EAB?

[Oldmaple]

Ash is fabulous firewood. Dries fast, splits easily and burns nicely. I prefer it over Oak. They do become unsafe to climb more quickly than other trees in general especially if you need to do rigging off of them. They tend to rot at the base resulting in lots of leverage stress (I think because they tend to grow in moist areas although they will grow under many conditions). The wood that is up in the air is good for a long time. It has been a big bonus to the woodpecker population. Many pileated woodpeckers around now, a rarity in the past.

 

[Mustang71]

I have taken down well over a hundred ash trees in the last year all around my house. Once the bark looks like that they are done. They may leaf another year but they will most likely lose those leaves. As for the smaller ash trees they do not seem to be effected but I take them down anyways for safety reasons.

The ash trees either rot out at the base and fall over or snap off somewhere about 6 feet up or more. Ive herd from a lot of tree guys that they can be dangerous trees to remove if you let them go to long.

 

[Chris-PA]

Years ago I was taking down a double trunk ash that split low to the ground. When the first trunk fell, the other trunk, which I had not touched, just broke off and fell too, with no control or direction. That was an eye-opener. I tap all round them with a hatchet to try to find the defects, but that's not very conclusive. I just assume they're full of rot, splits, cavities, etc.

I hope the ashes will survive, it's such a great tree and such good wood. And yeah, the pileated woodpeckers are booming around here - good for them. I hope they eat as many of those bugs as they can!

 

[Mustang71]

Years ago I was taking down a double trunk ash that split low to the ground. When the first trunk fell, the other trunk, which I had not touched, just broke off and fell too, with no control or direction. That was an eye-opener. I tap all round them with a hatchet to try to find the defects, but that's not very conclusive. I just assume they're full of rot, splits, cavities, etc.

I hope the ashes will survive, it's such a great tree and such good wood. And yeah, the pileated woodpeckers are booming around here - good for them. I hope they eat as many of those bugs as they can!

My house was in the middle of my 5 acre property. It was all wooded when I bought it. Thats what we loved about it. Turns out there were a lot of ash trees. Since the fall of 2019 I started taking them down before they crushed my house. Now I have a house in a field with a tree here or there and piles of logs and branches everywhere. Its great firewood but I really liked my house in the woods.. maybe in 30 years it will be wooded again who knows. Im in western NY along Lake Ontario.