Ash Borers?

[Rebel Darling]

This ash tree was standing dead. I felled it this afternoon, bucked and split it shortly after.

The bark was peeling away at the upper reaches (above picture) and I saw some bore evidence in the same area.

Anyone know if this is the mark of ash borers? I thought I'd see evidence throughout the tree, especially lower, down near the base.

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[sodfather]

Yep that's what it looks like ,sucks eventually there won't be any ash trees left 

[Nomad]

Starts with "D" shaped holes . Those squiggly lines under the bark are the paths they ate . I had close to 50 ash trees in my suburban yard, had some removed and treating the others , which will have to be done a long time .

Ive spread the treatments to once each 3 years , started with 2, City of Rochester hopes to get it out to 4 years.

Its about 3k each time .

Edited August 30, 2017 by Stay at home Nomad

[wooly]

My favorite trees to hook my climber up to.

Generally pretty straight trunked a good ways up, and a nice soft bark for quiet climbing and good bite for the stand teeth and cable. Getting a little harder every year to find a good healthy one to climb. The bark will slide right off on some of the trees that have been infected even if the rest of the tree still looks alive, so you still gotta be careful.

[wolc123]

Probably half of the trees in the 5 acre woodlot on the back of our farm are ash.  On one hand, I hate to loose all those trees, but on the other hand, I am getting sick of burning nothing but ash in the woodstove.  I started cutting mostly ash about 10 years ago, when the threat first developed.   My problem with it is as firewood is that it lives up to it's name and makes lots of ash, compared to other wood that I fondly remember burning, including cherry, oak, and hard maple.   

The good thing about ash as firewood, is that it can be burned immediately after cutting in the winter, without seasoning.  That comes in handy if you run out of wood in the late winter.   I usually have enough cut for several years, so that advantage has never come into play for me.  Because of that, I cant say I will miss it much when it is all gone.  Also, I think the deer and squirrels (which we like to eat), get a lot more out of oaks than they do from ash.   In the long run, I think we have more to gain from the emerald ash borer, than we have to loose.   

[Rebel Darling]

Thanks for the input, all.  There's another standing dead ash that I'll drop in the next couple days.  It's about 50 yards from the one in the picture.  These two are both on the front end of the property, and I have a good deal of healthy ash on the back side of the lot.  I took note of some leaf die-back on a few ash near where I found the dead ones.  I think it's reasonable to assume the borers are making progress across the property front to back. 

One ash is about 80' feet tall, and 25 yards from the house.  I should probably fell that one in the next couple of years so I can control it.  Big beautiful tree.  It's a shame.

Does anyone know if DEC wants to know about this?  I'll search it in a bit, but I'm thinking you all might have some experience already.

Thanks again.

[wolc123]

There was a little sentimental detachment (along a few dulled chains from hitting old nails) when I had to cut a few old ash trees that had permanents tree stands in them, including the one where I killed my first buck over thirty years ago, and my largest antlered buck, about 25 years ago.   I did not trust them old stands in those dying trees anymore, and I was thankful to have never fallen from them. I breathed a little relief, after those supporting trees were reduced to firewood.   Now it is all ground blinds, ladder stands, or elevated blinds, supported by pressure treated lumber.  

There are a few monsters deep in the woods that I am not looking forward to trying to take down with my largest saw (20" bar).  I may have to spring for a 24" to make that a little easier, which is about all that my Stihl could handle.  Personally, I think you are wasting your time trying to save the ash trees, and I doubt the DEC would be able to help you much on that.  They probably will come after you if you try and sell or transport any of that "infected" firewood however.  Take that with a grain of salt though, since you know that I won't miss them much when they are gone.       

     

[Rebel Darling]

1 hour ago, wolc123 said:

There was a little sentimental detachment (along a few dulled chains from hitting old nails) when I had to cut a few old ash trees that had permanents tree stands in them, including the one where I killed my first buck over thirty years ago, and my largest antlered buck, about 25 years ago.   I did not trust them old stands in those dying trees anymore, and I was thankful to have never fallen from them. I breathed a little relief, after those supporting trees were reduced to firewood.   Now it is all ground blinds, ladder stands, or elevated blinds, supported by pressure treated lumber.  

There are a few monsters deep in the woods that I am not looking forward to trying to take down with my largest saw (20" bar).  I may have to spring for a 24" to make that a little easier, which is about all that my Stihl could handle.  Personally, I think you are wasting your time trying to save the ash trees, and I doubt the DEC would be able to help you much on that.  They probably will come after you if you try and sell or transport any of that "infected" firewood however.  Take that with a grain of salt though, since you know that I won't miss them much when they are gone.       

