EAB is in my woodlot and has infected a dozen or so trees big enough to use for lumber. I'd like to use them to build a bar in my basement; but that project is probably 3-4 years down the road yet. How long do I have from the time the tree stops producing leaves to the time it needs to be cut down for lumber. If I cut them down soon is there anything I can do to keep them from decaying for a few years or do I need to get them to the mill and just store the lumber?
How Long Do I Have?
- Thread starter hoopie
- Start date
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joesawer
Addicted to ArboristSite
Lumber is by far the easiest and most efficient to store.
If you keep it dry and away from ground fungus it will last indefinitely.
If you keep it dry and away from ground fungus it will last indefinitely.
Standing dead trees or logs laying in piles just invite more bugs. Get them sawn as soon as you can.
I assume you have ash trees. Does EAB infest other species? I would guess the only way you can save the wood is to slab it now and then sterilise the slabs. That should not cost you much but you will need controlled storage.
bobt
Addicted to ArboristSite
EAB does not live in dead wood. If the trees are dying now, rest assured that EAB has been there and moved on. Have the timber sawed as soon as you can, and sticker pile the lumber. It will dry in a year or so and unless it gets wet, will last for years. Keep it under cover.
Bob
Bob
Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
The shelf life of standing dead can vary from 5 - 100 years+ depending upon when and how it died. Such species as Elm and pine can last standing almost forever, especially ones that have shed their bark. Once sawed, these specimens exprience little if any movement due to shrinkage other than lateral checking from drying naturally.
Trees that have died from wildfire are often still standing for a century or more in areas that see little or no woodcutting.
John
Trees that have died from wildfire are often still standing for a century or more in areas that see little or no woodcutting.
John
joesawer
Addicted to ArboristSite
It depends on the climate. In warm humid climates some species can be like a mushy sponge in a year.
Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
Very true, some tropical species will deteriorate very quickly once felled. Almost being carried away before your eyes due to bugs.
John
dieselsmoke
ArboristSite Operative
Saw man saw. Time is the enemy, now.
The EAB will just boar out a chamber, but this is just in the cambium of the wood, the heart wood should still be good for milling, nice and clean. The beetle effects only the bark and cambium of the tree and basically chokes out the tree of nutrients and water.
^ This.
Ash won't stay good for long once it is dead. Have them cut up now so you can save them for later.
@2dogs - EAB only attacks ash trees (Fraxinus spp.). No other hosts, not even Mountain-ash ( Sorbus spp.).
Well, I'm no doctor, but you seem healthy enough. Eat your vegetables and avoid salty snacks. You should be good for awhile.
radoutdoors
ArboristSite Operative
From my experience if the leaves are still on the trees but its infected you have a year before it is completely dead, when the tree sprouts shoots from the trunk then its death is soon. The only problem that I have seen is since the EAB girdles the tree then it cuts off water/nutrients causing the tree to basically dry out. The wood is still good but usually if let too long, the wood starts to split. You don't need to disinfect the wood since the EAB is in the outer cambium layer and EAB only affects ash trees, hope this helps.
radoutdoors
ArboristSite Operative
Oh yeah and EAB affects all ash trees, they will affect the white ash first but they will infect others.
