Seasoning Black Locust?

[esshup]

We had some bad storms come thru the area last Saturday. I was helping a neighbor clean up his yard (he didn't have a chainsaw) and he said that if I wanted the wood I should take it. Couple of black locust trees, 10"-14" diameter.

Got them all cut and split into pieces 16" long by 6" w x 4" high (or so - that's to give you an idea what the splits look like size wise - the pieces were either split into 4 or 2 pieces).

Got 'em stacked under a roof, inside a drafty old chicken coop, concrete floor. My question is will they be dry enough to burn winter of 2015 or do I need to wait 2 years like I have to wait for Oak split the same size?

 

[UpOnTheHill]

I split my black locust very small - about half of what you did. I then sack it in rows out in the wind and sun. I get it off the ground a couple inches with old boards or small trees. It seems to dry very well here over thr course of the spring, summer and fall making a great firewood for my wood burning stove. I'll be burning a lot of it this winter mixed with a little ash, maple and basswood. I wouldn't have put it in a chicken coop until after it seasoned outdoors for a minimum of a entire summer and fall, but thats me. I cover my wood stacks with strips of roofing rubber in the late fall after we've had a few straight days of sun and no rain. I only cover the tops, letting the rubber come down the sides only a little. My rows are separated by about 2 feet so the wind and sun can get in there and I can walk between the rows to weed-whack and to get at the wood I want during winter. It does make great firewood for the coldest days and nights of winter.

 

[CTYank]

Depends, on what you're going to burn the BL in, and how. BL is pretty close-grained, so it can be a bit slower to air-dry, slower than black birch ferinstance. Make sure it's well exposed to the southwesterly summer breezes and maybe remove the bark- that'll speed the drying.

BL is generally slow to light, in an EPA stove, and likes "company". Meaning, a mixture of species works best- some well-dried oak or maple or such in with the BL. A species that flares up more readily than the BL.

It's potentially so good that a little extra effort pays off.

 

[UpOnTheHill]

Forgot to mention the bark. When I split it, I remove the bark from each split. It take an extra pass with the splitter to peel it off, but it comes off in big chunks if the rounds have been sitting a while. It exposes somewhat of a membrane thats more slippery than a mink's wee-wee. You can use that last part if u like

 

[Dale]

exactly how do you know how slippery a mink's wee-wee is ?

 

[Guswhit]

I always had good luck cutting and splitting black locust in October and November and then burning the following year. Although I always stacked the splits directly outside in the sun and wind. Just saying you should probably check the moisture content of some splits before burning it when trying something new.

 

[turnkey4099]

exactly how do you know how slippery a mink's wee-wee is ?

Darn! Now you done it. I was hoping no one would ask!!

Harry K

 

[UpOnTheHill]

exactly how do you know how slippery a mink's wee-wee is ?

Well first ya gotta catch em and them little buggers is hard to catch. Then ya gotta squeeze the ******** on top of the *****. Be careful of the ****** *****. If that thing bursts, its all over.

It was a saying my grand-dad used for many years and it always stuck with me. "Them things is slippery-er then a mink's wee-wee"

 

[KenJax Tree]

My grandpa used to say "slicker than calf slobber"

 

[esshup]

Thanks guys. It's already stacked inside, so it will wait 'till 2016 to burn. Burning it in a Quadrafire fireplace insert.

 

[philoshop]

Pull one of the thicker pieces out of the middle next year, split it and check the MC. You might be pleasantly surprised.
I cut a bunch every year in late Feb or so, split it to about 2" thick x 5 or 6" wide. It gets pretty good sun and wind during the summer and by the end of Nov it's ready for the stove.

 

[daveffemt130]

I cut some bl back in june tested it with a meter and green and fresh cut the highest reading i got was 24% i split and stacked it, and just moved it inside at 16% i hope this helps...i always say under 20% is good to go...i have alot of OO that tested around 25% green cut at same time and its all below 20% too

 

[philoshop]

Drier is better, but even at 16% or so BL puts out a lot of heat.

 

[daveffemt130]

I have some that's been seasoning for 16 months and it's at 15% I think to get it much drier it will have to be thrown into a kiln....I don't own one lol

 

[daveffemt130]

The OO I save for the coldest parts if winter...I never rots

 

[LocustLot]

Esshup,

I'm late to the conversation obviously, but my experience with locust is "it all depends" what part of the tree you're taking wood from… relatively straight grained trunk material, in my experience, is dry, dense and splits very easily if you don't wait more than a few weeks after you buck it up. Smaller, scraggly stuff in the upper branches and crotches of the tree (again in my experience), tend to be a little more moisture-laden, dries a little more slowly. Can't explain the difference.

This fall I cut 12-24" dia. trunks and split them into pieces the same size as yours or smaller… sat in a big pile for 2wks then stacked 7 cords in an 8'x8'x16' shelter first week of november... Tarp over the roof and lashed about 18" down each side but plenty of air circulating through. We go through about 6 cords mixed hardwood per year, about 20-40% BL.

The smaller BL pieces (say 2-3" x 6-8" x 16") have changed color from greenish yellow to yellow-orange and radial checking has progressed nicely.

Ideally I would always wait a year to burn most any hardwood, for kicks I today tossed a few pieces of the 3months-seasoned BL in the non-EPA woodstove and it's burning perfectly.

Not the best photo, and of course there's a chunk of elm right in the middle there, but the rest is BL.

Good luck!

 

[Guswhit]

Nice looking stove!

 

[LocustLot]

Thanks! Steve Slatter at Vermont Iron Works knows his stuff...

http://www.vermontironstove.com