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Locust - a tree with a bad attitude!

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OUCH!!!

03-22-2006 14:50:17

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I have several Honey Locuat trees in a timber I'm going to cut out. I'm tired of fixing flat tires. Will they make as good and rot resistance fence post as a Hedge (Osage Orange), after I cut the @@#@#@$@thorns off the trunk? (Some of the thorns are 8" long and in a cluster of 6 or 7) I have enough fire wood for a couple years and I hate to just cut them up if they can be used for something. Thanks

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Mark

03-24-2006 19:04:29

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

Just wondering if you fellers peeled those locust posts before you used them? Lots of locust used here in KY for posts and used to see lots of cedar used too. There were 2 very large cedar posts that used to stand in front of my GREAT grandfathers barn, the tale was they had been pulled and reset there when they built the barn....in 1907. They were solid until the property was bought by DuPont Chemical and the barn razed about 15 years ago. While a D9 dozer shoved the foundation into a heap, I thought of a my granddad and his brothers and how they mixed the concrete by hand.....after they had shoveled the sand off a sandbar in the Ohio River and hauled it by wagon. The foundation was at least 30" wide at the base and 3 feet high..it tapered to 24" wide at the top. This was for a barn 60'x120'. I have no idea how many yards of concrete it took, but glad I wasn't around to help mix and pour it! That barn was as sound as the day it was built and a lot of the framework was Chestnut and the haymow was tongue and groove floored, all joints in the framework bored and pegged. When the dozer finished, it all went up in smoke. Real Progress in action.

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Jimmy King

03-24-2006 09:57:21

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

My Granddad, Dad, Uncles and my self have spent out lives trying to get rid of Black Locust or Thorny Locust. Then a few years ago a city slicker bought 15 acres across the road from me and set them out.

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ouch

03-24-2006 07:18:29

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

Thanks to all!! I think I"ll try a few posts from the Locust. I have cut Hedge before for posts and know they are hard but good posts. I like the idea the posts I put in now will be there long after I"m gone. The ground here in central Illinois holds water good, so I will be interested to see how long the Locust lasts. I think I"ll cut them just before dark to see if Locust throws sparks like Hedge does. Again, Thanks!

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rodgernbama

03-23-2006 19:38:37

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

Growing up in north al. and southern tennessee we used black locust or cedar for posts. black locust makes excellent fence posts. When I was around 12 years old I used to lead the mule down the mountain with several locust trees in tow. Then we would cut them to post size and sell them.

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Can't even use my name

03-23-2006 17:03:11

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Check this link in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

Under the uses paragraph it states that Black Locust is resistant to rot. Just thought some of ya would like some hard evidence!

Locust Link

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Tom in TN

03-22-2006 20:08:55

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

Ouch,

Speaking of hedge (Osage Orange) trees -- I think they are the same as what we call Bois d'Arc (Bodock) trees here in Middle Tennessee. They are hard as a rock. The wood is sort of a green or an orange color. And they have thorns that torture you. I've always heard that they make good fence posts, but the ones on my farm are real gnarly trees. Although the trees get big, neither the trunks nor any limbs are straight for more than about three feet. Are your hedge trees like that too?

Tom in TN

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Jimmy King

03-24-2006 09:52:26

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to Tom in TN, 03-22-2006 20:08:55

Bois d'Arc, Osage Orange, Hedge all one and the same here in Missouri 9 ft long 14 to 18 inches across cemented 4ft in the ground will last for up to 50 years or longer for corner post. I had an Uncle that clamed they needed to be cut in the fall when the sap was down to last longer. It makes sense, I have had them rot in 15 years, while others are older than I am 64 years.

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Dachshund

03-23-2006 04:57:04

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to Tom in TN, 03-22-2006 20:08:55

Yeo - same tree! Around here there usually not much problem finding enough (mostly) straight ones. A lot of guys 30 years ago trimmed some of the small ones so now they are straighter than most. The wood will be bright yellow and the root will be orange. I feel sorry for the guys who don't have hedge - I hate digging holes!

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van robinson

03-22-2006 20:16:53

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to Tom in TN, 03-22-2006 20:08:55

bodock and osage orange is the same tree. They do make real fine fence post, but as you say finding one straight enough is the problem. We have found a few that make good post. Almost never rot and strong as steel.

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Davis In SC

03-22-2006 20:02:01

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

As a kid, I can remember going up into the mountains with my Dad, for him to buy a load of Locust posts. this was in the 60's, before treated or metal posts were the thing.

