Black Locust

[Norm]

I have 5 acres of black locust that took over what was most likely pasture. When we logged it the trees looked to be 40-50 years old. Within 7 years you could not walk through it due to the suckered BL that came back. I spent 3 weeks with the excavator plucking those out so this could be farmed. Within a month I had starts that were at least 3 ft high. I disc ripped it this fall and will farm it for a couple of years to kill them off so it can be turned into an alfalfa field.

[Al_Smith]

Locust is pretty invasive .I think just about as bad as osage orange .Except osage doesn't seem to colonize  like locust .

You can mow it off with a bush hog and given enough time it will go away unless it's gotten too large for the mower .

They used to propigate in fence rows  but those are all but gone since the raising of livestock is not as it was back in the 60's in these parts .I've seen 30 inch ones but those were pretty rare even back in the day .I'd imagine about 16-18 inch would be considered a large one .

[Ron Wenrich]

I've had a few come into the mill that are bigger than that.  They're generally rotten or split. 

[Al_Smith]

As a side note and not a black locust  ,the trimmers dropped off a few years back some giant  oak  rounds and one honey locust that was an astonishing  48" in diameter .

The oak was a tad over 3 feet and not a problem .The honey locust needed the aid of a skid loader .Fact some of it has yet to be burned in the stove . Good stuff,tough to split though .If it turns cold enough I'll burn it .About 4-5 cords of the stuff stacked .

[Ron Wenrich]

I had a batch of honey locust brought into the mill.  The loggers couldn't figure out what it was.  It made some really nice wood.  I have about 800 bf of clear in my barn.

They used to plant honey locust around pasture edges.  Seems that the bean pods made good cattle feed, and came at a time when grass production was down due to the heat of summer.  It also gave cattle some shade.  The ones that came to the mill were the thornless variety.

[Magicman]

"the thornless variety"

I don't have that variety of Honey Locust.  Mine all have tractor tire punchers.   

[Al_Smith]

Oh yes indeed .A honey locust grows thorns that look like small elk antlers .They'll go right through the soles on a pair of tennis shoes too .

[limbrat]

the cows might like the seed pods but the deer love them. the does i was watching seemed to like the pods from some trees more than the pods from others.

[Magicman]

They eat the pods but sadly most of the the actual seeds pass through and are deposited in a pile of fertilizer where they quickly sprout and grow.   

[Al_Smith]

That's just typical of a pasture field in an area that once was wooded . I forgot the actual term but it indicates  the cleared ground is attempting to revert back to wence it came .It this area fallow ground will pretty much resprout in about 15 -20 years .

Cattle won't do much in the order of preventing new growth  .Perhaps a herd of goats might but it's nearly impossible to fence in a goat if it makes up it's mind it wants out .It doesn't make much sense to spend thousands of dollars to fence in 50 dollars worth of goats either .

[Phorester]

There's a thornless variety of honeylocust , called, oddly enough..... thornless honeylocust    developed as a yard tree.   The house across the street from me has 2 in their front yard about 30" dbh and 70 feet tall. Very pretty.

[Norm]

I do see some that are not quite thornless but not many on them. Others look like a porcupine.

I going this week to pull some black locust I put down with the excavator to use for siding on a smoke house I'm building.

[Al_Smith]

Actually they planted a bunch of thornless locust to replace aging silver maple on some of the  in town streetscape  trees perhaps 20 years ago .Unfortunately  they also planted ash trees in addition .Well, seemed like a good plan at the time at least .

[FARMERw/o FARM]

We had a locust grove on the farm and Dad cut post in the winter. When I was 5 yrs old I'd take a thermos of coffee to him mid morning. Later, in my teens, I cut them with the single man's saw. Then I bought a couple of chain saws with the money made from fence post! I'm 63 now. Pressure treated posts today. Locust posts gone the way of buggy whips pretty much in my world. Please prove me wrong!

[ID4ster]

I know that there is a place (woodlot) just outside of Addison, NY that cuts and sells several hundred black locust fence posts a year off of their ground. They've got a consistent market from the grape wine vineyards just north in the Finger Lakes region of NY. The black locust poles are used on the ends of the trellises to keep the wires tight and secure the entire arbor. They are very rot resistant and are very much in demand within that industry because they don't need to be treated. Depending on the size of your trees you might be able to do something similar if you have a nearby market. It also makes good foundation timbers for putting directly on the ground for people that put up temporary cabins or cabins on skids that they may want to move around later.

[davidv]

Black locust is a close second to osage orange in my area for making bows. Many bowyers in the northeast make their best selfbows out of it.