New to black locust.I’m ready to mill some there’s a downed section
Is this black locust?
- Thread starter motolife313
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My 171 cut it like butter. I’m thinking it’s a soft wood
The leaves do not look like Black Locust. Looks more like an Elm. Researching.
Have you tried to split any yet?
Have you tried to split any yet?
No. I was thinking elm also. I check elm leaves thanks
Black locust has ridiculous thorns on it. Similar to Whitethorn.
It's an incredibly hardwood for the West coast.
It's an incredibly hardwood for the West coast.
Not black locust, leaves look elmish to me but the bark don't llok quite right and neither does the cross section.
Definitely not a softwood. Softwoods have needles. Not locust either. I would lean towards elm as well.
Bill G
ArboristSite King
As others have said it is not Locust. The serrated edge and alternate leaf structure shows signs of Elm but that is far from a good way to do an ID. The weather in Portland is much different than here. No leaves here. We got light snow Friday. almost T shirt weather Saturday, and will be below freezing at night by weeks end.
Bill G
ArboristSite King
Not all does
Interesting, thanks.
I've never seen black locust without thorns. Honey locust or other varieties, yes.
Around these parts of Kansas, honey locust has thorns, lots of thorns, clusters of thorns. Black locust has very few thorns and when they do it’s nothing like the thorns on a honey locust. In the end both trees can have or not have thorns, depends on the exact type of cultivar as I understand it.
https://redemptionpermaculture.com/honey-locust-vs-black-locust-whats-the-difference-between-both/
If it's Honey locust when you cut one down several will come up next year from the roots most generally in this neck of the woods and several feet out from the stump and just keep on getting thicker and growing fast and the young ones in some areas would have short thorns. Herbicide on the fresh cut stumps would eventually slow down the new shoots/sprouts.
Farmers and ranchers would cut the black locust when sap was down (in fall) and use them for fence posts. (before steel T post came along) Would age rock hard and not rot very fast above and below ground, just petrify.
Hard to even drive a steeple into when dried out.
Farmers and ranchers would cut the black locust when sap was down (in fall) and use them for fence posts. (before steel T post came along) Would age rock hard and not rot very fast above and below ground, just petrify.
Hard to even drive a steeple into when dried out.
Bill G
ArboristSite King
It does not matter whether it is black locust, honey locust, or "ooh pooo" locust there are cultivars that will be thorned and thornless. There are always variables and exceptions to the "norm". It is not the same but think of this. A polled bull is bred to 30 polled cows and then 2 years later linebred to the 30 resulting heifers. That is 60 offspring. What do you think the chances are in those 60 offspring there might be a set of horns?
A couple months back there was a thread on Locust and I had intended to post a bunch of pics. I did not because it looked to me like the thread might get a bit heated with some being deemed "experts" so I held off.
on subject of some trees of same type with thorns and some without, the black locust thorns if they have any are usually not as thick or long as the honey locust thorns (you can see pic's of such on-line)Some Honey Locust also have large bean pods that some animal will eat when they fall off the tree. Even small Honey Locust sprouts with thorns will cause even the big truck/tractor tires to intermittently leak air and the thorns hard to find or remove from a tire.
I also noticed not long ago that a Bradford Pear tree when first planted usually does not have thorns but after the tree is cut down the sprouts that come up from the roots may have thorns. (you can also review this on-line)
Look like elm? Maybe red elm? Came up on me when milling it
Here's another vote for elm. Definitely is not locust. You would likely need an 880 or 3120 to mill locust. That curly figure would make for some nice turnings!! Bowls or hurricane lamps or pepper mills would all be strikingly beautiful if properly turned & finished!!
I wanna get out there and find some locust. 1700 for Janka scale and oak is 1300. Got a 064 and 3120 I can use. I use all my saws for milling. White oak from today. Got 2 beams with my 362 and 171. The 064 would have been better here in the oak, oak seems to dull the chain fast. But at only about 1/2 to 3/4 throttle the 362 got it done. It ate through the elm through with a huge roost out of the saw
blizake7
ArboristSite Lurker
Oh man that looks nice. It's a lot of work but worth it. I milled 6 6x6 beams 20' long out of some larches and it came out really nice.
Bill G
ArboristSite King
There is very little similarity between the thorn structure of black and honey locust.
I'm betting the tree in question is a Siberian Elm. We get lots of them around here, and the bark of your tree looks close to a match. They also have somewhat dark stains in the wood.
That tree has a lot more moss than I am accustomed to seeing, but I would attribute that to the local weather.
As to locust species: I'd say that all the wild locust have thorns, but the common landscape locust is a thornless honey locust. The only value for the black locusts in the urban landscape is for their highly scented flowers. There is a very special variety that grows red flowers in late spring, rather than all the normal white-flowering black locust.
That tree has a lot more moss than I am accustomed to seeing, but I would attribute that to the local weather.
As to locust species: I'd say that all the wild locust have thorns, but the common landscape locust is a thornless honey locust. The only value for the black locusts in the urban landscape is for their highly scented flowers. There is a very special variety that grows red flowers in late spring, rather than all the normal white-flowering black locust.