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Dachshund

03-22-2006 18:43:01

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

Don't know where you're at, but in this part of Nebraska we have BOTH Honey Locust and Black Locust. NEITHER one make good posts! NOTHING beats Hedge (Osage Orange). The Locust will get buugy and be dust inside of a couple months. If you cut them into lumber and keep them dry and separated to where the bugs don't get them, then you will have some nice lumber. Best not to take the chance!

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Dave 2N

03-23-2006 04:12:07

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to Dachshund, 03-22-2006 18:43:01

Have to question you about this; black locust makes the best fence posts ever. They will last decades and are quite impervious to rot. I have fences on my place with balck locust post that have been there for 60 years. Are you confusing black locust with another tree?

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Dachshund

03-23-2006 04:53:04

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to Dave 2N, 03-23-2006 04:12:07

No, Dave - around here (SE Nebraska, a Black Locust or a Honey Locust won't last a year or two in the ground! They MIGHT last longer if you season them 3-4 years first, but probably not much. Around here we use Hedge (Osage Orange) - it NEVER rots! I know of some Hedge corners that were put in the ground in the 1880's that are still holding fence! The nice thing about the Locust is that the trunks are usually straight, but no one around here would even think about using them as posts. My neighbor cuts Black Locust to sell as fire wood - usually about 40 cord a year. Almost nobody uses it as lumber, so it's a pretty much trash tree around here.

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Rob Mo.

03-22-2006 18:47:32

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to Dachshund, 03-22-2006 18:43:01

All is true. I hate locust trees w/ a passion. But I am curious what the lumber would be used for. Is the a market for locust logs?

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2x4

03-22-2006 23:52:04

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to Rob Mo., 03-22-2006 18:47:32

Lumber is used for outside porch flooring & other uses out in the weather. It has to be good wood tho; a lot of the locust nowadays has too much rot in it. Any tree that has a big shelf fungus conk on it is firewood. 5-6 years at most as a post. On my farm some of the old original posts are 75 years old. Times have changed.

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Dachshund

03-22-2006 19:00:48

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to Rob Mo., 03-22-2006 18:47:32

Neighbor had some sawn into 2x lumber and has built (framed) several sheds with it. He also built a 100' x 40' Quonset. The entire frame is made from 1x6 Cottonwood that he layered together to form 6x6's. Don't know about a market, but it is usable.

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FatRedneck

03-22-2006 18:15:48

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

your best bet is to get your favorite chainsaw and have a field day on em cuz most of the locust i've ever used for posts never held up, they just turn to mush and fall apart, not to say you other guys are wrong but thats my advice. i've learned they make good cattle fence though if you plant em close enough together but good luck mending that fence.

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snappie

03-22-2006 17:17:05

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

the honey locust we have in Pa do not make good fence posts as they are not rot resistance, however our honey locust do not have thorns. around here BLACK locust make great fence posts and are very rot resistant. our black locust do have thorns

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Slowpoke

03-22-2006 22:41:52

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to snappie, 03-22-2006 17:17:05

When I was a 14-15 year old growing up in the Catskills of NY, the neighbor across the street was looking to buy fence posts. I told him I knew of some Black Locust that would be exactly what he wanted. I proceeded to go into the ravine behind my house and cut about 3 dozen posts. I delivered them and got paid, but I never knew where they were used. A few years later when I was older and wiser, I realized that the ravine was property he owned on my side of the road. Apparently he never went over there because nothing was ever said.

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mountainibis

03-22-2006 17:09:34

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

I was talking with a guy awhile back who lives in an old house in the NC mountains. When he commenced to renovating, he found that the original foundation of the house was locust stumps. The floor was uneven and only a foot or two off the ground, but he said the stumps were still solid and rot free.

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jeffcat

03-22-2006 15:48:23

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

OOHH YEAAA- Locust makes great posts! The orange will work well too if you get them cleaned up. Love those needles! My dad found out about them when he ran the 300 through the upper hedge row. Thought he could mow them a little . {Sure}
Six ply industrial tires on the front and he had to pull spikes out with plyers. He did one tire three times before it would stay full. Do them now when they have sap in them. When they get hard you need to drill a pilot hole with a 1/8 drill just to pound in a nail! Jeffcat

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stude51

03-22-2006 15:47:07

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Re: Locust - a tree with a bad attitude! in reply to OUCH!!!, 03-22-2006 14:50:17

Around here(NC)we use em for fence poles,last a long time and don,t snap easily,Always can be firewood too.

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