How awesome! Black locust has changed your life, lol. After scoring some lately, I'm pretty pumped to get some more but I dunno if it grows here, have never seen one, I scored in Arkansas. Love the dead locust, splits easy peasy, burns right away!
Haha nope, it's not too often I make it down to that section of the state. Although for the right score I will travel on occasion
Glad you got your addiction fix......looks really nice. Did you cut it all with the MS170? I had forgotten you had that saw...... Good job, buddy.
Hey Buzz. I know to each their own but.... Can you please explain your fascination with black locust? I have endless access to centuries worth of locust down here and I won’t touch it. Can’t stand the way it burns, the smell, and the ant infestations. I’m also spoiled with abundant oak, cherry, maple, beech and hickory so,,,,,
Say, what do you not like about the way it burns? As for smell, do you mean cut green or otherwise? I actually liked the smell of the first and only locust I have found; it was dead standing, ready to burn. And do the ants get in when green? I put some cherry in the rack next to my door so I could burn it and went to get some a few days later and wow, they were absolutely full of ants. I assumed they were building a nest in the splits but I threw them onto the concrete and left them there and next time I picked them up, they were gone. I guess they were eating something? Or maybe they had not had time to finish a nest? Kills me how ants build in wood. There is no dirt! I guess they chomp up the wood and make wood powder.
I had pre bucked them to 4" and moved to woods edge. I took the 170 to give it some exercise. Seemed to handle it well until i hit good dirt when i finished up. I wanted to myself. Only a few logs to go and was getting dark. Biggest log was maybe 10". Dead BL is dome hard stuff.
Ive only "discovered" it thanks to FHC and its something new and different. Started hoarding it a year ago and got close to ten cords of it both dead and alive. Its around here but elusive as a scrounge. Eventually my "locust mania" will subside...eventually!
Surprisingly as hard as locust is its common to find ants or their remnant cavities in rounds. Most of the time at stump height and just above it where its also common to find some interior rot. Ive also found them in limb wood too! When i buck and find ants ill slam the round onto a hard surface right away to knock them out. I found ants, albeit "frozen" and lifeless, in the red cedar the other day. This really surprised me...didnt think they liked the smell or taste.
This is my first year burning it. I scrounged some fresh locust this summer but the bulk of what I got was dead on the ground with no bark. Moisture content already under 20%. I noticed that it doesn’t produce a large flame like maple does, but it will throw good heat. I guess if you like seeing a big blaze in the firebox that could be a dealbreaker.
I know it’s pretty ripe smelling when the bark is rotting off... maybe I’ve been lucky with what I’ve gotten so far. Haven’t really smelled much coming out of my stove, especially since I’ve been mixing it with other species. I have been burning it sparingly, mostly saving it for the long overnight burns or during the day when I won’t be around to reload. I definitely wouldn’t want to try it in an open fireplace though.
I've burned it in a fireplace and didn't notice any smell. I am surprised that smell is an issue. I am new to BL but when I split the rounds from dead standing BL, bark falling off, and smelled it, smelled good! I will be interested to see if I note a bad smell if I find some more. And I have a good sniffer, very sensitive to smells.
When cut green and left unprotected the bark will loosen and peel off and it stinks BAD when peeled off and wet. I dont mind the smell of it fresh cut.
