black locust for decking

[alanh]

I have a supply of good size black locust on my property, the trunks go about 40' before the first branches. I have cut some up into 6x6 and 2x10s to build a retaining/erosion wall to protect my staircase landing on the riverbank.
 My thought is to replace the decking and add on to my large rear deck with it, I`ve read that it has good decay resistance and would be a suitable material for this use. True ?
 Second phase of the question would be cutting, drying, and sawing, drying info. If anyone has some knowledge or feedback it would be appreciated.
 Thanks, Alan

[Dodgy Loner]

Well, I can tell you this much- black locust is among the most rot-resistant native woods available.  I've seen black locust fence posts that have survived 60+ years.  I'll leave someone else to chime in about the cutting and drying, since I've never sawn black locust.

[jdtuttle]

I am currently sawing some up for decks on a new house. The guy building the house wants 5/4 x 6 and 5/4 x 4. He's planing one side and easing the edges. He is putting it down green and tight with screws. It looks pretty good so far but time will tell. Some of the porches are covered & some are open to the elements.
Jim

[mike_van]

The old timers said black locust would last two years longer than stone -   It's tough on bandmill blades, I get about half the board footage with it than normal, then the blades in the sharpener.   I cut some dead standing ones down today, the sharp chisel chain almost bounces off it. You will not drive a nail in it -   

[alanh]

I know its tough to work with, even green it requires drilling, on the wall I`m building 3/8 lags snap without a pilot hole the entire depth, but its hardness is one of the reasons I`m wanting to use it, along with rot resistance and, oh, yea, its "free". It does dull blades quickly but I figure I should be able to get thru the footage I need on about six. I`m just wondering how it holds up on a "finish" project like exterior decking. I read that Wildwood N.J. and Atlantic City used it on their boardwalks instead of the imported rain forest stuff.

[Dodgy Loner]

The covered porches will be prettier than the uncovered ones 10 years from now, but they'll all be solid.  The sapwood is not rot-resistant, but fortunately black locust usually has a a very narrow band of sapwood.  It's as rot-resistant as Ipe, which is probably the most widely-used tropical wood for decking.