I tried to set up a mini GTG with Brad and Joe on Saturday at the same place Joe and I scrounged from on Wednesday. Due to owner stipulations on what could be cut, we decided it wasn't worth the hassle of going. I had given up hope on scoring more Locust, when another CL free ad for logs showed up IN NORTHAMPTON!!! I was surprised. I checked the number and it was a different person. What are the odds I thought to myself. I emailed and called the number and left a message. This was on Friday afternoon. Finally Saturday morning around 10:30 the owner emailed me back and said when do you want to come? Here's the address. I emailed her back and set it up for this morning at 9am. I got there and was able to back up to within a few feet of the pile of precut logs. Most were around 7-9' long. It was only 2-3 miles from where I scrounged on Wednesday. It didn't take me long to buck them to 20" lengths and load up into the trailer. Most of the logs were Black Locust, and a few were some sort of Maple. The back of the trailer is the Maple, as I loaded the Locust first. I had to put a few rounds in the bed of the truck, as they wouldnt all fit onto the trailer Made it home safely. pretty impressed with the little Frontier. There was over a half cord on the trailer. I'd say 5/8-2/3rds of a cord. So most likely around 2,600-2,800 lbs. The trailer is rated at 2200 and change, but I wasn't leaving any Locust behind. Id say the rounds and tools in the back of the truck added another 800-900 lbs. Even going 65-70 the truck handled it great.
Between both scrounges I think I have an easy full cord of BL. The “new” BL seems like it’s a bit greener in color on the bark than the other stuff, and the ridges aren’t quite as deep. I was nervous for a bit thinking maybe this isn’t BL. Maybe it’s some sort of Walnut or something. Smells the same though and the bark has the same soft almost foam like feel to it if that makes sense. Also saw some thorns from the small branches and the owner commented that his farmer friend was looking at it and said “ oh you’ve got some Black Locust I see”! Maybe you guys and girls can help me identify the second wood. Most of its bark had fallen off, but there was some I got pics of. Looks like Maple. Feels heavier than the Red Maple I've been processing. Could it be Norway Maple?
Id be crapping in my pants if i went that fast with one of my heaping loads of wood! Great that i seldom have to travel the interstate with one. Awesome score SBA! Nice that you got some more BL. I see the mania is in full blown mode now! Funny how it was close to the other score too. Nice that you could pull right up to it. Easier is gooder when scrounging! Too bad the little GTG fell through, but there will be future scores.
I tried splitting a big piece of the second wood with the isocore. It bounced off three times and I stopped. The smaller piece I pictured split was even hard to hand split. I had to whack it 2-3 times. Maybe it is Elm. Definitely doesn’t split easy. Isn’t Elm usually more stringy?
What little experience i have with elm when cut green...yes very stringy. When frozen green ive had it split straight without any stringiness. When dead i think it splits the way yours did. Been a real long time since ive taken elm.
It was a strange scrounge. The house was on a small suburban lot, maybe a quarter acre. There was a 50’ long or so “driveway” of wood chips leading to the small 600 sq ft or so back yard, and the pile of logs. I asked if they came from his lot and he said no but close by. Kind of curious why they were there then. Number one rule of scrounging though cut and load first, and ask questions later. Or in this case not at all. Maybe he was going to burn wood and changed his mind. Oh well, more Locust for this guy
I split open a couple rounds from the other day with Joe and they were coffee with cream colored inside. The ones from today were greenish yellow inside. I’m wondering if all the wood I got today was Elm. I’m not so sure it’s Black Locust
You DID get Black Locust. Not every BL has the same color, smell, and workability. The wood can be yellow-green, tan, or lighter shades of brown. Living/dead, dead for how long, etc. Lots of variables here. Before even making a cut, the bark is a good clue. Deeply furrowed, gray-brown. But other species can be deeply furrowed too, so a peak inside helps. Also the bark a lot of times has a very thin layer of a certain type of moss growing on it, but not always. The moss on BL has a certain look which helps identify it. Bark aside, look at a cross section inside of the wood. It should have relatively thick growth rings. It's hard on chains as the wood is dense. If it's a fresh tree it should have a particular smell that once you know it, you know what I'm talking about. Hope this helps.
Thanks Eric, I know the stuff on the rea of the trailer isn't BL. I know exactly the smell you speak of. hard to describe, but they both smell the same. Almost like old clothes that sat in the washing machine or something. When I split one of todays pieces I noticed the white cambium layer was wet and slippery feeling which the other Locust didn't have. Which made me think Slippery Elm, plus the color of wood differences. The growth rings on todays stuff are pretty large, 1/2"-5/8". A 9.5" diameter round only had 12 growth rings. Like I mentioned, it had the same smell, I saw thorns on a briar from the tree, the bark on the outside had the same spongy, foamlike feel, and they cut similar with both having large growth rings. Both had the bluish green moss on the bark, Plus his farmer wood friend thought Black Locust upon seeing it. The bark grooves were slightly different, the sawtooth bark looking from the end grain was smaller on todays haul, the white layer, and the color of the split threw me off though. The two rows on the left are from today, the two on the right are from Wednesday
Here's a relevant picture concerning bark identification when it comes to Locust. This one tripped me up earlier this year. I grabbed a big log thinking it was BL but it was Sassafras. The wood inside is completely different. Photo credit and clarification goes to the legendary buZZsaw BRAD Notice the very faint layer of green moss on the BL (wood on the right side)
You definitely got Locust then, nice score(s)! There seems to be plenty of variation within the species. More so when it comes to Honey Locust, which aside from the foliage, look completely different from it's cousin the Black Locust.
Very well put Eric and true based on my experience working with it. I cut some that was from Isaias and some still living from tornado blow over today. The older stuff had a darker color and was "denser" when split. Th two trees were 50 yards apart.
To verify the sassafras was from a blowover that was down not quite two years and the bark was coming loose. Fresh cut green sassy has a different look so maybe not a fair comp. Locust was green. Pic from early May this year.
I speak the truth. I’m sure there have been scores of people on here that were in the middle of processing a pile of logs, working in the heat, sweat pouring down, about ready to give up... suddenly they remember you. Their inner voice cries out to them: if that man can do it, so can I! They pull themselves together. They pick up their saw again. They give it another pull. They dig way down into the very core of their being, summon up the gumption and take another cut. Then another. And another. And they get it done. All because YOU showed them the way of the saw man. The man. The legend. The buZZSaw.
Good job SBA. That’s Black Locust . As Eric said there’s a lot of variation in the wood colors. I’ve noticed a difference in density and weight also. I mentioned this in a couple posts. I got worried once or twice myself. Seems to me the longer it’s down the harder it gets. Some the saw will tear right through. Some are hard enough to get chatter. I also have some CSS that turned a dark maroon color. I wish I could tell which logs would turn that color because it would make some nice woodworking projects. So far I can’t make heads or tails on why that change occurs. Seems to me from looking at the cut ends that color comes from the “lobes” which is what I call the irregular shapes in the trunks when looking at a cross section. But not all of the lobes exhibit it. Maybe some day I’ll figure it out.
Eric with his artistic skills needs to design a Buzzsaw Brad poster holding a chainsaw saying “We want you!” Or “You can cut it!”
