ash or oak?

[Sethg]

Google photo search is inconclusive. I have 6 acres of woods behind my house in upstate ny and I have a bunch of these standing dead that I am cutting for firewood. I've show it to my fire wood guy and my buddy who grew up on a farm (granted it was cut and split at that point) and neither was sure. I am leaning towards Ash because of the borer. I can't do leaves because I have yet to find one alive. from the rings they are 40 - 50 years old

 

[cookies]

probably ash..cut one down and look for borer markings

 

[Mad Professor]

Looks like ash to me. EAB probably got them. If you split some might see borer markings/zig-zag tunnels under the bark.

Top branches will get brittle, Get them down before the tops get rotting as they can be dangerous to take down then. Great firewood easy to split

 

[Sethg]

definitely ash you are both correct. the squiggles were there never thought to look for them and what they were. so many to take down. hopefully I will get them all before rot and ants gets them all

 

[ThistleIA]

Definitely Ash,its hard (for me anyway) to tell the difference between White & Green Ash,just going by the bark.But I see the fall leaves,that helps a lot.Both excellent firewood & lumber (if its still sound) they are cut & used for the same purposes pretty much.

 

[diver64]

Ash

 

[StihlsawuserMS361]

No doubt ash. Upstate NY here as well. Easiest way is to take a hatchet and slice some bark off. Look for signs of insect damage.
I have 25 acres of ash, many over 100' tall. One thing I did learn from the guys @ Cornell is when a tree gets infested, drop is sooner than later. Too many widow makers looking to snap, so they say. Once on the ground, your safety greatly improves. They also said for some reason, the EAB leaves trees 2-3" in diameter alone. Whether they return to an infested area after those small trees mature is unknown.

 

[buzz sawyer]

If there are any with large diameter, you might consider milling - that wood doesn't grow on trees anymore.

 

[Mad Professor]

If there are any with large diameter, you might consider milling - that wood doesn't grow on trees anymore.

It mills up beautiful. I wish I had got my stands harvested before/just when the beetle got here. Would have had enough lumber for a few timberframe barns/houses.

I'm sacrificing a lot of firewood now as it's not worth taking the risk trying to drop the dead ones in the canopy. When they fall the trunks are still solid enough for good firewood, and nobody will find me dead under a limb.

 

[kenmbz]

I have milled a few so far into tables and benches. Great wood, so sad to see most of my forest dead.
Got a whole bunch while still in decent shape, but many were too far gone and already dropping branches along my trails.
Still have areas on my property that are inaccessible.

Be careful, they barber chair when cut, I had to do plunge cuts even on ones that still had a few leaves left.
Look for the holes "D" shaped from the EAB exit.

Dropped branches from high up are no joke. Some went to far into the ground I had to use the tractor to get them out.