

It never ceases to amaze me how much longer wood in the round takes to dry than split logs. However, there are several species that cannot be split unless air dried for several months in the round. That includes elm and cottonwood, but there are others, such as sycamore and birch.

Experience, experience, experience... It's priceless when processing firewood.

 

[Gjt1980]

You must not have one of these, with a square chisel chain... Just cut up a large locust this weekend! No sweat with this saw! Going to cut more next weekend!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!

Now my little 029, yeah, won't make it through very many cuts before needing sharpening.

Where are you in WV? I am in Ripley.

Where did you find my ms460 I've been looking for it.
Nice saw

 

[Gjt1980]

I took down 6 cotton woods with 30" base i started bucking and splitting right away, i split with a maul it splits fine i have a splitter but prefer to split my cotton wood by hand and use the splitter for wood that i can sell. Cotton wood goes in my burner

 

[Wood Doctor]

I took down 6 cotton woods with 30" base i started bucking and splitting right away, i split with a maul it splits fine i have a splitter but prefer to split my cotton wood by hand and use the splitter for wood that i can sell. Cotton wood goes in my burner

Fresh, green eastern cottonwood? Can't do that around here. Too stringy and the wood laughs at you, just like elm.