October Locust with a Cherry on top

Last night I was shooting the breeze with buZZsaw BRAD and jo191145 about Locust and saying I moved on from Locust Mania to Hickory Obsession. Like the guy who knows he shouldn't drink that goes into the liquor store "just to buy a lottery ticket and a club soda" the mania had me in its grips again today. I've been eyeing a Black Locust down in an abandoned factory parking lot for weeks. I had 20 minutes to spare and the willpower to stay away must've slept in late today. I pounced on the fallen tree and got a good start on what will be a couple more trips there. Pinched under the Locust I saw what at first glance I thought was a Black Birch. After closer inspection I saw that it was a Black Cherry. Visions of a large bird dangling from a tripod over an open fire crystallized in my mind. Alright, that's coming with me too. Got as much done as I could in 20 minutes then off I went. So much for staying off the sauce

 

That's a nice load of the good stuff... Nice size to handle, not too big...

That bark on the BL is crazy thick...

 

The pangs may wane but they always come back. Nice score. Now finish the job!!!

 

Yeah big time thick. It actually wastes room in the stacks (in my opinion) it's so thick. I have enough Locust at home already I may just leave this piled up un-split for a year or so, let the bark fall off, then split and stack for real. I'm not a fan of Locust bark at all which is why I usually go after the ones that have been on the ground for a couple years.

 

Nice options to have!

 

Awesome score Eric!!!

A woodcutters dream!!!

 

Nice score indeed!

 

Ill go on the BL wagon...when im dead! Great find Eric. That BL locator app on your phone works great!

 

Your thread title reminded me of one i posted last year.
A nice day to be at the beech score...with a cherry on top!

 

Great scoop.
What is this club soda stuff you speak about?

 

Haha to the best of my understanding, it's carbonated weasel urine with subtle notes of urinal cake that tingle the back of the throat when swallowed

 

As long as it comes from a liquor store... I'm game. Just add ice.

 

I agree, takes up a lot of room. I like it gone. Gotta say tho, been burning it all summer. It burns HOT

 

Ive wondered what percentage is bark in a BL stack with the bark still on? My first score of it was fresh cut with bark, but later i was scrounging nothing but dead stuff. I still personally prefer "green and clean" when i cut.

 

The smaller diameter pieces, the more bark percentage wise you have. It seems that a 6" limb has almost the same bark thickness that a 20" trunk section has. I've had mixed results with how well the bark burns. Sometimes I couldn't seem to get it lit for the life of me. Other times it was fine. I'm a fan of no bark, regardless of species. In my whacked out head I think it makes the splits retain moisture. But who knows, there's BTUs in bark too...

 

It does on any split. Ive always liked bark still attached, but am slowly starting to appreciate barkless. I noticed the bark on the tree you cut today seemed thicker on the smalls as well. Cool looking tree. Ddint think you could stay on the wagon where BL is involved! Unless you had a bunch of hickory at your disposal.

 

I went back for round 3 today. (sorry, no pictures from round 2; it was raining out and it amounted to about 1/2 a load just like this time around) I had to do a lot of hacking through vines and a downed Catalpa to get the few pieces I did today. Again, only about 20 minutes to spare. I'm seeing quite a bit of heart wood punk in the limbs which is discouraging. I'll probably leave the rest of the limbs for now. There's still about 15 feet of trunk left to buck which looks pretty solid so I think on my next trip there I'll focus on that. I'll grab whatever Black Cherry is left and wrap it up at this score for now. There's a couple dead standing Locusts in this grove so I'll check back periodically. I already have a decent amount of BL at home so to be honest, I'm actually a little more psyched about the Cherry. I had a little last season that was a pleasure to burn so I'm itching for more. Anyway I'll post some wrap up pictures in the near future. This has been a fun little score that was less than 10 minutes from home.

 

Leaving a 15' trunk!!!!

Blasphemy!!!!

 

Haha yeah I was focused on the limbs first since they were closest to my truck. My next trip that trunk is coming home with me. It's about a 20" diameter trunk so there should be plenty of decent wood there.

 

And here I was thinking that the Space station flyover app on my phone was cool.