Another indirect score as a result of the storm. A couple who had a tree land on their back fence felled by Isaias hired me to clean that up and remove rest of standing tree. While working there i noticed a tree fallen into the back woods. 18" DBH black locust. Perfect find for someone with locust mania! Maybe a couple years down, bark loose and falling off. Asked and got the go ahead. I was doing other work for them today so put in a half hour bucking it up afterward. Down an embankment into a tangle made it a little tougher to cut. Bucked the first few rounds and man did the saw dull. I know this stuff is like concrete when dead but wow. I had a freshly sharpened full chisel chain. Most of the dead locust ive cut has been on the smaller diameter size. Had to sharpen after six cuts. Maybe i hit dirt, but no. Was very mind full of it. Trunk was raised a bit so okay. NOTE: stump from another tree. I was ready to leave and spotted this. A "twofer" First time ive ever hit metal in locust. No wonder it dulled so quick. Edge of property tree as well. With my earplugs i dont hear the sound of it hitting. Gave it a quick sharpening on the stump and worked on. Got most of it bucked. Section touching ground ill need the cant hook to roll. 35' trunk and several chunks in the woods. Decent amount for the score. I can drive into the backyard to load. I asked and they gave me the okay to split on sight which i may do.
Locust can really stand the test of time. Hiking this evening I spotted some old barbed wire along a rock wall. Appeared to have been held up by posts. I’m guessing locust.
Thats one thing i like about it. I have three other areas for dead/fallen BL that ill work come the late Fall/Winter. They got overgrown in the Spring.
Yup. It's a "Locust Joe" sized BL. Seems most of the ones i find are smaller. You ever cut any dead BL?
Yep. A couple of my scores were older wood. I have no real explanation for it but I’ve seen wide variances in cutability of some batches. Some you can buzz right through some make the saw chatter they’re so hard. I think BL hardens with age,,,,,most woods do I guess,,,maybe not all but many. When I was cleaning my moms basement I found one old piece of BL fencing. No idea where she got it, maybe the BIL brought her some? Anyway I toyed with it for a few seconds before tossing it out. That was a dang hard piece of wood
Went today and removed wood. Had to section to get on PU. Some left to buck. 50' walk from tree to PU. I was able to drive through their yard to get close. Was randomly tossing sections into PU then realized i might not have enough room that way. Stacked sections and made a "buZZsaw" load. Havent been doing that in the hot weather. Humidity makes me lazy. Few pieces of cherry, catalpa, maple in the mix, but 95% BL. Got home had some lunch and split most of it. Started fire for charcoal and decided to finish before supper.
Great job, brother. Got free wood plus pay for other clean up job. Can't beat that with a stick of BL...
For the most part. This was one of the largest barkless BL ive scrounged. Most i get are smaller diameter. You've never processed any mr.finn ?
Stacked all the splits on Sunday. Stack really grew. Before. And after. All BL. Actual stack measure 6.5 X 12' so roughly 5 face cords. 16" splits. I have room for two more double tier stacks here which will be BL as well. Provided i can find enough! With this locust mania i seem to find a way though.
I took some from a tree job we did last summer, nothing straight like your hoard. Every time I come across some it either has ants or or some rot. The quest continues!!!
Ants and some rot seem to be a common problem with bl. Only a bit on the stump end on this one and no ants. Do you reject any with those problems?
Thats a big one. Rather unusual IME to see one like a "yard" tree like that. Almost all i see are along roadsides, growing in poor soil areas and well tangled with vines overgrowth etc. Did you offer to fell it for them Jeff? Leave your number?
