First year using Black Locust extensively.

We're still burning some of that BL we swapped pecan for. Bring in a few pieces for those really cold nights.
Had white oak, BL, BB split and hickory chunks for overnight load last night...

 

Yep, we mix it too.

 

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who has an OWB and he mentioned he doesn't like locust. He only gets a 5 hour burn before it needs a reload. I do not know what size splits he is using but I do know he likes to cut at 24 inches long and split size more than I would care to handle. He may not be burning the driest wood either.

 

That pretty much sums it up for me too.
1 or two pieces at a time.
I think it does better in old school stoves...not much gasing off, just burns like coal

 

Same issue I’m having with my Honey Locust! It burns very slow with very little flame. I mix it some maple to get the flames going and burn down the coals. It does leave some nice coals on the morning after overnight burns. I would say it gives out a much slower longer lasting heat. Not good when you want to get a quick hot fire going.

 

I’ve had the same experience with honey locust (never burned any black locust that I’m aware of). If i fill the stove up it is a very short burn and a lot of coals. I believe the btu rating for locust… it just takes forever to release its heat. I’ve had enough buried coals for a matchless relight after 72 hours with a stove stuffed with honey locust. But I have found that it doesn’t release heat fast enough to keep the house warm when it gets down around zero. I have taken to using it for shoulder season wood and really like it for that. A couple of splits will coal up and release low steady heat for 12-14 hours in the NC30.

 

The only time I get them is when a big tree falls and smashes one or when I have to clear a trail. Like you, I don't want to cut them. Same for dogwood but they constantly die on my tract and I harvest the wood. Makes good firewood but a lot of it I don't even split cuz it's too small. Occasionally get one big enough to make some splits.

 

Most BL I cut is standing dead or down and dead. Stuff is hard. Sometimes when I cut, it will smell like burned popcorn. Anyway, I've been burning alot since temps have tanked. It actually burns almost too fast. Today I stacked 2 logs about 8" diameter on top of a couple splits. (Stacked for 3 years). Once a good burn started I backed air all the way closed then opened a smidge. Left for work 830. Got home @ 5 and just some a little amount of coals left. I thought might be more left of the logs.
I just mixed some BL with mulberry. Seems to be burning hot and fast.

 

I've been burning a fair amount of dead/barkless black locust during this cold snap and I've concluded that not all splits are created equal. Yesterday I came home 12 hours after the previous reload and the stove was still quite warm, with enough coals left for an easy relight. The other day, only 8 hours had passed since the last BL reload and there wasn't enough left to get a fire going again without kindling and poplar or ash. Same stove load orientation, air choked down more or less the same, same amount of wood, about the same amount of ash in the stove keeping things insulated. Sometimes it burns up (relatively) fast, sometimes it stays in coals for hours.

 

Threw in a super old and dried 5+ years piece of BL with 3 white oak splits after work. Went for the reload just now and the oaks just a few coals and half the BL split is still left just charred wtf.

 

Nice load and you have a nice bed of coals

 

I have noticed this and i think it might be some splits are dryer than others I feel really dry wood no matter the species burns a lot faster than wood that has only a year or two of seasoning

 

You could be right. The locust I’m burning now was dead and down for many years, no bark, but only cut last winter. IME one year in the stacks for BL like that is enough. I never checked any of it with a moisture meter and I don’t see any water boiling out of the ends, but you never know. I have to believe a piece at 18% will burn slower than one at 11%

 

After reading and processing the above comments, my stove has had a big orange glow for the last few hours. 5 outside/76 inside. I thought I needed major flames for success.

 

You can always throw a stick or two of pine on top for visuals.

 

Not sure of the reason I’m having great experiences with BL, but I surely am. Split my “research” piece that’s been in the basement for a while, again. It’s sitting at just above 7% right now.


This piece is reflective of the rest that’s in my stack, all from the same tree.

 

I get BL sporadically, but I get honey locust all the time. I treat both the same, I mix it with other kinds of wood. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's ash, box elder, oak , elm or maple. It just coals up so much that it burns better with other species.

 

Measuring like that, with the pins barely in the wood (they seem to be merely touching) is bound to give readings that are lower than reality.
The pins should be in all the way.

(For the nerds among us: the contact resistance of the pin-wood contact is high when the pins are not in,.and in a two-terminal measurement as this is, the contact resistance is in series with the resistance of the wood. With a high contact resistance the total resistance of the circuit is high, and the moisture content displayed is this artificially low.)

That said, it's unlikely the piece is too wet to burn...

 

Literally cannot push these pins in any further.