# Black Locust for firewood???



## Tapio (Jul 18, 2010)

Hey,
I recently cut down 7 decent size black locust trees. Is that wood good for firewood??? I have a large amount of it and don't want it to go to waste if it is useful....


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## Tapio (Jul 18, 2010)

*also...*

Just thought I'd mention that maple and northern red oak tend to be the preferred firewood in my neck of the woods (Massachusetts)....


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## turnkey4099 (Jul 18, 2010)

Black Locust after curing for a year will be better than either of those mentioned.

Harry K


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## Junkrunner (Jul 18, 2010)

:agree2::agree2: Like gold around here!


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## tomtrees58 (Jul 18, 2010)

its the Mose btu of any wood


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## outdoorlivin247 (Jul 18, 2010)

Excellent for air tight stoves...


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## BlueRidgeMark (Jul 18, 2010)

One of the best! You got a *score*!


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## bluestem (Jul 18, 2010)

Hit the jackpot there. That's some rotproof wood too!


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## bore_pig (Jul 18, 2010)

Excellent firewood. Dries fast, but burns good when green too. Split it now and it will be good by end of dec. Be careful not to overfire your stove with it. *IT BURNS VERY HOT!*


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## ChrisNJ (Jul 18, 2010)

not only awesome firewood but fun to split, so dense it cracks like a walnut, wish I had some right now to split.


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## Wood Doctor (Jul 18, 2010)

turnkey4099 said:


> Black Locust after curing for a year will be better than either of those mentioned.
> 
> Harry K


Harry knows what he is talking about. 

I'm surprised locust hasn't been grown and harvested as a fuel wood. It grows fast and has amazing density. I know of no hardwood that can match it in these two respects.


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## Mike PA (Jul 19, 2010)

Tapio said:


> Just thought I'd mention that maple and northern red oak tend to be the preferred firewood in my neck of the woods (Massachusetts)....



I think the locust you cut would be the prefered firewood, but the maple and oak are more abundant. Can't go wrong with locust, unless you use it on too warm of a day. That is your mid winter/ over night heat source.


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## Duke Thieroff (Jul 19, 2010)

Good stuff, easy to split by hand when young/green. The drier it gets the harder. Very high flavinoid content which leads to its ability to not rot. Makes fenceposts that last for decades.

Burns hot, good coaling properties, just can be difficult to get lit.

Stuff is really common here in Western PA, on fencerows, roadsides and in homeowners yards.

Not so common in forest areas.
I take all I can get, next to Osage Orange it's one of the best. I have 5 cords of it in my pile.

CT


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## Bruce 46 (Jul 19, 2010)

Great for a wood stove, maybe not for a fireplace, it "sparks" a good bit when burning, it might pop some coals out onto your floor if using a fireplace. But it splits pretty easy, dries fast and burns very hot!


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## turnkey4099 (Jul 19, 2010)

Something not mentioned. It is eeevvviiilll for the splinters you can get from it. They seem to be barbed, like to go straight in not leaving enough to get ahold of and seem to have some sort of a chemical tht makes them sting. 

Wear gloves.

Harry K


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## BlueRidgeMark (Jul 19, 2010)

turnkey4099 said:


> Something not mentioned. It is eeevvviiilll for the splinters you can get from it. They seem to be barbed, like to go straight in not leaving enough to get ahold of and seem to have some sort of a chemical tht makes them sting.
> 
> Wear gloves.
> 
> Harry K




:agree2:


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## girod (Dec 8, 2019)

Duke Thieroff said:


> Good stuff, easy to split by hand when young/green. The drier it gets the harder. Very high flavinoid content which leads to its ability to not rot. Makes fenceposts that last for decades.
> 
> Burns hot, good coaling properties, just can be difficult to get lit.
> 
> ...


I would disagree on the coaling, at least with my stove (Lopi Patriot). I burn ash, elm, cherry, apple, beech, yellow birch and even some boxelder if I have to cut it down). All of these leave something in the stove to start a fire with (well, maybe not boxelder) in the morning after 8 hours, but not locust. The charcoal is fluffy and just continues to burn until nothing is left but cold ash. With other wood the charcoal tends to go out and can be revived with a propane torch, or at least stays warm, but not locust. I agree, it makes a hot fire, but not one that lasts. And yes, it is my stove that is partly to blame, but I have never had trouble with other wood.


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## Marley5 (Dec 8, 2019)

I'd say that particular fire has no coals left.....that was over 9 yrs ago.


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## jimdeere (Dec 8, 2019)

Very dense wood, hard on chains. In fact, if cutting near twilight, you can see sparks.
I take all I can get. My current supply is 90% locust.


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## EchoRomeoCharlie (Dec 8, 2019)

I do most of my maple syrup boiling with black locust...burns wicked hot and gives me great boils.

If you cut one down live, make sure you put whatever herbicide available to you on the stump immediately. It will sucker out like crazy.