   

 

Roger that...  As far as DEC goes, I'm more interested in helping them out at a scientific level than saving the trees.  There are large timber/foresting areas up the way a bit, and I bet they'd be interested in protecting their investments.  The borers are already here, and there's not much I can do about that now.  Maybe in 30 years we'll see some ash re-growth once the borers have nothing else to eat and die off, but for now it'll be firewood.  Unless someone wants to fashion me a sweet telecaster...

Also - I'll likely be picking up a 20" for my Stihl.  I've been working with the 18", and I think I'll call a buddy for anything over the 20", for now...  All things considered the MS 271 has been a BEAST!

 

[turkeyfeathers]

5 hours ago, wooly said:

My favorite trees to hook my climber up to.

Generally pretty straight trunked a good ways up, and a nice soft bark for quiet climbing and good bite for the stand teeth and cable. Getting a little harder every year to find a good healthy one to climb. The bark will slide right off on some of the trees that have been infected even if the rest of the tree still looks alive, so you still gotta be careful.

The teeth lock in alright !  Where I hunt it's a ton of ash. I've spent many a minutes trying to kick out the bottom portion of my climber and saying many choice words   Luckily no borers yet there 

[dbHunterNY]

15 minutes ago, Rebel Darling said:

 

Roger that...  As far as DEC goes, I'm more interested in helping them out at a scientific level than saving the trees.  There are large timber/foresting areas up the way a bit, and I bet they'd be interested in protecting their investments.  The borers are already here, and there's not much I can do about that now.  Maybe in 30 years we'll see some ash re-growth once the borers have nothing else to eat and die off, but for now it'll be firewood.  Unless someone wants to fashion me a sweet telecaster...

Also - I'll likely be picking up a 20" for my Stihl.  I've been working with the 18", and I think I'll call a buddy for anything over the 20", for now...  All things considered the MS 271 has been a BEAST!

 

You should definitely let DEC know 1-866-640-0652.  That's the whole idea the keep them from spreading and doing more damage.  Forester Rangers will likely come hang a purple box trap for them that'll sit there throughout the summer.  I'm not sure why some are so against Ash.  i think it's splits just great!  burns just fine with a short stack on an outdoor stove or camp stove.

[landtracdeerhunter]

White ash is a common wood in this area. I use it in most areas of woodworking where strength is not needed. Easy to work with and finishes well. I am trying to get some black ash started for basket weaving.

[chas0218]

You sure that's ash? What color was the sap wood?

[landtracdeerhunter]

19 minutes ago, chas0218 said:

You sure that's ash? What color was the sap wood?

. Different bark compared to the ash split behind it. Looks more like maple.

[G-Man]

Ash borer is everywhere. I have been romovin them off my property for last 7 years. Getting a lot of flack from locals who asked why inwas cutting up all my future timber.. I travel to and from ohio and have see. Entire woodlots dead 10 to 20 acres of woods just dead.. I'm glad I got some value out of my woodlots before the ban was started. Evidence is always on tops first as it taken3 or 4 years for an infestation to really take hold and become evident.

[chas0218]

18 hours ago, landtracdeerhunter said:

. Different bark compared to the ash split behind it. Looks more like maple.

Yeah I was thinking that or Elm depending on the sapwood color. It wasn't a very big split so a younger dead tree. Might even be a beech with blight. I can't remember which it was but I had some Red Oak or was it Elm with some oval holes and tunnels like that under the bark. Most of the time it is carpenter ants, the Ash borer have mostly holes that go to the sapwood that they eat and ends up killing the tree. The Ash borer doesn't tunnel just under the bark. I would say that is ant damage as there are no holes going into the sapwood. 

http://www.emeraldashborer.info/

[chas0218]

On 8/30/2017 at 9:29 AM, wolc123 said:

Probably half of the trees in the 5 acre woodlot on the back of our farm are ash.  On one hand, I hate to loose all those trees, but on the other hand, I am getting sick of burning nothing but ash in the woodstove.  I started cutting mostly ash about 10 years ago, when the threat first developed.   My problem with it is as firewood is that it lives up to it's name and makes lots of ash, compared to other wood that I fondly remember burning, including cherry, oak, and hard maple.   

