Honey locust for trailer decking

[boardwalker]

Has anyone used honey locust for decking or any kind of exterior use? From what I have read it is very dense and strong. Wandering how it holds up in the weather.

Thank you
Craig

[scsmith42]

Craig, I understand that black and yellow locust are both very strong, dense and durable, but honey locust is of a different family and does not have the durability characteristics of it's cousins.

Scott

[boardwalker]

I was just wandering what yellow locust is? My charts for timber strengths only show honey locust and black locust.

Thank you
Craig

[urbanlumberinc]

Honeylocust will work great for trailer decking.  While not as dense or decay resistant as black locust, It's still a heck of alot more dense and decay resistant than all but a few species of wood.

[footer]

Has anyone used honey locust for decking or any kind of exterior use? From what I have read it is very dense and strong. Wandering how it holds up in the weather.

Thank you
Craig

Craig, What kind of decking? Trailer floor, or a deck for a house? As said by urbanlumberinc, it is a very strong durable dense wood. It has a fairly good resistance to decay, but not nearly as good as black locust. It is very heavy.

[boardwalker]

Decking for a utility trailer. How does it compare to white oak for durability?

[WoodDean]

BW

Have never used the locust, but if your're going to bend it, stick with the white oak. I think you'll find the locust to be too brittle.

I did a util trailer that had a curled loading deck and the oak worked great.

[urbanlumberinc]

It's at least as hard as white oak, and will weather better.  I'm no expert on this, but I've been told that Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeylocust_treehave a high lignin content.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignin

I've just started playing with some small pieces from this tree, and I can tell you that this stuff is some of the toughest wood in North America.