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## SS396driver (Dec 10, 2019)

I generally cut black locust small and add a few pieces when it really cold. I have used some as supports in my barn too. Stuff lasts forever


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## jimdeere (Dec 10, 2019)

They used to use locust for roof support and shoring in the coal mines. This was before the advent of roof-bolting.


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## EchoRomeoCharlie (Dec 10, 2019)

Some of the pole barns, and all of the cow yard fence at my uncle's farm is built from Black Locust. Fence is pushing 40 years old and is finally nearing time to replace. Mainly because the cows chew on it. Poles with ground contact aren't the problem really, it's the cross bars where the cows chew and lean on, break the ends off.

Pole barn poles are older and show zero signs of issues.


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## Marine5068 (Dec 12, 2019)

Tapio said:


> Hey,
> I recently cut down 7 decent size black locust trees. Is that wood good for firewood??? I have a large amount of it and don't want it to go to waste if it is useful....


That's a great score right there.
It's one of the top hardwoods for firewood in North America. I think it's 3rd down on the list maybe after Osage Orange.
Burns very hot some only throw in a few smaller sticks when the fire is going good or risk and overheated stove.
I would still season it for a bit longer than a few months as stated though.
All my firewood is 1 to 3 or 4 years before burning depending on moisture content.
Locust can be thorny so wear gloves when handling it.


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## Marine5068 (Dec 12, 2019)

turnkey4099 said:


> Something not mentioned. It is eeevvviiilll for the splinters you can get from it. They seem to be barbed, like to go straight in not leaving enough to get ahold of and seem to have some sort of a chemical tht makes them sting.
> 
> Wear gloves.
> 
> Harry K


That's the flavinoids in it that the Duke was talking about


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## Marine5068 (Dec 12, 2019)

Marley5 said:


> I'd say that particular fire has no coals left.....that was over 9 yrs ago.


10 years and a bit, must have just woke from the dead.


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## Jere39 (Dec 12, 2019)

Dad burns it exclusively. Grandpa helped me put some locust posts in the ground for a pole barn decades ago. After we put one in, he laid a flat river stone on the top of one of the posts and told me he'd never see it, but when the stone wears out I should start looking for new posts.


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## sbhooper (Dec 19, 2019)

Old threads can be fun. I have two of these to cut tomorrow, as a matter of fact.


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## Cowboy254 (Dec 20, 2019)

I collected 1.5 cord of locust this year, hoping it'd be something special but my experience was mixed. The main problem was the amount of ash it produced - more than any other wood I have burned. It was as dense as the densest eucalypt we have locally - we are in a higher rainfall area so have faster growing and less dense eucalypts than some areas - so the BTUs were there, no doubt. And it was great to split, best splitting wood I have come across, I reckon. I've read about the longevity in the ground but also one other thing about it is the torsional rigidity. I had one bit that split off by itself when I was splitting the bigger rounds. It was about 4 inches across and 15 inches long but a fraction of an inch thick, just a sliver. It was almost impervious to torsion, I was impressed! No doubt, for building things, it'd be great in many ways. 

I burned it at night primarily and it did the job getting through but burning it exclusively through the day didn't work well. You end up putting more in before all the coals have burned down and the ash smothers them so they don't burn out fully. End result is a full firebox that won't burn down properly. Mixing it with lighter stuff would help but my other wood is of similar density so that wasn't an option. I needed pine! For me, I have eucalypts that are as dense without the ash so I won't go back for more locust but I'm sure that it will serve you very well in the right circumstances.


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## Torch68 (Dec 31, 2019)

Natures answer to pressure treated wood!


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## EastoutWest (Jan 1, 2020)

I have a lot of standing dead locust where I live. It is great for gathering late in the season. Even logs that have been on the ground for several years are basically dry inside. I actually burned some last night that I bucked and split yesterday and it burned great. I will agree with other people in here that it burns hotter than most. On a warmer night, it can overheat the house... especially since I don't have intake air control on my stupid cheap epa stove. I tend to split locust bigger than oak, maple and elm so the wood lasts longer in the stove and doesn't get so hot. I do the same with Beech and Birch.


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## Marine5068 (Jan 4, 2020)

I love getting and burning Locust of any variety.
I do mix it in with other wood in my Drolet EPA woodstove and only throw a few sticks in at a time so as not to overheat the stove.
We have a lot around but its usually as decorative yard trees with the bean pods hanging as wind chimes.
I also like burning Ironwood (Hop Hornbeam) when I can get it.
I use similar technique to burn it too, mix it in with other woods.
My main firewood is Ash, Maple, Elm, Hickory.
Plenty of dead and dying Ash around from the E.A.B.


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## jimdeere (Jan 4, 2020)

I cut into a 18 inch locust yesterday. Barely got the notch cut started and felt the bar begin to pinch. What’s going on, here? Made the angle cut and when the wedge fell out, found the inside was all punky. Got a bad feeling about this one.
Made the felling cut and got it on the ground. Dotey through and through up about five feet of the trunk. From there up it was solid. These kind can be dangerous. They often have widow makers just waiting to fall on you.


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