A buddy of mine called yesterday and said he has a bunch of locust that is too big for his firewood processor (he's in the firewood, mulch business) and asked if I wanted them. As any good hoarder would do, I said of course. An hour later he drops them off. Yep, they are big alright. He needs them out of his way, so it's a win for both of us. He says he has 20 more logs the same size coming my way and will bring them by 5 or 6 at a time so I'm not burried in rather large logs all at once. My "landing" isnt huge so this is a big help to me. That's the good. As you can see, I started to buck them yesterday - I had an hour or so before dark and wasting daylight isn't ever good. The logs have been sitting at his place for a few years and the bark (and subsequent 5" thorns) were almost off all of them. Noticed I said almost. Everything was going great and I was dreaming of some high BTU rocket fuel for the OWB. The next thing I know, I managed to drive a thorn into the palm of my hand - it went in about at the wrist and goes down towards my little finger - best guess is about 2.5" of thorn is burried....and now broke off under the skin. Oops. So, the wife gets home and we head to the ER. I could cut the thorn out of my hand, but I'd need some antibiotics anyway, so off we went. Long story short is that they couldn't get it out either. Said I'd have to see an orthopedic surgeon today and he'd have to cut it out. Dr. Seems to think it may have went through a tendon in my hand - the reason they couldn't pull it out after digging for 30 minutes. Sent me home with Antibiotics and pain meds. Here I sit waiting to get a procedure time from the orthopedic. So, that's the not so good. Back to the wood - never split locust before, but I did split 1 round while I was waiting on the wife to come home. It split pretty good - I'm excited to get this stuff split and dried out. Sounds like I've solved my wood supply problem for this year. I'm finally about 2 years ahead (about 30 cord) and this haul will put me well into year 3. I'm guessing I will be sick of bucking, splitting and stacking locust by the time summer is out, but locust is worth it...thorns and all.
That's good wood there! Sorry to hear about the thorn. I was splitting some Honey Locust a couple weekends ago and found a thorn smack dab in the middle of an 18" round. The thorn was about 2" long and still plenty hard enough to flatten a tire.
Sorry to hear about the thorn in your paw. Hope it doesn't side line for very long considering the work you still have to do processing all that good BTU"s. Heal fast. What about pics of the paw?
Surprisingly, there isn't a whole lot to see really. It's an 1/8" hole and that's about it. The thorn is burried so deep that you can't see anything other than the hole. I can feel where the end of the thorn is because it sticks me every time I move my hand. Swelling isn't real bad, but it doesn't feel great, I will say that. Maybe I can get some pics today at the doc ....if they ever call back.
Well, "wood warms you twice," right? Bet you weren't suspecting heat in the form of "bacterial-infection-induced fever!" Nice score on the locust! Get well soon!
Prime BTUs I got light headed reading about the thorn, Glad I was sitting down. " Ouch " Need a warning on these kind of Threads "NOT for the faint hearted" Yea I'm a wuss, cuts - needles - thorns "Oh My"
Sawdog- great wood. Bad thorn. Like bogydave, I get a little woozy when I read stories like this. Heal up and get back at it! You've got more coming in! :stacke:
I've had my share of honey Locust thorns and doctors, do what they tell you. Those thorns can have a toxin on them. If you listen to the doc all should be fine. I'm good to go, but carry the scar to prove it.
Zang.... Great Score!!! Sorry to hear about that the unfortunate side of such a great BTU source. Yep them there thorns are some nasty critters. Heck just a tip broken off in your skin is bad enough, can't imagine a chunk like that. Any ways good luck and keep us updated...
Locust is great stuff. Sparks like crazy when you open the furnace door, but with this stuff you do not need to open the door much! Let me know if you want me to remove the sliver, i will only charge half of what the doctor will.
Sorry to hear about the thorn, I wonder if some kind of heavy duty leather glove could prevent getting stuck again as you have a lot of Locust to work with. As a teenager, I got a job framing with a builder, and of course I hit my thumb good with the hammer. He says to me, does it hurt? Of course it does I said, " wait till you hit that thumb the second time" says he. I had no idea how bad the second time would hurt, It only took a short time to find out. Anyways, good luck with getting it out, and watch for infections. Try to protect yourself from "the second time."
I had leather gloves on and it didn't do much at all. Those things are needle sharp and strong - I've seen them go through soles on workboots and not break. I always wear gloves when im cutting wood and will continue to but I'm not hopeful it I'll stop from happening again.
Well, you did what you could. Hopefully, someone else will see this, and not get the same type of injury.
So, I go to the Dr today and he looks at me and says, it's highly doubtful that I'm getting that out today. Say what? He says they are never easy to get out, but he will try. He then looks at me and says that not very many people are going to be able to sit there and let me dig like I will need to. Go for it, doc, I've been shot before, so digging this thing out of my hand is something I can probably handle. He smiles and says OK. He numbs me up and makes about a 1" incision and starts to dig. And dig. And dig, but can't get ahold of it hard enough to pull it out. Says it's much bigger and deeper than I think it is. The hole fills with blood as fast as he take the gause out. Back in he goes with the forceps. No dice. Says I will need surgery tomorrow. Knock me out, Open the hand up, remove the thorn and flush the wound well and all should be good. The moral of the story is be careful out there guys. A simple load of free forewood has now turned into thousands of dollars of medical bills because of a small accident. The funny thing is that I build custom tables for a living and my hands are always cut up and I'm constantly pulling slivers out of them. Usually some tape and I'm good to go. This thorn is another issue.