is honey locust a hardwood

Is Locust a real wood?

The locust wood is amazingly hard and durable and is often featured in the making of rails, buildings and fence posts. Locust trees are simply described as deciduous trees that produce long, compound leaves, each of which has the ability to sprout a total of 21 leaflets.

Is honey locust wood good for firewood?

In many ways, honey locust is much more similar to the Kentucky coffee tree and the water locust. Generally speaking, honey locust wood can make good firewood. Even though it is not the most popular type to throw in a campfire, you certainly won’t go wrong with it. It has a relatively good BTU rating, and it is incredibly dense.

Is Locust a good firewood?

Is locust wood good for firewood? Locust wood is a great option for firewood, but it’s important to know if you’re getting the best possible locust wood. Locust wood is a very popular firewood because it has a high heat content. Locust trees are also easy to find and cut down in most parts of the world, making them an excellent choice for ...

What are the uses of a honey locust tree?

Honey locust trees produce high quality and durable wood, which is often used for industry. The wood is also used for rail bearings because of its strong, rot-resistant wood. In ancient times, thorns were used as nails and tree wood was used to make sails in shipbuilding.

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Is locust a hardwood or softwood?

hardwoodBlack Locust wood is a hardwood with a Janka hardness scale of 1,700 lbf (7,560 N).

Is honey locust good for anything?

Honey locust wood is easily split, capable of obtaining a high luster finish, and is durable when in contact with soil. For these reasons, timber from honey locust has been used as fence posts, railroad ties, furniture, warehouse or shipping pallets, tool handles and fuel.

Is locust wood harder than oak?

Its Janka hardness also compares favorably with other woods. At 1700, it's better than red oak (1290), but a bit less than tropical hardwoods like jarrah (1910) and ipe (3684). It's also difficult to glue. But biologically, black locust is “remarkably decay resistant.”

Is locust a good hardwood?

Black Locust or Robinia is now a globally recognized Hardwood resource. Its natural rot resistance, longevity, and non-toxic qualities with no chemicals or oils required, makes this an excellent choice for sustainable projects! They say the greatest knowledge comes from experience.

Can honey locust be used for firewood?

Is honey locust good for firewood? Honey locust is an excellent type of firewood that gives off heat in the range of other hardwoods like black locust and beech. This easy-to-split wood produces excellent coals and burns clean with few sparks.

Can you eat the fruit from a honey locust?

Edible parts and other uses Only the fruits of honey locust are considered edible. The sweet and fleshy pulp of the bean pods can be eaten raw or extracted and used in a variety of ways. From smoothies, to beer. It has a sweet honey like taste, hence its name.

What is the strongest wood on earth?

1. Australian Buloke – 5,060 IBF. An ironwood tree that is native to Australia, this wood comes from a species of tree occurring across most of Eastern and Southern Australia. Known as the hardest wood in the world, this particular type has a Janka hardness of 5,060 lbf.

What's the strongest wood in North America?

What is the hardest wood in North America? Of locally available woods, Black Ironwood is typically the strongest type of wood you can find in America. It's found in Florida and has a 3,660 lbf (16,280 N) Janka rating. Other strong North American woods include species of hickory, maples, oaks, walnuts, and beeches.

Can you burn locust wood in a wood stove?

Black locust burns very hot. If you use a wood stove and are concerned about the fire getting too hot (which is possible with black locust) mix it in with other wood and don't fill the wood stove completely with locust.

How long does it take to season locust firewood?

Technically speaking, Black Locust can be seasoned in as quickly as 6 to 8 months. But, if you want to properly season it for optimal use (higher BTU and longer burning time) then you need to season it for double that time. One year, to a year and a half, is the best seasoning time for Black Locust.

Is honey locust harder than black locust?

Honey Locust v Black Locust: Wood However, Black Locust wood is a bit harder and heavier than Honey Locust wood and has more of a greenish-yellow hue compared to the warm red or orange tints of the Honey Locust. The latter's heartwood is medium or light reddish-brown, while the sapwood is pale yellow.

