Free "Diseased" Wood Question

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itsanaddiction

Member
Hearth Supporter
Dec 3, 2009
36
MN
How would you all deal with an offer of as much free red oak as I can cut, but it has oak wilt. The wood looks normal to me. I've cut a few trees and brought them home. I'd planned on debarking it over time, but I'm learning it's more work than I expected. I've researched oak wilt, there is info about this out there but they recommend doing some pretty weird stuff with the wood before using it as firewood.
 
Once you cut the tree and dry out the wood, the oak wilt fungus won't continue to grow, so there is no reason not to store the wood. Still, I would not move any oak from an oak wilt area into a different area. If you are getting the wood locally at this time of the year, I don't think there is a danger of you aiding the spread of the disease, as long as you are in an area where the oak wilt disease is already present. I don't think the fungus is of any concern from a burning point of view, only from a disease spreading point of view. I found a Purdue Univ. website that said it is OK to store wilt-killed oak as firewood, as long as you stack it so it will dry.
 
I have been burning the stuff for years, time oaks takes to dry sure leaves no wilt left to worry about.
 
I think you have a great deal going there...don't bother debarking.
 
Well, good to hear your opinions. It didn't come from very far away so I'm not worried about spreading it.

I showed up to drop the trees and was met by the guy from the tree company who bid the job. He wasn't very happy that I was willing to do it for just the wood.

Great site here, been lurking for a while, guess I gotta learn to type and spell now. You guys are pretty tough on the folks who can't spell!
 
Almost every single piece of firewood I burn was killed by oak wilt.
 
I actually like oak wilt, as for years the trees stand dead and then the bark falls off, then I drop em and wait a year and oh boy they burn 8-10 hours straight. Only the last 15-20 feet of the trunk are wet, higher than than that could burn now I'm sure. But we dont, we let it all set a year.
 
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