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Killing locust tree's

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rackhunter

Member
What method's do people use to kill locust tree's?? I have been girdling them and when the bark and thorns fall off I cut them up for fire wood. Should I put something on the stumps??
 
We are on the same page then. All the big trees end up as firewood and girdle the others.
We try to leave honey locust alone as the deer really flock to the pods.
We cut alot off black locust for firwood though
 
Big ones, I double girdle & paint the girdle with concentrated glyphosate. Smaller ones I can kill just by scoringthe bark & paint with gly or Tordon. Seems to get the thorny buggers dead & prevents root suckering. Only better firewood (after the thorns fall off) is ironwood.
 
U gonna need herbicides on locust- that's for sure. I'm in "locust land" and fill my tires with sealant. Took some off before & bet I had 20 thorns In each tire. Stupid things. Ya- tordon or other options like gly some folks do.
Side note... U can find thornless locust in a lot of landscaping. It's actually a popular tree for many reasons. I actually scattered seed on my land that was junk ground so ill hopefully have thornless locust popping up. Pods look identical. No thorns!
 
Thought I read some place that gly and diesal fuel sprayed on the bark kills them? I was wandering the same question I have an area that has quite a few of them that I would like to eliminate they are just tough to girdle as some have multiple trunks coming up. Should I leave some of them for the pods?
 
spltbrow said:
Thought I read some place that gly and diesal fuel sprayed on the bark kills them? I was wandering the same question I have an area that has quite a few of them that I would like to eliminate they are just tough to girdle as some have multiple trunks coming up. Should I leave some of them for the pods?
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I wouldn't mess with it if you're treating them without cutting into the tree. It's a hard tree to kill. Tordon in a girdled tree- game over. No brainer.
I'd leave some as long as it's not near where you're driving a lot because of the thorns OR where it's competing with anything of value. A few here and there are great for pods and I like em. I don't like Locust forests that are messes, pure thorns, can take over a whole pasture and are just a nightmare to get rid of. Balance.
 
Is it possible to girdle and wait a year or two for thorns and bark to fall off and then cut down for firewood and at that time treat the stump with Gordon or Gly and diesel and kill the remainder??
 
I've heard that the bark has a chemical in it that is pretty flammable.. The neighbor catches his on fire and it burns the thorns off then he cuts the tree down
 
U guys are ambitious! I couldn't mess with locust for firewood. I hate those dang thorns!!! I love it when my best tree selection for a treestand is a big old locust that's thorns head to toes!! ;). I literally spend an hour with my pole saw or smashing the thorns with a branch.

One buddy of mine cut hedge for firewood. Said that was nuts to burn, some of the best? Another one I hate messing with. Don't mind hedge around though, as long as I don't have to trim a shooting lane thru one!

Oh- tordon.... Do a full girdle of tree- immediately spray tordon all the way around girdle inside tree. Do enough where chemical does not flow out of cut like crazy (getting on ground) but I would do full circle. Honestly- u likely could do a few squirts but I am more for not taking chances so I cover whole circle, as long as I'm not spilling all over.
 
Bigger trees I girdle with chainsaw & paint. Smaller (wrist size or less), depends on the tools in my hands at the time. If I'm hacking brush i.e. honeysuckle etc., I hack a spot the size of the palm of my hand +/- and paint/squirt that. If I'm using chainsaw I lay them over & paint the stump.

I would burn hedge wood if I had it here, but don't. Plenty on Montgomery co. farm but no need to haul firewood that far. Guys that use hedge for fence posts claim they will outlast 2 or 3 holes. :D I do know that you cannot nail a "No Trespassing" sign to a hedge post without pre-drilling the hole!
 
rackhunter said:
Is it possible to girdle and wait a year or two for thorns and bark to fall off and then cut down for firewood and at that time treat the stump with Gordon or Gly and diesel and kill the remainder??
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I have just ringed them with no spray in August and killed them. That worked probably because the sap was running down. Locusts are some of the first to go dormant in fall. It would probably take longer than 2 to 3 year for the bark to come off.
Hedge is some of the hottest burning wood fuels. Over time you can burn out your firebrick burning hedge all the time.
 
If you girdle or just flat drop a locust over the thorns will fall off in about a yr.
Great firewood. As for hedge.... hot hot hot. I dont burn any but have many friends that do. Hard on chains/ hard to split and it never really fully dries out.
I cut 4 heaping loads of soft maple today. Talk about a fun tree to cut on, like a hot knife through butter. Good to burn in the spring and fall or all summer for a nice camp fire
 
SEIowaDeerslayer said:
I've yet to have a tree live using straight gly on a single girdle or stump.
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Wish I could say the same. Kills one tree but not the roots on trees like the black locust. That is, the big ones. Kill one tree this year, literally 50 or more new shoots sprout out of the root system the next couple of years. Those little ones are easy to spray and kill but it is an all summer job for a couple of years. My next try with girdle or stump killing of black locusts will be trying Tordon or something other than gly.
 
I'm not a chemical expert, but I have a buddy in the tree business take care of my problem in my yard. He used Garlon. They died quickly and never came back.
 
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