What is the best tree for firewood?

The best-known firewoods are white and red oak trees. The wood from these oak trees is prized for its strength and density, and that density makes it one of the best at producing heat.

What can locust trees be used for?

In Hungary, Black Locust is the basis of commercial honey production. The high-density wood is the most rot resistant wood we can grow in our climate, making it an ideal material for fenceposts, hope poles, outdoor furniture, decks, and other projects that require weatherproof materials.

Is honey locust a good yard tree?

Honeylocust make a perfect deciduous tree in a yard that doesn't want heavy shade. The small green leaflets and open branch structure allows enough light to penetrate to the ground to allow lawn grass to grow. But it provides enough shade to sit under on your patio or deck.

What can locust wood be used for?

Common Uses: Fence posts, boatbuilding, flooring, furniture, mine timbers, railroad ties, turned objects, and veneer. Comments: Black locust is a very hard and strong wood, competing with hickory (Carya genus) as the strongest and stiffest domestic timber: but with more stability and rot resistance.

What can locust be used for?

Locusts have been used as food throughout history. They are considered meat. Several cultures throughout the world consume insects, and locusts are considered a delicacy in many African, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries. They can be cooked in many ways, but are often fried, smoked, or dried.

Is honey locust wood good for anything?

The Osage Indians traditionally used honey locust wood to make bows. Today, woodworkers make the wood into crossties , poles , fence rails , flooring , furniture, millwork, and veneer .

Is Honey Locust Hardwood or Softwood?

The honey locust tree is hardwood. I can equate its mechanical properties to red oak wood. This wood has a density of about 670 kilograms per cubic meter.

What Grain and Color is Honey Locust Wood?

The wood is known for its reddish-brown color. The heartwood of honey locust trees has a medium to a light brown that appears reddish.

How Does Honey Locust Wood Dry?

Some honey locust wood pieces are large. These require splitting for efficient drying. Perfect drying takes up to a year when you have the size in check.

Can You Burn Honey Locust Wood?

Honey locust wood is excellent for burning. Just be careful to avoid the thorns, and you’ll be fine.

Is Honey Locust Wood Allergenic or Toxic?

Except for the standard safety precautions you should take when working with wood, there are no health risks associated with honey locust wood.

How Sustainable is Honey Locust Wood?

Honey locust wood is not an endangered species. Moreover, it is not in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

What is a thorny locust?

Gleditsia. Species: G. triacanthos. Binomial name. Gleditsia triacanthos. L. Native range. The honey locust ( Gleditsia triacanthos ), also known as the thorny locust or thorny honeylocust, is a deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae, native to central North America where it is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys.

How tall is a honey locust?

The honey locust, Gleditsia triacanthos, can reach a height of 20–30 m (66–98 ft). They exhibit fast growth, but live a medium-long life span of about 120 years. The leaves are pinnately compound on older trees but bipinnately compound on vigorous young trees. The leaflets are 1.5–2.5 cm (0.6–1 in) (smaller on bipinnate leaves) and bright green.

How long are honey locust thorns?

Honey locusts commonly have thorns 3–10 cm (1.2–3.9 in) long growing out of the branches, some reaching lengths over 20 cm (8 in); these may be single, or branched into several points, and commonly form dense clusters.

What color are ripe beans?

The long pods, which eventually dry and ripen to brown or maroon, are surrounded in a tough, leathery skin that adheres strongly to the pulp within. The pulp—bright green in unripe pods—is strongly sweet, crisp and succulent in ripe pods. Dark brown tannin-rich beans are found in slots within the pulp.

What are the phytochemicals found in honey locusts?

In research using databases, more than 60 phytochemicals were identified from honey locust, including polyphenols, triterpenes, sterols, and saponins, with in vitro studies assessing for possible biological activity.

Does Gleditsia fix nitrogen?

