Is locust good to burn in stove?

I never heard of a face cord till I moved to NYS & I'd logged for 20 yrs in PA & VT.. whodathunkit

freetown fred wrote:I never heard of a face cord till I moved to NYS & I'd logged for 20 yrs in PA & VT.. whodathunkit

Say "face cord" around here and you might get shot.

yeah strange how all diffrent states and areas do things completly different but not a big deal either way

Exactly how much IS a face cord? I understand it is one tier of wood, 4' by 8'. But how long is each log? Do you say "a 16-inch face cord" or "a 20-inch face cord"?

The face cord is not a legal sale size in many areas, for the reasons stated.

At 24" you have a half cord, but 16" only 1/3 of a cord.


BigBarney

rberq wrote:Exactly how much IS a face cord? I understand it is one tier of wood, 4' by 8'. But how long is each log? Do you say "a 16-inch face cord" or "a 20-inch face cord"?

It seems like everyone has a different opinion on that...I just try and stay out of the argument completely. I'm not even sure how a "face cord" came about...campfire wood maybe? The outdoor wood boiler guys measure their wood in tractor trailer loads of logs, so it surely wasn't them.

Inconsistent measurement and quality is part of the reason I don't burn wood. A lot of the time you are lucky to the advertised volume, and "seasoned" usually means cut last month and sitting in the mud since that time.

Rob R. wrote: "seasoned" usually means cut last month and sitting in the mud since that time.

Very true. Reminds me of once when I bought some 2X4 lumber and it was stamped PD. I asked my brother what that meant, and he said Pond Dried.

locust is great for fence posts and fire wood..the older it geta the harder it gets. get one thats been down 4 or 5 years but not on the ground it will throw sparks from ur chain saw.take a file or spare chain with you.

I got about 6 cord of 4-6 year old cut Black locust. It was piled up at the town highway garage nobody wanted it all the town guys were taking the oak and maple. My buddy works there and knew I burned wood called me and asked if I wanted this greenish wood, I took it all the same day. Burns hot but if you have a steel stove I wouldn't fill it up with just Locust seen a couple warp and buckle from the intense heat. This is how it all looked . You can see the growth rings - huge when it was young and very thin as it aged

springer -Great find! BL burns darn near like coal, especially aged as long as yours is. I have some that's been under cover in my wood pile for nearly 10 years. Still looks and burns like it did when I got it - solid.

Looking at your picture I'm wondering if the log length is too long for the Vigilant. Does it fit or do you need to cut some off?

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:springer -Great find! BL burns darn near like coal, especially aged as long as yours is. I have some that's been under cover in my wood pile for nearly 10 years. Still looks and burns like it did when I got it - solid.

Looking at your picture I'm wondering if the log length is too long for the Vigilant. Does it fit or do you need to cut some off?

Yep, it sure does..

Well, I get all my wood from my neighbors farm, and it's primarily black cherry and black locust... (he pushes them over with his dozer, I drive up to them, cut, load, haul @$$ outta there and get back for another load lol). I always referred to the locust as 'night wood'... no pun intended .... cause I typically will burn the cherry during the morning/afternoon and early evening, then for my over-night load, I'll throw in mostly locust splits... burns HOT, and AALLLLL night long. Other than that, I only use the locust whenever the temps are gonna be below 10*, which now seems a bit pointless since I've started using anthracite when it's that cold. lol As for the bark, I always remove it while splitting.... I kid you not, I had a pile..... BIIGG pile, of cut/split BL that was tarped on top and bottom, only 'opened up to air flow' when it wasn't raining or gonna rain... after 4 years, I peeled some bark off and it was still friggin wet! lol Like I said, I did supply it PLENTY of air flow during that time, and it wasn't rained/snowed on during that time either... that locust bark REALLY holds in the moisture.

Back in my wood burning days, black Locust was reserved for overnight burns or really cold days. It burns VERY hot and holds a fire really well. Just don't try to split it once dry...

Rob R. wrote:Back in my wood burning days, black Locust was reserved for overnight burns or really cold days. It burns VERY hot and holds a fire really well. Just don't try to split it once dry...

Well, when I bought my hotblast, I also purchased a 22 ton splitter...not so much to save on manual labor but since I planned on heating strictly with wood, I knew I would need the speed...anyhow, my dad got on me pretty hard about the splitter being a 'waste of money, shoulda bought a maul and wedges"... well, about 2yrs after I bought my stuff, my dad ended up buying a hotblast to supplement his oil heat. We talked to my neighbor and he had no problem with us getting wood for my dad also... I'll never forget the first time we went out... took my saws, hooked up the splitter and headed out. After we got enough cut to fill both our trucks, I fired up the splitter and put him on the control... After he realized we could split two truck loads in a matter of 35 minutes, he not-so-verbally ate his words about the splitter lol
that thing makes light work of the black locust.

man take all the locust u can get it burns almost as hot as coal.. let it dry for atleast 6 months to a year. u wont regret it