The good thing about ash as firewood, is that it can be burned immediately after cutting in the winter, without seasoning.  That comes in handy if you run out of wood in the late winter.   I usually have enough cut for several years, so that advantage has never come into play for me.  Because of that, I cant say I will miss it much when it is all gone.  Also, I think the deer and squirrels (which we like to eat), get a lot more out of oaks than they do from ash.   In the long run, I think we have more to gain from the emerald ash borer, than we have to loose.   

Lots of ash but lots of BTU's, I love burning Ash only 1 year to season and some of my dead standing is already 25% moisture content and only needs to be split and sits there for 3 months and is 20% ready to burn. Ash makes nice hot fires and if you load up with lots of smaller splits you can get yourself some really hot fires. Ash is also really nice to work with for woodworking. Has nice grain like oak but less oils and takes stain nicely. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by chas0218

[LET EM GROW]

The ash are getting wiped out on our hill. I've been trying to drop them when possible. young and old, but they are dying off fast.. 

[chas0218]

2 minutes ago, LET EM GROW said:

The ash are getting wiped out on our hill. I've been trying to drop them when possible. young and old, but they are dying off fast.. 

My parents property has tons of ash but no sign of Ash Borer yet. This is in Wayne county North of Newark. I have been dropping the dead standing for firewood for the last couple years. Some of the Ash we have are 3' across at the base, with tons of hard maple similar in size. It is a sad thing but at least I can utilize the Ash and leave the other hardwoods. Our neighbor went and dropped a ton of live Ash and let it lay now is starting to rot, all of them were old timber in the 2' across range. Not sure what his intentions were but there is a lot he cut down and didn't do anything with it. Makes me sick as there was easily 30 cords or more worth of firewood and even worse they were straight as an arrow with no knots. Would have made great sawn wood.

[LET EM GROW]

This is in Steuben county. My property in Macedon has a lot of Ash. Though recently timbered, they took a lot of it. Im not certain what shape they are in. Last i knew ash bore was not present. My buddy is very skilled "Tree guy" it is his full time job, and was his dads for 30 some years as well. They have their own business, he checks on them for us.. 

[turkeyfeathers]

On ‎08‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 8:45 AM, wooly said:

My favorite trees to hook my climber up to.

Generally pretty straight trunked a good ways up, and a nice soft bark for quiet climbing and good bite for the stand teeth and cable. Getting a little harder every year to find a good healthy one to climb. The bark will slide right off on some of the trees that have been infected even if the rest of the tree still looks alive, so you still gotta be careful.

My favorite tree to climb too   Climbing down, not so much   I try and  kick out that bottom platform forever before it comes "unstuck"   Maybe I'm too fat and the extra weight really digs it in

[chas0218]

8 minutes ago, LET EM GROW said:

This is in Steuben county. My property in Macedon has a lot of Ash. Though recently timbered, they took a lot of it. Im not certain what shape they are in. Last i knew ash bore was not present. My buddy is very skilled "Tree guy" it is his full time job, and was his dads for 30 some years as well. They have their own business, he checks on them for us.. 

We have Dom Bartucca from Empire Tree take down our junk trees. He's a good family friend, does good work, and a heck of a nice guy. He is surprised how many ash we have and not affected by any borer and the lack of sign in the area. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by chas0218

[Culvercreek hunt club]

These are the D shaped exit holes of the hatched adults.

The other pic is typical damage caused just under the bark on the trees. Once those channels make a complete ring around the tree and cut off the flow of fluid in the tree, it is done. similar to girdling a tree you want to die with a chainsaw. 

[dbHunterNY]

a lot of things are made from ash from the commercial side of things like baseball bats.  from an ecosystem side of things, they're an important native species to wetlands.

[Rebel Darling]

You sure that's ash? What color was the sap wood?

That was definitely an ash tree. The round in the pic was a younger branch at the top. The base was all regular ash bark.

That pile had red oak, cherry, red maple, silver maple, ash, beech, and yellow birch splits.


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[Rebel Darling]

Yeah I was thinking that or Elm depending on the sapwood color. It wasn't a very big split so a younger dead tree. Might even be a beech with blight. I can't remember which it was but I had some Red Oak or was it Elm with some oval holes and tunnels like that under the bark. Most of the time it is carpenter ants, the Ash borer have mostly holes that go to the sapwood that they eat and ends up killing the tree. The Ash borer doesn't tunnel just under the bark. I would say that is ant damage as there are no holes going into the sapwood. 
http://www.emeraldashborer.info/

There were also D-shaped holes.


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