IME that black locust bark will come off eventually whether in the stack or before. I’ve only seen a few pieces where it really stuck on there.
I still have the hoard from Canton area, many of which are lumber grade. Saved them just in case. The other three piles have been converted to firewood.
Topping day! Last load Covering it up I do have another near empty rack. BL splits are destined for it.
It's been very rare for me to have BL rounds as large as these. So, time to make them smaller. The remaining rounds, in this area. Came across a few things unexpected. 1st a worm And then, not kitty litter, by Bradley litter! I found the BL to split easier than the RM. Slightly smaller rounds and less crotches.
Yeah BL is a pleasure to hand split and does generate a lot of shards. I always have an empty feed bag handy when splitting it.
The worm is fully expected. Whenever I split BL in quantity the neighborhood sparrows learn quick to hang around. As soon as I leave they’ll come swarming in to feed off the bark and dropped bugs.
Moved some old BL round/chunks yesterday and thought of this thread. Most of these had the bark washed off so 3-4 yrs in the pile. I moved to the front and split them. Ill stack today and probably sell in a couple months. Lots more there with loose bark, but with the nasty schmutz under it, so I'll move and let them get washed off. BL lasts for years as its extremely rot resistant for any newbies reading this.
Stacked all the splits. Ill split more logs to top off the rack which makes a 1/4 cord of BL and 1/4 cord of hickory. The front row will be a half cord....4'x12'
You scrounging BL made you think of my woodyard thread? Hmmmm.... I think I'll need to post security cameras and guard dogs.
It was mid-20's overnight and I hadn't made any firewood for a couple of weeks. I finished the BL rounds that were dropped here. There's still 6-7 of them to process. I have one round with a burl on it. I'm not sure if it's worth the bother of trying to cut/split around it. If not worth it, then I'll just cut it off and split as normal.
Save the round, let the bark weather off and keep it as a conversation piece/wood yard decoration. It doesn't rot. I have a couple hanging around and one for sale on FBM for lathe crafters.