I found a honey locust on fb marketplace. It was a pain to get on the ground, and one of the most risky trees I have cut. The mass that was suspended in the air made it very risky. It didn’t look too bad in the listing, but was totally different in person. It took a while to get it down far enough to not be a hazard. The base was at least 2 feet in diameter. There were no thorns. I was recently given a “solar generator” that is really just a battery/inverter pack. I decided to take it along and pack the electric chainsaw too. I wanted to see if it would run it, and boy was I surprised! We cut half the tree with the electric saw and still had 2 bars left on the pack. The only thing that I didn’t like was dragging the extension cord around the tree, but it wasn’t too bad. The saw is a Stihl E14, and I absolutely LOVE it. We have had it for probably 30 years, and it is amazing. It had no problem cutting 6-7” limbs into rounds. We brought a trailer load home tonight and have to go back for the rest. The homeowner bought us pizza and even helped load the trailer. Awesome guy.
Solid cord of wood in that tree if the DBH is 22"+ Some great future firewood there. After reading your post this song popped into my head. So i guess you did the FHC version of the electric slide!
Sweet! I have about 2 cords of it in my stacks. It’ll be a couple years before I get to mine. How long do you plan on letting it dry?
Premium wood, one of my faves. Once you get it processed, you'll hear some "munching" in the stacks from locust borers but they don't hurt anything in the end. Good job getting it down safely, that's some heavy stuff!
I’m going to let it dry as long as I can. At least a year and see what the mc is. Then another if it isn’t below 20%. I love black locust because it dries so fast. How does honey locust dry?
3 years has been my experience, it seems to be a slow drier. Your area climate will be a big factor. Mine is in full sun/wind, not top covered. I tried putting some in an old wooden corn crib, steel roof & slotted sides. It was an absolute nightmare, after 2 years the boring bugs had made so much powder/dust I had to wear goggles & dust mask to get it out & it was still about 28%. I have found that it is much cleaner & there is significantly less insect activity in the outside stacks.
I processed a tree that was already dead and in 2 years it was in the sweet spot. No experience with a live/healthy tree. If that one was already dead, which it looks like, you may be good in much less than 3.
This one was very much alive, and it is fricken heavy. I swore we were loading anvils on the trailer.
Ive heard others on here say three or more years which I've followed. I have a half cord that I'll sell this coming season that was CSS in May 2022.
