locust
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joe4str
ArboristSite Lurker
Locust Bark
Never heard of poisonous locust but I would not worry about it. I've burned black locust for years.
Cheers.
Never heard of poisonous locust but I would not worry about it. I've burned black locust for years.
Cheers.
grandpatractor
Addicted to ArboristSite
I've only cut up dead that was already barkless. Sure burns good!
wdchuck
Addicted to ArboristSite
THere ya have it, mind yer elders.:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:
morningwood
ArboristSite Lurker
Been burning black locust ( with the thorns ) for three years and everyone in our house is still alive.
I do let me firewood season for about six months before burning it.
Scott
I do let me firewood season for about six months before burning it.
Scott
Jimfound
ArboristSite Operative
You can burn it with the bark. Walnut has has poisonous elements as well called juglones. I burn a lot of walnut...bark on...no problem. Note a couple posts above about horses. My wife won't let me plant any new walnut trees in our field because we have horses. Do not worry about burning locust with the bark on. Just be glad you have some locust to burn...that stuff is great! I recommend you split it ASAP. It gets harder every day it seasons.
Cold is coming people....don't believe the global warming hype. ahaha...stay warm!
Cold is coming people....don't believe the global warming hype. ahaha...stay warm!
Mkarlson
ArboristSite Operative
Burn it. 
day52
ArboristSite Operative
Because we have a bit of creek bottom land, we have lots of honey locust. We have burned it for years (bark on). If it would quit raining, I would go cut some more now. Take care around the thorns however--they have some type of poison (toxin) that will make you swell up like you had a bee sting. The thorns are tough enough they can go through the sole of a boot very easily. We use a "corn knife" or a machete (?) to take off the big ones, then try to drag or roll the log or pieces away from the thorns to avoid stepping on them. Some trees you will find have very few on them--that's great!!! Splits and burns very well! I have never gotten a stove as hot as a load of "thorn tree" (seasoned for a year) will.
CylinderService
ArboristSite Operative
I understand locust was the preferred wood for pegs for barn beams. When we took down the remains of our old barn we had to drive them out of the rafter joints to take them apart. They were still so strong the boys couldn't beat them apart with sledges. The old siding was put on w. square nails, so it had to be over 100 years old.
Don the Hydraulics Guy
Don the Hydraulics Guy
habanero
ArboristSite Guru
Yes, walnuts are bad news for horses. Locust, on the other hand, isn't a problem unless they scrape themselves on a thorn (then it isn't any different from a barb wire scrape or anything else). My wife's 6 months away from being a board-certified equine surgeon, and we have dozens of locust trees in the pasture we keep our horse in. If she isn't concerned, I'm certainly not going to be.
As far as locust having poison in the bark, that is an old wive's tale. When I first told my dad I was cutting locust, he was very concerned I'd get blood poisoning from the thorns. After 2 years of cutting it, I've had thorn tips broke off 1/4" or better under my skin on several occasions and it's no different from any other splinter I've ever had.
Those thorns from honey locust have been used for nails. I love burning any 'locust' type but working them up calls for armor
Harry K
habanero
ArboristSite Guru
I don't doubt that. They don't detiorate either. I've found several inside big logs where the tree just grew around it (I assume two trees growing together or 2 branches coming together). I have pictures somewhere of the first one I found-I thought it was pretty cool. I've since seen it enough times to realize it isn't anything all that rare, but still kind of neat.
Log Splitter
ArboristSite Guru
I keep reading all the posts here about burning locust and it makes me want to cut and stack some so I can compare it to burning hickory in my stove. Then I think about how cut up I'd be from the thorns before I finished and I come back to my senses. 
My tractor tires don't like the thorns any more than I do, BTW.
My tractor tires don't like the thorns any more than I do, BTW.
habanero
ArboristSite Guru
From what experience I have, I think locust has to be one of the more genetically diverse species there is. The pasture I get mine from has 4 distinct varieties, with the only real difference between the trees the amount of thorns. There are some with no thorns at all; some with no thorns on the trunk, but large, single thorns on the branches; some with thorns on both the trunk and branches, but more or less singular thorns; then there are what I call the porcupines that are absolutely fuzzy and the thorns grow in large bundles all over the trunk. Other than the thorns, all 4 of these have the same bark pattern, leaf pattern, seed pods, tree shape, etc. I've cut a few trees that must have been grafted together as the trunk and some of the branches had no thorns, while other branches were fuzzy.
Crazy stuff, but burns really well. I just knock the thorns off with an axe and go on about my business. Not the fastest stuff to work up, but it makes for a good hobby.
Black Locust doesn't have thorns on it, but Honeylocust does, and so does Waterlocust.
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GLM
ArboristSite Member
The only Locust I have near me is the stuff with NO thorns on the bark but nice BIG ones on the branches, running those branches through a chipper will put a hutrin'' on ya!! 
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