Beautiful Fragrance - What Kind of Tree is this?

[Multifaceted]

Good old locust. We have some locust fence post on the property that have been in the ground for many decades. Still so sound I doubt you could drive a nail into one. The super frigate USS Constitution used locust pegs as “treenails” to hold the ship together. I believe some are still going strong.


http://bpcr.net/documents/Miscellaneous/Restoring_Old_Ironsides.htm

Last year I got about five score of 12-18" diameter BL logs that had been sitting on the forest floor for who knows how many years. Bark completely sloughed off, the only way I could ID was by the tight dense growth rings and yellow color. It sat in another pile in my yard for about a year until I split and stacked it a month ago. Still as firm and hard as I could ever hoped for. Incredible wood, be it weed-like or whatever.

 

[Cowboy254]

Black locust
Best firewood around.

That's what I have been reliably informed by my North American friends. We have some here and there in these parts and when I got the opportunity to cut some I took it. But I was disappointed not so much by the burn time or heat output which was fine but the ash factor. Even debarked it was more ashy than any wood I have burned. By burning only BL for a two days I filled the firebox up with the amount of ash that peppermint produces in three weeks. Maybe it was a result of local soil conditions or something or perhaps it was from burning the small end of the tree and perhaps the heartwood in the main trunk would be better (the big end is not ready to burn yet).

Local peppermint eucalypt on the left, black locust on the right, put in at the same time.

 

[CentaurG2]

While still bada$$, black locust has nothing on lignum vitae, which due to its incredible hardness and wear resistance was used to make shaft bearings on nuclear submarines.

https://www.core77.com/posts/25224/...earings-for-nuclear-submarines-and-more-25224

That is some tough stuff! It is amazing what you can do with a few pieces of wood.

 

[Multifaceted]

That's what I have been reliably informed by my North American friends. We have some here and there in these parts and when I got the opportunity to cut some I took it. But I was disappointed not so much by the burn time or heat output which was fine but the ash factor. Even debarked it was more ashy than any wood I have burned. By burning only BL for a two days I filled the firebox up with the amount of ash that peppermint produces in three weeks. Maybe it was a result of local soil conditions or something or perhaps it was from burning the small end of the tree and perhaps the heartwood in the main trunk would be better (the big end is not ready to burn yet).

Local peppermint eucalypt on the left, black locust on the right, put in at the same time.

View attachment 738507

View attachment 738508

"Best" is subjective. While it's some of the more dense woods you can find here in North America among Hornbeam, Madrone, or perhaps Live Oak, what I like about it is its resistance to rot. You can have stacks of it sit out in the rain for years and it'll still be firm and hard once it dries and ready to burn. Some even says it'll burn wet, but never tried it.

To me, the best firewood, or perhaps my favorite is Ash. Doesn't put out the most BTUs, but plenty enough for my house. Coals up nice, not too much actual ash, and it's not dense and heavy. Splits really nice too and has low moisture content so dries in about a year. Doesn't keep very long though, maybe 3-4 years, perhaps more if kept under shelter, don't really know.