Well I started burning my 2 year old honey locust which although is throwing heat seems a little stubborn to get going. Split up a bigger piece yesterday, let come to room temp and read the moisture at 38%...!?! This has been stacked single row for two years, mostly kept dry. Area has good air flow but not out in the open necessarily. Stacked a couple feet from a wood fence where theres another stack on the other side. I guess that could hinder air flow but I wouldnt think this much. The wood doesnt sizzle at all in the stove like most 38% wood likely would. Any chance my meter is off? 38% is practically what it would be at fresh cut. Looks like I'll put locust in the oak category and give it 3+ years from now on.
Does your moisture meter have a calibration cap so you can check to see if it is right. I find locust thats good n dry is still takes a little longer to get goin compared less dense hardwoods.
To me the big key is that it is stubborn to get going. That is all you need to know it is not ready, no matter what the moisture content is. Put it back in the stack if you have other wood to burn. Yes, stacking next to a wood fence and another stack on the other side, well, there just is not much for air flow there. Methinks you know what you need to do in the future.
I had some that was still just under 30% after 3 years. By the 4 summer it was below 20%, I never figured out why. It was single stacked in the sun and wind. I suppose it could have been something to do with the meter. I've never found honey or black locust to be 2 year wood.
I've heard a lot of mixed things about honey locust - only needs 1 year, needs as much time as oak, etc. Guess I jumped the gun with this one burning after 2 years. I'm almost through it already, it was about a face cord. Most of the splits are small so likely drier than the chunky one I tested. I'm getting good heat outta the loads, enough that I need to cut air all the way down to cool the stove to avoid overfire. cant imagine how hot it would burn if seasoned properly
I think it depends on the varierv of HL. The first HL I got is just now ready to burn 3.5 years later. It was a cultivar that over the years went wild and got thorns. Big tree too. I removed some natural wild HL for a guy out of his small patch of woods and it was below 20% in 8 months stacked in same area but less sun exposure.
I have a lot of wild honey locust in my woods. I’m not sure why but some is 30% when I cut it and some will be 38-40% when fresh cut. I treat it all like it’s oak. 3 years or more and it all will burn hot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
With 2 years seasoning, I have a hard time believing that it's still at 38% mc. See if you can either calibrate it, it test with a different one. Locust is a not easy to start wood though. Let us know if you can retest the MC.
Trudat. It's very hard to turn over. Need a hot fire going when you toss them in. In an upside down fire don't put locust on the top row beneath the kindling... It likely will peter out.
If it didn't sizzle crackle & pop, I don't see how it could be 38%. I don't mess with a MM, but if the wood doesn't make a real sharp crack when banged on another piece I just leave it for another year. Locust, Hedge, & Ironwood start real slow due to density. I wouldn't worry if it's not steaming/sizzling & makes good heat.
Right, not one sizzle or bit of steam coming out of it. Still considering 38% being like fresh cut. However the moisture meter tests fine on pallet oak wood showing 0-3%. Not really sure how to calibrate it. It's the Dr. Meter brand. Either way it's being burned as we speak and keeping me warm.
Yep, to very loosely paraphrase papadave 's tag line. Electronics are important, buy common sense is importanter.
To really test the meter, you could weigh a split, take its moisture reading, bake it in the oven, weigh and test it again, then figure out what it lost and correlate to the moisture difference in the meter. ...Or just Chuck it back in the pile and wait. Probably easier that way.
Not uncommon for Honey Locust. But it'll dry very rapidly after about 3 years. I had some here took forever to dry. Is it splits or rounds? *edit* I had to put what honey locust in full sun for it to dry and also in small stacks. My buddy has some 4 year old stuff he just started to burn this year and it came from hurricane Sandy.
Honey locust is kinda funny really...it must have a lot of water stored...we have tons of it in the pastures and we are actually fighting it everywhere .. If you let it lay for 2 or 3 years the thorns fall of and it much easier to work with...problem is its sometimes rotted already...we sometimes ring them in the winter after the sap runs down then let them season standing for a few years ...then they seem to be ok..