The ability of Gleditsia to fix nitrogen is disputed. Many scientific sources state that Gleditsia does not fix nitrogen. Some support this statement with the fact that Gleditsia does not form root nodules with symbiotic bacteria, the assumption being that without nodulation, no nitrogen fixation can occur.

Do legumes need nitrogen fixation?

There are anatomical, ecological, and taxonomic indications of nitrogen fixation in non-nodulating legumes. Both nodulating and non-nodulating species have been observed to grow well in nitrogen-poor soil with non-nodulating legumes even dominating some sites.

What is honey locust lumber?

Honey Locust Lumber. Honey Locust ( Gleditsia triacanthos) is a small to medium size tree that originated in North America. Honey Locust wood has little sapwood and heartwood which is honey brown in color and does not support the darker grain color found in Black Locust. Honey Locust lumber has a straight grain with a coarse texture.

Is honey locust the same as red oak?

Therefore, could be used as a substitute for many of the same applications as Red Oak, which includes cabinet making, furniture, millwork, molding and other general constructions.

How to harvest honey locust?

Honey locust is among my favorite woods for burning.The best way to harvest it is to ring the tree with chainsaw 2 years before felling it. The bark then sloughs off, thorns and all. Just wear heavy soled boots when walking around it!

What is the best wood for burning?

Honey Locust Firewood. Honey locust is well known for its sometimes large thorns, which is where its other name, thorny locust, comes from. Honey locust firewood is excellent for burning. It is a very dense hardwood that puts out a lot of heat and a very long burn. for firewood, it is comparable to black locust as far as heat output.

Is honey locust wood rot resistant?

Honey locust wood is not as rot resistant as black locust, but it is very durable and makes high quality lumber. Its thorns are sometimes even used as nails.

Should I Use Honey Locust as Firewood?

Because of the high heat index and dense properties of honey locust wood, this wood type really is a great idea to use as firewood. It will keep you warm and burn for a long time. These are two of the most important characteristics to think about when selecting firewood.

Why does honey locust burn so slowly?

Honey locust wood burns really slowly because of how dense it is . Its density means that the logs will last you a while and produce good heat. Because honey locust burns so slowly, you will need some sort of kindling to get the fire going.

Why is honey locust not used?

The main reason why honey locust is not used very often is that it is considered difficult to work with. It’s nearly impossible to work it by hand and requires pretty heavy-duty tools. When someone is willing to put in the work with this wood, however, it always has a beautiful finish.

What does BTU stand for in wood?

BTU stands for British Thermal Unit. This rating simply tells you how hot the wood type can get. A BTU rating of 26.7 is relatively impressive and competes with most other hardwoods. If you are camping in a cold environment, you will appreciate a BTU of 26.7.

Do you need kindling for honey locust wood?

Since honey locust wood burns so slowly, it will take a while to start a fire using this wood solely. As a result, you will need kindling to get the fire started. This isn’t that big of a deal, but it is something to add to your travel bag if you want to use honey locust as firewood.

Can you use honey locust wood in a fireplace?

Because of this wood’s natural tendency to spark, you should only use it outside or in a closed fireplace. You do not want to use honey locust wood inside your home or somewhere else that it can easily catch other items on fire.

Does honey locust wood smell?

Unfortunately, honey locust wood does not have the most desirable smell when it is burning. It is very similar to the smell of burning black locust. In fact, many people can overlook the other downsides of this wood type other than the smell.

Varieties Of Locust

Locust wood has two main varieties: black locust firewood and honey locust firewood. While these two trees are very similar and are excellent firewoods, there are slight differences between the two.

Heat Output And Efficiency

Honey locust is an excellent wood for burning because of their hardwood nature. It has a BTU of 26.7 million per cord. It burns hot and produces high-quality red coals that are good for cooking both in and outdoors.

Fire Characteristics

Honey locust has minimum creosote buildup because it burns hot and has low sap content. This is why it is good for indoor use.

Is It Okay To Burn Honey Locust In A Fireplace?

Yes, it is okay to burn honey locusts in a fireplace. It has a slightly fragrant smell, it produces low smoke and really low levels of creosote. This is why it is ideal for burning it in a fireplace.

