wow just got a reply on craigs list for truck load of locus

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I just scored a bunch of free Locust on CL. I was actually willing to drive there and do the work to get it home though.

@sirbuildalot what type of locust, that is looking like anything we have in my area, we have black and red, once in a bluemoon a honey, those are so far between I don't remember what they look like
 
@sirbuildalot what type of locust, that is looking like anything we have in my area, we have black and red, once in a bluemoon a honey, those are so far between I don't remember what they look like
Black Locust. Never heard of Red Locust, only Black and Honey.
 
@sirbuildalot the bark is a little different on yours than what we have, our black gets really nasty thorns too, like 3+ inches long, red has a different bark yet and our reds usually don't have much for thorns. I wish I had some pictures of the thorns, they can get huge, I've had them go through the soles of my boots. The black locust around here is a lot darker wood, the bark is similar to your pics but different yet, the red just has tighter bark, and the wood is super red when fresh, both are awesome firewood, once you get past the thorns. I've even been jabbed by thorns 8 inches deep inside a log, I hate working it up but sure love to burn it, if you either ring it and let let stand for a year or get down and leave it for a year or so the thorns get real brittle and most will fall off, the hanger ons will sure poke ya good though, I get about half sick when I get poked by them, I have a bit of an allergy I guess, my Grandpa got jabbed just above ankle once through his boot, leg swelled up huge and turned colors, he almost lost his leg before it calmed down, nasty little boogers.
 
@sirbuildalot the bark is a little different on yours than what we have, our black gets really nasty thorns too, like 3+ inches long, red has a different bark yet and our reds usually don't have much for thorns. I wish I had some pictures of the thorns, they can get huge, I've had them go through the soles of my boots. The black locust around here is a lot darker wood, the bark is similar to your pics but different yet, the red just has tighter bark, and the wood is super red when fresh, both are awesome firewood, once you get past the thorns. I've even been jabbed by thorns 8 inches deep inside a log, I hate working it up but sure love to burn it, if you either ring it and let let stand for a year or get down and leave it for a year or so the thorns get real brittle and most will fall off, the hanger ons will sure poke ya good though, I get about half sick when I get poked by them, I have a bit of an allergy I guess, my Grandpa got jabbed just above ankle once through his boot, leg swelled up huge and turned colors, he almost lost his leg before it calmed down, nasty little boogers.
I’m not all that familiar with Locust. Upon talking with some knowledgeable members of another forum, I’ve learned that Locust can present itself differently. Things like thorns vs no thorns, bark color, color of splits, can all vary. The stuff I cut only had some small briar like thorns on the small runners on the branches. The pics I’ve seen of Honey Locust showed huge nasty thorns. I have some Hawthorne like that around me. Looks like a pain to process.I look forward to seeing pics of your variety of Locusts. Always interested in learning something new.
 
I will see if I can find some in my log piles or go down the road a few yards and snap a picture of how bad the thorns get.

Your desccripton of the thorns fits Honey Locust, not Black. Black has short thorns and only on young wood. Or at leasst that iw what we see here. The Honey locust one attacks only wearing full armor.
 
Your desccripton of the thorns fits Honey Locust, not Black. Black has short thorns and only on young wood. Or at leasst that iw what we see here. The Honey locust one attacks only wearing full armor.
that is crazy, ours are the opposite, maybe its just a different name for the same species, or perhaps different growth characteristics based on environment, I still plan to get some pictures of what we call Black here, alas I didn't leave work until 7 last night and before I drove the 11 miles home it started raining, if it doesn't rain tonight I will grab a couple pictures of the trunk and bark of what we call Black locust and share them, I think I might be hijacking Gunny's thread LMFAO
 
that is crazy, ours are the opposite, maybe its just a different name for the same species, or perhaps different growth characteristics based on environment, I still plan to get some pictures of what we call Black here, alas I didn't leave work until 7 last night and before I drove the 11 miles home it started raining, if it doesn't rain tonight I will grab a couple pictures of the trunk and bark of what we call Black locust and share them, I think I might be hijacking Gunny's thread LMFAO
Any participation in his thread other than to mock or shame him should be viewed as a positive contribution.
 
Original honey locust has the 3" long bunches of thorns. 1601427015454.png

The honey locust we commonly see now are hybrids that have been developed without the thorns. Those trees have smoother, almost waxy brown bark. 1601427147369.png

Black locusts have thorns similar to rose thorns.1601427342138.png
The bark is almost cork like in that it's very soft to spiking and has larger ridges vertically in the bark. 1601427255984.png
 
Original honey locust has the 3" long bunches of thorns. View attachment 858405

The honey locust we commonly see now are hybrids that have been developed without the thorns. Those trees have smoother, almost waxy brown bark. View attachment 858406

Black locusts have thorns similar to rose thorns.View attachment 858409
The bark is almost cork like in that it's very soft to spiking and has larger ridges vertically in the bark. View attachment 858407

I planted a row of thornless honey locust (I don't recall the name now) around 40 years ago. Oddly, 1 of them reverted to type about 15 years later and had the long thorns. It did not survive due to an attack of chainsawitis.
 
The ones around me are the Black Locust like in the last pic. Not bad to work up. Bark is a little tough on chains like Shagbark Hickory is, but the BTU’s are worth it. Can’t say I’d feel the same about the thorny Honey Locust that looks like it belongs at the gates to hell.
 
Thanks Cape. That’s a Honey Locust. Turnkey is correct, Black have short thorns on branches, not trunk. I have two of the thornless Honey Locust, they produce the long seed pods, but are not full of the thick yellow goop around the beans. One of our climbers ripped a seed pod open and said taste it. Was just like honey. He used to make honey beer out of them. Unfortunately he suffered from depression and shot himself. Never got the recipe.

As far as our Locust and your Locust, all Honey look alike and all Black look alike. It’s just that way back when, some ones great grandfather got it wrong. Wiki is your friend .

When I was 12 I went from Md to Oregon to visit my cousin. Out there every one called the big black carpenter bees honey bees. Our farmer neighbor had hives, I know a honey bee. I went to the library and got a book on bees and showed them the difference. They said the book was wrong.

Another one is Ironwood. People will say “I stuck my saw on an ironwood and sparks flew and the saw was dull before it got through the bark”. Eastern Ironwood is Hophornbean and is in the birch family, not known for being overly hard. They are Dogwood size. Sorry for turning this into a lecture.
 
@capetrees that proves my point entirely, folk around me call the original honey locust black locust, the ones we call reds may in fact be a hybrid of a black or even a honey. Here are some pictures of what is referred to as black locust around me.20200929_173908.jpg20200929_173928.jpg20200929_173954.jpg20200929_174011.jpg
 

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The thorns on a Black Locust have a mild toxin in them. The tip will break off under your skin and in a few days will fester up. Squeeze it like a zit and the piece of thorn will squirt out. If you hit a Honey Locust thorn just right it will go through a tractor tire, and they will definitely go all the way through a Chuck Taylor and the foot inside, ask me how I know.
 

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