I have been searching for black locust where I live but have yet to find any. I might be a tad too far south, not sure. I've been hoping to spot that telltale bark! I drove 150 miles north into west central Arkansas to visit my brother and looked constantly, never saw one. But... yippee!, spotted what I thought might be one on the property he manages that was a deadfall. It sure looks like black locust to me and he concurs, especially after I could see a cross section of the growth rings. Smells good, too. This locale shows to be in the native range. A section toward the stump was rotten inside but above that is good. It's naturally dried and most is in fine shape! There are a couple more dead standing to get. Look forward to trying it. He has an insert in his fireplace, hope not to harm it, lol. Do you guys let deadfalls or dead standing sit a bit or might it be ready to burn? Don't have my moisture meter here.
That be the good stuff, yellow gold. I like the smell of it too. Can't really pinpoint what it smells like but fresh or dead on the ground, it has a distinct smell.
Looks like it to me. Common to have interior rot at stump level. When i started with BL this year back in January i was harvesting dead or "abandoned" logs cut from previous storm clean ups. Not sure if yours would be ready or not. Id let it go til next year this way here there will be no doubt. Sounds like you dont wanna wait that long though. Congrats on finally finding it. Just dont come down with locust mania.
Yep, lasts a very long time even on the ground for years. I scrounged a couple crusty 8’ lengths today that’ll eventually be used for fence posts.
Youve been scrounging and holding out on us Eric??? I saved a couple BL logs from the route 2 exit ramp score as posts. Gave one to a stepdaughter & BF to hang a bluebird house on.
LOL I’ve actually been grabbing a lot of small partial loads lately, not really what I’d consider “FHC worthy” On today’s menu was some sugar maple that fell during Isaias, along with a few rounds of Ash. My uncle is getting goats in the spring and needs to build a pen so I’m supplying the locust posts.
One thing im really starting to love about BL (as already stated) is the fact it can sit and not rot. The bark will come off and the very thin cambium layer decay, but thats about it. I have a few areas where i can go and cut some but with this in mind i dont have to rush there. Ive gone back to one "secret stash" and removed the bark so the dirty schmutz will get washed off.
Say,hoarders, tell me how black locust splits? Been doing this by hand with Fiskars x27 and some of it splits first whack but some, the axe sticks and I have to do multiple blows. These rounds are about about 8 to 9 inch diameter. I try to hit the first blow on a crack. Now this tree was on ground, so, a bit of it had some punk but the rest is fine. Bark was off or falling off. Wish I had my moisture meter with me. I think I might have the new Fiskars 6 lb splitting maul with me, need to try that!
In my fairly limited experience with BL (2-3 full cords split) I'd rate it as a medium toughness splitting wood. A 4-5 on a scale of 1-10. Certainly not as easy as a species like Red Oak, but a far cry from the Elm Street Horror!!! I'd compare Black Locust to Maple. Splits ok, can be stringy at times and often has a wavy grain pattern. Some pieces pop apart easy, others require multiple blows.
Straight grained green or dead splits pretty easily for me with X27, Isocore, or Collins ax...even big rounds. Gnarly can be tough though. Some locust from earlier this month. 6-10" diameter logs. 16" length.
Just split about a cord for the first time. I thought it split pretty easy. Easier than Ash, about the same as maple like sirbuildalot said.
I have some barkless rounds from a couple years ago. They are a lot harder than green. They are on the way back burner to split.
