Large oak rotten in trunk

[bigoakhunter]

My neighbor wanted to cut down a large red oak in his yard. He enlisted my help and said I could have half the wood. When we got down to the last piece above ground level it had brown soft material in the center 1/3 of it. This was previliant by the ground and become less common towards the end of that 18" piece. What is this called or what causes it. Rest of tree was fine and it was a 80 foot tall oak.


Thanks,

Dave

 

[wingsfan]

Probably rot.But i'm no expert.

 

[Wood Duck]

That is definitely rot, the question is what caused it. I guess a tree expert could have identified the cause, but I am not an expert and now the tree is firewood. it is not rare for trees to rot at the center, but I don't know the cause or causes. I think there are many possible causes.

 

[remkel]

Very basic description here:

http://hardwoodbucking.mtu.edu/hardwood_defects/rot.html

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Rot, maybe with some coon pee mixed in for good measure.