Honey locust...

[mrcaptainbob]

Due to the wind storm damage a couple years ago I have many, MANY honey locust that are either on the ground or leaning against a sister tree.
Most are about ten/twelve inches in diameter. And pretty darn straight, too!
Can I turn these into some square/rectangular stock for a barn lean-to?
The unit would be 20 x 36 feet long.
Any issues with using honey locust for rafters, purlins, girts? It would be tin roofed and sided.

[Walnut Beast]

https://www.wood-database.com/honey-locust/

[Magicman]

Honey Locust or Black Locust?  I hesitate to question your species identification  but your description indicates Black Locust, plus I would think that you are North of the Honey Locust growing range.  Just need some clarification.

Either way, side loading/snow load with rafters could be an issue.  Loading charts would be needed to dictate your roof pitch.  @Don P 

[Don P]

I have my doubts I'll find it in the tables..
Nope.

The wood database numbers are average ultimate strengths of dead clear, straight grained 2x2's rather than allowable safe working stresses of lumber made from that wood. Those numbers say a lot,but don't build from them.  I start comparing with similar grained species I do have allowables for. All that said, honeylocust is dense, stiff and strong. IMO if you use any of the oak numbers and appropriate grading, you'll be fine.

[mrcaptainbob]

There are some black locust trees a bit east of me, these are quite a golden color. And the spring blooms at their tops reek of honey. Lots of bees in the tops at that time, too. These are around 70/80 foot tall. That terrible derecho wind slammed the north woods here. I lost those and many cherries, too.
The north east property corner is almost entirely honey locust, male and female. North west is mostly cherry, while the east and south sides are loaded with black walnut. West fence line has mainly oak. Often wonder if this was all purposely planted.
Anyway...milling this stuff extra thick is not an issue. 2x4 can easily be 2 x6 or 3 x 5, or _ _ x_ _ .
Whatever is strong enough for the 'job'.
There's a LOT here! Much is going to the wood stove, but I'd like to cull the straighter stuff for this project.

[mrcaptainbob]

Was thinking just now....would a pic of the end grain help determine brand of tree?

[Magicman]

Absolutely, also some pictures of the thorns.  

Types of Locust Trees

[WV Sawmiller]

   If they uprooted during the storm that also sounds like black locusts which are shallow rooted and among the first trees to fall during a storm. The worst for us is several days of soaking rain followed by an ice storm. A big locust at the top of the slope will fall and take out the 2 below it and we have the domino effect all the way down the hill from there. I have seen 100 yard paths all the way down a mountainside started by a big black locust falling. I don't know about the honey locust root system. We do or did before the blight got into them, have tall straight black locust but all the honey locusts I have seen have been pretty gnarly, twisted affairs. They are an acacia. The beans on honey locusts are dark reddish brown and may be a foot long or so while the black locusts are green and IIRC half inch wide and 3-4 inches long.

[aigheadish]

I have a patch of 5 or so locusts (the ones with the big, gnarly thorns) that are about dead. What you guys are saying makes me think I should take them down sooner than later...

[Magicman]

Yes, my serious recommendation is to destroy them.  Deer, coons, etc.  eat the pods and spread the seed.

[aigheadish]

Supposedly they are bad for dogs as well and make them dumb(er), and my pup will eat pretty much everything, and the trees are right by the edge of the fenced-in area. I'll be interested to see how hard they are to really remove. With the other trees in the yard I usually cut or push them off high so I can lever them out with the backhoe. Everything I read here is they will try to repopulate. I cut the grass all around where they are now, so they should never be able to reestablish in that area at least.

[Walnut Beast]

I've got honey locust from small to monster trees. Nice trees when they are big but when they are small they can be dangerous with the thorns. I had a guy tell me that slabbed a monster one that's in a hotel said it was one of the most beautiful slabs out of all the different slabs he did. 

[Magicman]

 

 

 


 
Honey Locust is amazingly pretty and all of these slabs dried flat.  It also retains it's color very well.

I sawed for this customer again yesterday, but no slabs, only framing lumber.

[Walnut Beast]

Thanks for posting those beautiful pictures Magicman! 

[Nebraska]

I've used it for some trim in my master bathroom, it behaved like a gentleman. I thought it a little harder and more dense than oak.  I like the pink shades in freshly sawn, Locust it's on the list to saw more of it.

[Larry]

On my farm in north Missouri I had a lot of it.  My TSI plan called for me to get rid of all of it.  I quickly learned that honey locust will stump sprout like crazy and than I had a real mess.  After that I killed them with herbicide.  The thorns fell off in a couple of years and I could get sawlogs out of the trees without problems.  I came to like the lumber that it produced.

 

[aigheadish]

That's beautiful wood Magic! 

The trees I have are probably a foot+ in diameter, looks like I'll have to save some when it comes down. Mine are pretty twisty and I don't know what I'm doing, so who knows if I'd be able to make anything good out it. Looks like it'd make for an excellent rustic table top. 

[Magicman]

I do not recall sawing Honey Locust that was less than ~20" but I would imagine that the smaller stuff would be twisty.  Yes those wide slabs were beautiful and even fresh sawn, sold well for the customer. 

[Walnut Beast]

The stickers are nasty till they get bigger. And some have stickers really bad like the one in the picture and some don't when they are bigger but they all do when smaller  Here is one that fell over in the field that I got out of the way yesterday next to  a old monster one that's 103" 

 

 

 

 

 

     

[JonathanPace]

@WalnutBeast, I need to get a logging assistant like your four-legged one! ;D

[Southside]

There truly are no junk trees. Even the nasty Devil's Walking Stick will flower when everything else is long past bloom and make a lot of food for the honey bees when they need it most. 

[Tom King]

I've yet to be convinced about Sweetgum.  Even the dollar and a half a ton I got for the last ones we sold was not enough to change my opinion.