Honey locust whats the verdict

[woodman6666]

OK guys I dont ask alot of questions on here but here goes. I have an opportunity to buy several semi loads of honey locust, I normally process red oak which pops easy, I have never processed honey locust so how does it go through the wedges, do you think I can sell it as well as red oak? I have researched it some and so far I have heard to process it as soon as you get it as it gets hard fast and have heard that you can just about burn it the day you cut it or at least it dries very fast. Any comments are welcome. This will be cheaper than the oak and readily available. Thanks alot

 

[greendohn]

I love Honey locust, it's considered a premium in my circles. I feel fortunate to have several p/u truck loads in the wood shed as we speak.

 

[Steve2910]

Never had any Honey Locust, but the Black Locust we have here is AWESOME firewood.... Burns like coal. We cut a lot of dead/ dying standing trees from about 6-18". 1 day near the stove & they're ready to burn. The straight pieces split easy & some of the crotchy stuff splits easier than you'd think. Even the bigger twisted rounds we get occasionally almost always go through the hydraulic W/O much trouble. BL is kind of a "best kept secret" around here... People who buy wood think Oak is king & most of the wood sellers put their Locust in w/ the mixed hardwood. On the downside, I hear that Honey Locust has EVIL thorns...

 

[BigE]

+1 on the Black Locust. That stuff burns forever. The only downside is that it is HEAVY, and hard on the chains. It seemed like I was re-sharpening every 15 minutes. It might have just been the sandy soil it was growing in, though.

 

[greendohn]

We have got both types and both are well respected fire woods.(black and honey) To beat the thorns we generally "ring" the trees when we come across them and cut them the following fall/winter. For the most part the bark and thorns are all but falling off the trunk when we get around to making fire wood out of 'em.

 

[pdqdl]

Locust is great wood, but it is also can be tough to split.

Sometimes it is very stringy, and holds together on just a few unsplit fibers. Sometimes...no problem. Forks are usually very strong, and split with difficulty.

 

[Sagetown]

Honey Locust is kinda tuff to split. I'll ring them from now on. I hate those 3" long thorns. They're hard to pull out of your boots. They say it's very good firewood. What I cut I usually pile it with brush and burn it. It burns very hot, and leaves little ash residue.

 

[SPDRMNKY]

honey locust is my preferred firewood...even over hedge...I like how it burns.

don't know how it'll go through a hydro, but by hand it varies...all the stuff I've dealt with splits well when fresh cut, or bone dry...somewhere in the middle, and it depends

seasons fairly quickly, and good btu's even when a little punky

for the thorns...just skin em' off with the top of the bar (throws em' away from you) in a place you don't drive with pneumatic...pnuematic...gnumatic...new-matic... ...air tires

I'll also be ringing from now on.

 

[dingeryote]

It's great if you can get it, and worth the bleeding/cussing/flat tires.

It splits about like black Locust as it's stringy in places. Not as bad as Shagbark, but it ain't Red Oak.

If you do take it, charge a small premium as it is hotter than Oak, and coals out better.
Folks who know what it is, will snap it up!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[xrayman]

I'll take locust over oak any day. Splits good and drys fast. It has great burn times.

 

[Steve2910]

Locust is great wood, but it is also can be tough to split.

Sometimes it is very stringy, and holds together on just a few unsplit fibers. Sometimes...no problem. Forks are usually very strong, and split with difficulty.

Our Black Locust can usually be split right through the middle of a knot or fork w/ the Fiskars, as long as you cut off the nub/ branch first. I find knotty Locust much easier to deal with than knotty Oak.

 

[Steve2910]

Folks who know what it is, will snap it up!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

Around here, nobody who buys wood has a CLUE about locust. I've schooled a few, but they didn't want to buy Oak after that. I learned to keep my mouth shut & my Locust in my own stash!

 

[pdqdl]

Well...I never said it was the worst wood to split. It sure isn't the easiest, either.

 

[qweesdraw]

Some of the best firewood you can get.
If you have ever split dry Locust use care!
It will snap and fly,about 30ft the last dry one i split and got spanked in my stones from my side of the splitter! http://www.arboristsite.com/images/icons/icon9.png(it's happened a few times)
No problems splitting it green.
Mark

 

[branchbuzzer]

Around here, nobody who buys wood has a CLUE about locust. I've schooled a few, but they didn't want to buy Oak after that. I learned to keep my mouth shut & my Locust in my own stash!

I keep muh black locust off-limits to unauthorized personnel and civilians. They can have some, but they'll pay for the privilege.

 

[ponyexpress976]

Im assuming you are going to process and sell...might be a heafty investment if all your customers are wood snobs. Once they have been re-educated, you probably wont be able to get and process the locust fast enough. Watch out for thorns...they will go through just about anything! Since someone else is doing the harvesting, hopefully most will get knocked off. I've been stabbed through boots and heavy leather gloves.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I'm assuming you are going to process and sell...might be a heafty investment if all your customers are wood snobs. Once they have been re-educated, you probably wont be able to get and process the locust fast enough. Watch out for thorns...they will go through just about anything! Since someone else is doing the harvesting, hopefully most will get knocked off. I've been stabbed through boots and heavy leather gloves.

Ditto on the thorns unless it's a thornless variety. They have been known to puncture tractor tires. Gasp!

Honey locust is sometimes denser than oak and usually is when green. I brought in three truckloads of rounds in January, and I thought my truck was going to scream bloody murder. A few of the big rounds I had to noodle in half in order to get them onto the tailgate. They were so heavy I could hardly roll them. I've never had trouble splitting them, but I'm used to elm, and it seems like locust is a breeze--about the same as mulberry. Some say splitting it green is better than letting it dry first, so I split it whenever I can.

Yes, it burns really hot, but you must let it dry a year to get the full benefit. A few try burning it after only a few months of drying and do have trouble. Mixing it with maple, elm, or other less dense species works very well, so that's usually how I do it.

 

[Pcoz88]

love the stuff but thornes suck!!!

Great burning stuff as long as its seasoned!!!There's alot to had around here!!

 

[Wagnerwerks]

x10

The best firewood. As for sharpening chains often... Go out and lay into a nice dry locust log at night sometime. The sparks are incredible.

When my Grandfather taught me wood harvesting as a child, he told me a story about cutting up a locust tree and then taking chains back to a stihl dealer because he thought they were not tempered properly. The dealer asked what he was cutting and said... "there's your problem".

Even if it takes a bit more work, I'm always disapointed when I go to my wood pile and the locust is all buried under the oak.

 

[fields_mj]

Growing up, we had lots of hickory but no locust. I just started buring about 4 years ago, and a co-worker had several black locust around his pond that he wanted removed. Some were dead, some were starting to rot, some were still alive. He and I dropped them. I cut what I could during the winter, then he drug them over to the pasture so they could plant, and I cut the rest up that summer. I got 5 or 6 truck loads if I remember right (a little under 3/4 cord each). Man, I didn't know what a good thing I had! I've been burning a fair amount of ash, and some red oak along with it and there's no comparison. The black locust is a lot better. Burns longer and hotter. It seasoned pretty quick, and since being cut, none of it has shown any signs of rot. If I were going to get a semi load of anything it would be locust not only because it burns so great, but also because it won't rot before I get a chance to use it all.