Is locust good to burn in stove?

One buddy of mine said locust is crap and smells bad - another says locust is a good burner

any opinions/experiences with locust?

I have an unlimited supply available for free if I want it.

Two types of Locust trees are found on the East Coast: Black and Honey Locust. The Black is the more common in the Northeast; the Honey Locust in the South.

These nitrogen fixing trees tend to live in groves which exclude the growth of other plants beneath them (except grass). They sprout from the roots, and thus all of the trees in a grove are interconnected as if one organism. This characteristic they share with Redwood trees. Locust also produces seeds (in conspicuous long pods), allowing a method of propagation over long distances (via birds).

The wood of the locust is rarely seen in lumber yards because the trees are small and the groves isolated. It is remarkable how the working characteristics of Locust resemble the American Elm, that is the wood is stringy and tough, and the pores tend to form a herringbone pattern. I think the only difference is the color. Locust has a wonderful green color in the heartwood which comprises most of the lumber. The thin sapwood is a light cream color and is usually discarded. This green hue gradually turns to a rich golden-brown with age.

One of the most remarkable qualities of locust wood is its durability when exposed to the ground. It has excellent service as fence posts or any other structure which must be used outside at ground level.



it appears its a hard wood and thus should have btu's. free is the key word here!

Since it is a hardwood ill assume its not a massive creosote producer either. Ill split,stack let it sit a couple years.

thanks

Once seasoned properly, Locust burns with the "Blue Ladies" . Its the best wood I have ever burned. Our property is wooded with about 50% of Locust, old growth, up to 2ft dia. Whatever trees get blown over from the wind storms, I buck up and let sit for a couple years. Then it goes right into the FireplaceXtrordinaire, with the Ash and Oak. The locust burns the hottest, pure blue flame. It does not produce a lot of ash either. Peel the bark off, if you can. It'll probably come off once its seasoned anyway.

The only thing I learned is that it likes to be kept under cover while drying and after dry. It burns well. Never noticed a bad smell. As long as you have a wood splitter, no prob! If splitting with a maul, or sledge hammer and wedges...well...good luck with that.

These locusts are almost 2' in diameter and there are a lot of them.
They are covered with thick vines and very stringy and hard to split.
Sounds like they are worth the trouble though.

thanks for the valuable info.

DVC500 at last wrote:Once seasoned properly, Locust burns with the "Blue Ladies" . Its the best wood I have ever burned. Our property is wooded with about 50% of Locust, old growth, up to 2ft dia. Whatever trees get blown over from the wind storms, I buck up and let sit for a couple years. Then it goes right into the FireplaceXtrordinaire, with the Ash and Oak. The locust burns the hottest, pure blue flame. It does not produce a lot of ash either. Peel the bark off, if you can. It'll probably come off once its seasoned anyway.

smokeyCityTeacher wrote:These locusts are almost 2' in diameter and there are a lot of them.
They are covered with thick vines and very stringy and hard to split.
Sounds like they are worth the trouble though.
thanks for the valuable info.

As Freddy points out, I did use a log splitter to split them all up. Thats the first thing I bought, when we bought this property

Locust is one of the best woods for heat and duration.
It is a bit dirty and puts up a battle to split. If your
going to wrestle with two foot trees, you'll need a splitter.
When a tornado went through here last spring, the locust
trees were the first to be cut and hauled off.

Tom

I'n my experience the stringy stuff like elm splits best when its frozen solid. I'd wait for a nice cold spell in January.

mr1precision wrote:I'n my experience the stringy stuff like elm splits best when its frozen solid. I'd wait for a nice cold spell in January.

Yep, Elm and Hickory are best split in the dead of winter. The colder the better. But them I struggle getting my log splitter started

Poconoeagle wrote:One of the most remarkable qualities of locust wood is its durability when exposed to the ground. It has excellent service as fence posts or any other structure which must be used outside at ground level.

A carpenter friend who is highly recommended for sill work, says locust is one of the best woods there is for repairing old house sills, because of its durability in potentially damp conditions. Is there a saw-mill market for your two-foot trees? I remember a friend many years ago talking about the ash trees her husband was cutting for firewood, until a forester told them what a local mill would pay for them for making (I think) hockey sticks.

Here's a thought. If this wood is 2' in diameter is it possible to get anything for it for a lumber mill? In some cases it's possible to get some decent $$$ for it. Then you could buy some coal or something with that cash.

Looks like Black Locust is one of the hottest. A few on this list surprised me.


Eastern Hardwoods from various sources. Consistency of figures may vary from different laboratory variables.
Species Heat Content Weight
Million BTU’s per cord Pounds Per Cord Dry

Osage Orange 32.9 4728
Shagbark Hickory 27.7 4327
Eastern Hornbeam 27.1 4016
Black Birch 26.8 3890
Black Locust 26.8 3890
Blue Beech 26.8 3890
Ironwood 26.8 3890
Bitternut Hickory 26.5 3832
Honey Locust 26.5 4100
Apple 25.8 3712
Mulberry 25.7 4012
Beech 24.0 3757
Northern Red Oak 24.0 3757
Sugar Maple 24.0 3757
White Oak 24.0 3757
White Ash 23.6 3689
Yellow Birch 21.8 3150
Red Elm 21.6 3112
Hackberry 20.8 3247
Kentucky Coffeetree 20.8 3247
Gray Birch 20.3 3179
Paper Birch 20.3 3179
White Birch 20.2 3192
Black Walnut 20.0 3120
Cherry 20.0 3120
Green Ash 19.9 2880
Black Cherry 19.5 2880
American Elm 19.5 3052
White Elm 19.5 3052
Sycamore 19.1 2992
Black Ash 18.7 2924
Red Maple (Soft Maple18.1 2900
Boxelder 17.9 2797
Catalpa 15.9 2482
Aspen 14.7 2295
Butternut 14.5 2100
Willow 14.3 2236
Cottonwood 13.5 2108
American Basswood 13.5 2108

It's actually a bean plant. Not really a hardwood. Burns great.

It's not indigenous to the NE - it was brought up from the south in colonial times as a crop - coppicing. A plot was sometimes planted when you had a daughter born as her future dowry - by the time she was old enough, it was ready to cut. Was used for small boat masts, too.

A lot of fences and house foundation posts are on locust around here - it will last a lifetime, but you have debark it and flip it upside down, otherwise it rots as fast as anything else.

- Charlie

It's been said here and I agree that black locust is one of the better hardwoods. Getting (recomended) the bark off makes it nearly as clean to handle as coal and darn near as hot. It burns down to large piles of larg coals. Yes, it does produce blue flames. I have some that's been undercover for 6 years and it's not the least bit punky. If you burn wood in a fireplace and enjoy the fragrance of the wood, burn something else because it doesn't produce a pleasant smelling wood like black cherry does. It's one of the higher BTU hardwoods but is of a different variety being a legume.

It's also one of the best honey plants for beekeepers producing crops of honey that analyze at the highest levels of sugars. Only Tupelo honey is sweeter. Black locust honey does produce more nectar than the miss named Honey Locust that yields little nectar. The tree produces long grape-like cluster of white flowers and the trees will literally hum if there's a beekeeper with hives nearby. Black Locust honey is one of the best hones to make mead from. It' makes some really good mead I know this is a thread about burning wood so please just humor this former beekeeper that loved it when the hives were just right for the black locust bloom.