How Long To Season Honey Locust Firewood?

Honey locusts should be seasoned for at least a year (12 months). For better heat output and fire quality, it is recommended to season it for 18-24 months. Firewood is considered to be seasoned if the moisture content is less than 20%.

Is Honey Locust Firewood Expensive?

There is no fixed cost price for honey locust firewood and other firewoods. The price fluctuates due to changes in the market like supply and demand. However, one cord of honey locust firewood (128 cubic feet) costs around $300-$600.

How Does Honey Locust Compare To Other Firewoods

Honey locust does not burn as hot as black locust firewood. There is a solid 1.2 million difference in their BTU per cord.

Summary

Beneath the thorns of wild honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos L.) lies a beautiful coarse-grained, pink wood much like red oak. Since sawlog quality trees are not abundant, the species is not often traded in the wholesale market, but sooner or later, every hardwood sawmill will likely produce some honeylocust lumber.

History

Hard thorns of younger trees were used as nails and the wood was used to make treenails for shipbuilding.

Color & Texture

The wood is ring porous. The large earlywood pores abruptly change to small diameter thick walled cells. As a result, the wood has a grain pattern about like red oak. Some of the pores will be filled with dark inclusions, but usually not to the extent that a dark objectionable streak develops. Unfinished heartwood is pink. Sapwood is white.

Anatomical and Microscopy

Ring-porous; 3-5 rows of large to very large earlywood pores, medium to small latewood pores commonly arranged in tangential bands; tyloses absent, other reddish heartwood deposits occasionally present; growth rings distinct; medium to wide rays visible without lens, wide spacing; parenchyma banded, parenchyma vasicentric, and latewood is commonly lozenge and confluent..

Products

Used as pallets or blocking due to lack of an established market. Higher value uses are for custom furniture, cabinets, millwork, and flooring. Honeylocust is a beautiful wood that deserves more attention.

What is the difference between black locust and honey locust?

One key difference between honey locust vs. black locust is the presence of tyloses. Tylosis is distension of a plant cell. Often these anomalies result from stress or damage to a woody plant. These swollen areas can affect the overall appearance of the wood.

What is honey locust wood used for?

Both types of lumber are suitable for a wide variety of uses. Honey locust wood makes excellent furniture, and it may also be used to create sturdy fence posts. It is useful as utility lumber. Some woodworkers like turning honey locust for various projects.

What is the color of a honey locust?

For the honey locust, the wide sapwood bears a pale yellow hue. Its heartwood is quite a bit darker, with a reddish-brown ranging from lighter to fairly vivid. In appearance, the honey locust has wood with very similar coloring to the Kentucky Coffeetree. Black locust.

Why is honey locust so expensive?

Honey locust is often more expensive than black locust because it is rarer and more difficult to find and import. Within the natural range of honey locust trees, you should be able to find some of the wood available. However, keep in mind that the price of honey locust will be in the mid-tier or upper tier of what you can expect to pay for a domestic hardwood. Although honey locust is not considered a threatened species, it is still not widely available, and the cost is higher due to limited quantities. If you do not have a specific reason for choosing honey locust for a project, you may want to simply go with the black locust instead.

What is the color of locust lumber?

Black locust. Black locust lumber has a slightly different color palette. Its wood tends to be a bit darker, especially at the heart. The heartwood is usually a deep russet brown, while the outer wood is light yellow, sometimes with a greenish tint.

What is black locust used for?

It is often used as fence posts, like honey locust; but it may also be found in mine timbers, railroad ties, and flooring. Sometimes it is crafted into veneer.

Why do trees not take stain?

Softer trees tend to be easier to damage, and they may not take stain well due to the looser texture of their wood or their odd coloring. Hardwoods can be more difficult to work with, but they accept stain well and often include beautiful grain patterns, which make them more desirable to woodworkers and homeowners.

Overview

Description

Cultivation and history

Uses

Nitrogen fixation

Research

Further reading

External links