LOCUST....Is it worth it?

[isaaccarlson]

My 390 doesn't seem to care if it is cutting locust. It goes through it like butter.
Really good wood and it is pretty easy to work with. HEAVY.
Smells good and is pretty. Looking forward to burning it this winter.

 

[bower4311]

Locust is great. Splits easy. Cuts a little harder but worth it. Get it!

 

[CodyWayne718]

Seasons a helluva lot faster than them stinkin oaks too!

 

[turnkey4099]

Red maple would be alot less work, and more fun. You should try it. Locust is heavy and hard.

And approx 1/2 the heat value.

Harry K

 

[haveawoody]

Black locust for me is a wonderful wood.
Great btu, splits and seasons decent.
Only down side to Black locust is getting it going in the woodstove.
As difficult as apple or pear to start.

As long as you have a piece or two of easy to start wood under it on the start fire, it's a big thumbs up.
Once going good the hard to burn problem goes away.

Not sure i would pick it over white oak but if the two logs were on the ground and i could only take 1 i might toss a coin.

 

[asg13]

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

 

[Marc]

Here's a btu chart for ya:

Energy Values - Hardwoods - Firewood

Good reference for density, but don't go by that guy's opinions on splitting difficulty. Red oak and sugar maple "difficult" while shagbark hickory is "medium?" Really? White ash "medium?" Red oak "difficult" and white oak "easy??"

Does anyone in their right mind find shagbark hickory easier to split than red oak or maple and the same ash white ash? I think that guy wrote that after breathing in too much of the smoke to come up with the "smell" category.

 

[Gap Goat]

Yes Yes Yes

I worked all day yesterday getting a dead, standing locust on the ground. I just love the stuff! (and it only cost me one section of fence:msp_thumbup

 

[Encore]

along with what everyone has said, locust is amazing wood.

I have about 3 cords to burn in my OWB this year but it will have to wait until colder weather.

In previous years in my wood stove I'd get about 50% longer burn time with it. Does seem to spark alot more but it's worth the long burn times and nice heat.

Definitely does dull out the chain much faster

 

[stihly dan]

And approx 1/2 the heat value.

Harry K

Shh.. don't tell anyone.

 

[ri chevy]

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.

Nice saw there.

 

[haveawoody]

asg13,

Hickory is better but not that much.
Both are similar in BTU, hickory being a bit better but much better coaling with hickory.
Hickory IMO is just a tiny bit behind Sugar maple as night wood, and Sugar maple just behind Rock elm.

If you have Black locust and Hickory get all you can while you can

 

[sunfish]

We don't have black locus here, but a bunch of honey locus. Good firewood, but the thorns are a pain to deal with. Also bugs get into my locus stacks here and make a bunch of powder, not as bad as hickory though.

I like white oak much better! And the bugs don't mess with it.

 

[iowa]

We don't have black locus here, but a bunch of honey locus. Good firewood, but the thorns are a pain to deal with. Also bugs get into my locus stacks here and make a bunch of powder, not as bad as hickory though.

I like white oak much better! And the bugs don't mess with it.

Ya. All my honey locust has bugs. Grrr.

 

[haveawoody]

sunfish,
iowa,

Get a sheet of clear plastic and cover your stack right to the ground with no air in or out.
A couple sunny days like that and bugs be gone.

If you have bugs in the wood it means one thing (dampness)
Either stacks are staying damp or getting damp all the time or stacks have bad sun or air.
A clear top cover that sheds the bulk of rain but allows sun and air in goes a long way to keeping a stack bone dry once it gets that way.
If any wood is touching the ground it's an invitation for damp and a bunch of different bugs to take us residense in your stack.

Honey locust is way to nice to be bug food

 

[sunfish]

sunfish,
iowa,

Get a sheet of clear plastic and cover your stack right to the ground with no air in or out.
A couple sunny days like that and bugs be gone.

If you have bugs in the wood it means one thing (dampness)
Either stacks are staying damp or getting damp all the time or stacks have bad sun or air.
A clear top cover that sheds the bulk of rain but allows sun and air in goes a long way to keeping a stack bone dry once it gets that way.
If any wood is touching the ground it's an invitation for damp and a bunch of different bugs to take us residense in your stack.

Honey locust is way to nice to be bug food

I'll have to try the clear plastic.

I cut Locus green and pile it in the wood lot, in the sun, Fall/Winter. I split and stack in the shed late winter early Spring, before the rainy season. Shed has roof, but no sides.

Powder from Locus is usually bad, but Hickory is the worst here.

 

[asg13]

asg13,

Hickory is better but not that much.
Both are similar in BTU, hickory being a bit better but much better coaling with hickory.
Hickory IMO is just a tiny bit behind Sugar maple as night wood, and Sugar maple just behind Rock elm.

If you have Black locust and Hickory get all you can while you can

what do you mean by COALING?

I have been burning all black locust lately and wake up with hardley any coal which I do not like! I have just install and outdoor forced air unit! Seems to be doing ok but honestly it has only been in the 30s and I feel it should be burning a bit hotter..

On a side note I have not been splitting my wood..just starting with kennelin(spelling?) and burning all round logs!

 

[Wood Doctor]

Dry the Locust

There is a wives tale floating around that you can burn locust immediately after cutting it green. That's all baloney. You can split it green and it splits rather easily in my book. However, let it dry in the stack for six months after splitting it green. And, like most hardwoods, it will dry much faster after splitting than it will in the round.

Believe me, you will notice a whale of an improvement in the wood stove or in a fireplace. Let it dry! I think Harry would agree with me, and he's cut and burned more locust than anyone I know. There might be a slight difference between honey locust and black locust in this respect, but I doubt it.

As for thorns, the differences are amazng form one variety to the next. Some have no thorns at all and others have them growing all the way down the trunk in addition to being on the new growth. It's a strange bunch of trees and how they can grow so fast and still maintain remarkable density amazes me. If we ever measured biomass fuel in BTU/Acre-Year, I think a locust field for harvest would probably outproduce both poplar and cottonwood.

 

[haveawoody]

sunfish,

Is your wood in direct contact with the ground?
bugs and ground are like us guys and a free beer sign

If not try just the top plastic cover, make sure the air flows into your pile but the rain doean't.
That should clear up the bugs, with no moisture they will depart.

A total clear plastic cover to the ground for a couple sunny day should get rid of most anything in the pile.
A hot sunny day is ideal but fall sunny days will work just as well, might just take 3 or 4 of them.

I cut 7 cords of sugar maple this year just loaded with borers.
2 sunny days of plastic woodpile greenhouse was more than they could take.

 

[haveawoody]

asg13,

Well coaling for a better lack of terms just means it makes large red embers that burn for a long time.

Locust is usualy an ok coaling wood, not bad not good.
Locust is way up there in btu output though.
Locust should burn through the night if you have chunky bits, turn the air vent down a bit and load up the stove and no problem with it burning 6hrs or more.

Hickory and sugar maple are a couple of the best night time burning woods because they make big long lasting coals and both are long burning woods.