This was next door to the chain saw job i just did. Been spying it for a while. Didnt know it was locust til i joined FHC. Since my locust score two weeks ago ive got locust on the brain. Asked the elderly homeowner and he was more than happy to let me cut it up. Bark came off easy and it was like banana peel slippery under it. Had to cut into a tangled thicket to get the top. Ill add to my locust stack. Not much but hey, why not. Know a couple spots where more locust has been roadside for a while. Mebbe ill get that too.
There is a lot of honey locust in Denver. I get a bunch of it for free from a tree guy that I'm friends with. Not sure if it's the same as what you got or not? It's really good stuff though. I have about a half cord of it ready for this winter. It burns HOT - all night.
if you reference the Firewood BTU & Drying Chart honey is a bit better than black btu wise. Not sure if honey is around my area or not. I have very little experience with it. Seems to be a "weed" tree from my observations.
Yeah, it is a bit "weedy." It is loaded with thorns. That's why people want to get rid of it. It's worth the fight for me. I love burning it.
Ive heard of the thorns and was going to mention that but wasnt 100% sure. What percentage is softwood vs. hardwood availability in your area?
Not sure if it's the same down your way Brad, but up here it seems the honey locust has become popular as a roadside or yard planting. The thornless variety, that is. I scored a couple truckload out of a back yard last spring, hoping to get into it maybe next year of its dry enough and see how it burns. I tested a couple pieces this summer and it laughed at me.. All 30%+ Nice work on the score, a small one by your standards!
Well, My area is the mountains. It's almost exclusively softwood around my house, which I do burn a lot of. Hardwood trees don't like the altitude and extreme cold up here. But if you venture down to the Denver metro area, hardwood is the norm. I am good friends with a tree guy in Denver. I save him a trip to the dump and he loads my truck and trailer with hardwood. I know it seems crazy that he takes Oak, maple, black walnut, locust etc to the dump if I'm not available to pick it up.
The cool thing about Colorado is that there is so much sunshine and almost no humidity. So even hardwoods dry in a year or less. You can cut green honey locust and start your fires with it the next year, no problem.
Around here all the honey locust are yard trees, and the thornless hybrids, so no issues with that nastiness. The Black locust here are a mix of natural woods trees, and yard trees.
I honestly dont know if i could ID a honey locust? Someone else commented about the slow drying of HL in my locust thread from two weeks ago. How is the newest family member doing?
Nothing wrong with that. Good to have connections. Nice that it seasons fast in the dry air environment. Must wreak havoc on your hands in the cold weather though? My hands crack like hell in the Winter.
Once you've seen the bark a few times it gets pretty easy. Kinda shingled vertically and thick looking. Grey color. He's good, but I gotta say, I much preferred changing diapers on the girls. Boys are messy, and for Pete's sake the little bugger waits until the doors are open to let it fly more often than not! Lol. Here he's thinking about how Dad needs to get out tomorrow and css some oak.
Y Yeah, it’s hard on the meat hooks for sure. My beautiful wife rubs them down for me though, so I can’t complain.
Great situation to be in! I have the advantage of a flat windy spot with full sun if I stack there, so that helps. But summer is HUMID and it's pretty wet in spring and fall most years. It's really just pine and silver maple I can have ready inside of a year here. Could be worse - at least it's not the PNW.
Locust is sure one heck of a heavy hitter. If you have it and it’s ready to burn, it’s a winter-breaker for you. Dries darn fast too.
