Posts: 8,963
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2010
Better stock up
The emerald ash borer has been spreading
widely and according to Bruce Cook¹ "We are probably looking at the eradication of most ash trees in the US and Canada"
¹ A Earth Science guy working on a multi sensor LADAR package ro map infestations.
homo homini lupus
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." Yeats
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Quodcumque potest manus tua facere instaner opere Ecclesiastes
Posts: 5,733
Threads: 2
Joined: Dec 2004
Location: Fort Worth
Been going on for quite some time now. Not the biggest fan of it myself it's hard heavy and tough to finish but it makes great pallets and utility grade stuff. Got a couple big boards in the shop. One is a around 22" wide and 16' long. That's why I like buying #1 common...
Posts: 6,755
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2001
Location: Post Falls, ID
I wasn't aware it was under attack...
I've used ash primarily when someone wants a "black" wood - ash works quite well when ebonizing. It resembles oak with it's grain pattern, and finishes about the same as oak.
I don't use it often, but it is my "go to" wood for certain projects...
Dave
"One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyrany, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Posts: 10,003
Threads: 1
Joined: Apr 2005
Location: Texas
Buy your ash baseball bats for your grandchildren now.
They will be gone within 30-40 years, maybe sooner.
...Naval Aviators, that had balz made of brass and the size of bowling balls, getting shot off the deck at night, in heavy seas, hoping that when they leave the deck that the ship is pointed towards the sky and not the water.
AD1 T. O. Cronkhite
Posts: 8,344
Threads: 1
Joined: Mar 2000
I have used it as a primary wood in some projects, but it's an important secondary wood in building rockers. I use it in the laminated back braces to provide strength and "spring" for comfort.
Have known about the borers for some time. It's sad that it's happening. Last house we moved out of last year had a beautiful ash tree with perfect shape and it shaded almost the entire front lawn. We often got comments from passersby about the beautiful tree. We went so far as to treat it with a preventative for ash borer. I don't know how long it will last since it seems that the borers have now reached our area.
Ray
(formerly "WxMan")
Posts: 14,923
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2004
Location: Butler, PA
It's sad to see so many of our native hardwoods come under attack by various bugs and blights. Seems like every year, there's a new one in some part of the country.
The Emerald Ash Borer has devastated the ash trees in PA. It was in 2007 that they were first discovered, very near where I live. Despite the PA Dept of Ag taking immediate steps to quarantine wood and try to prevent further infestation, it hasn't taken them long to do significant damage. They've been reported in 57 of PA's 67 counties.
If you are going down a river at 2 mph and your canoe loses a wheel, how much pancake mix would you need to shingle your roof?
Posts: 649
Threads: 1
Joined: Dec 2006
In my little piece of Michigan, live Ash trees are now a rarity. Many many trees standing dead. There has been good success with saving some trees through chemical injections, but it is an expensive process and impractical on a wholesale level. I have a nice supply of Ash lumber in my shop, but much of the dead wood is going to firewood.
Posts: 2,274
Threads: 90
Joined: Jun 2001
The town has been cutting them down for some time now. They aren't cutting all of them down right now. I think there is a way to spot the beetle holes. There are some really big trees coming down.
John
Always use the right tool for the job.
We need to clean house.
Posts: 10,761
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Front seat on the Struggle Bus
Ours have been dead for a long time now.....
I quit milling them 3 years ago, started to get punky, not worth the trouble.
Ed
Posts: 14,273
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2007
I have lost a couple, three dozen ash trees.
LIL,
I'm curious how some ash seeds saved for ten years after the ash borer has nothing left eat, and dies, could not revive the species
I'm not a horticulturist, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but that question has also been on my mind
Dave
