Bark ID and IQ

[Green_Will]

I am new here, but I would like to say thank you for all the valuable information I have already read.

I have found a farm with standing dead trees they would like removed. I have already cut and split some but then realized I may be dealing with Ash instead of Tulip Poplar and transplanting the Emerald Ash Borer to new areas accidentally. I learned that Ash will have opposite branches and Poplar Alternating. I will take some pics when I go back, but in the mean time...

What do I need to know about seasoning wood? I am selling most of this immediately because it is standing dead but bark is still on it. Cambium is dead. How long till burnable? Thank you for your help!

 

[Rebelduckman]

I am new here, but I would like to say thank you for all the valuable information I have already read.

I have found a farm with standing dead trees they would like removed. I have already cut and split some but then realized I may be dealing with Ash instead of Tulip Poplar and transplanting the Emerald Ash Borer to new areas accidentally. I learned that Ash will have opposite branches and Poplar Alternating. I will take some pics when I go back, but in the mean time...

What do I need to know about seasoning wood? I am selling most of this immediately because it is standing dead but bark is still on it. Cambium is dead. How long till burnable? Thank you for your help!

Softwood 6 months-1 year. Hardwoods 2+. Climate could affect this though. Also the standing dead may dry a little faster than green. The top 1/3 of the tree may even burn now

 

[BobUrban]

Best bet - it is ash. No pictures needed. If you were in Michigan I would guarantee it.

How far are you moving the wood? That is the bigger worry. If the bugs are there it is only a matter of time before its all dead. Dead ash commonly has sucker shoots coming out the trunk and base as it takes its last gasp at life as well as worm tracks on the wood inside the bark. Two tell tale signs.

 

[Green_Will]

Best bet - it is ash. No pictures needed. If you were in Michigan I would guarantee it.

How far are you moving the wood? That is the bigger worry. If the bugs are there it is only a matter of time before its all dead. Dead ash commonly has sucker shoots coming out the trunk and base as it takes its last gasp at life as well as worm tracks on the wood inside the bark. Two tell tale signs.

Okay, thanks. I'm in PA and I am moving the wood roughly 20 miles from one county to another. According to my research the internal state moving restriction has been rescinded.

I was looking for the suckering, but did not see much of it. What I did see were lichen on the bark and dead budding. I also noticed the bark was "shaved". -Hard to explain. The bark did have holes (not the D shape typical of the EAB) but the bark was also cleanly "shaved" about an 1/8th inch deep in patches some maybe 6' x 18" all over the tree. These trees were roughly 10" to 16" diameter. I saw no evidence on the ground of the missing bark it's like it was being very cleanly eaten from the tree. What would be causing this?

 

[Green_Will]

Softwood 6 months-1 year. Hardwoods 2+. Climate could affect this though. Also the standing dead may dry a little faster than green. The top 1/3 of the tree may even burn now

Thanks for the info. I was hoping felling the trees now with sap thin would allow faster seasoning... There are some internal striations radiating from the center of the splits and the bark is beginning to release. What signs of seasoned wood would I look for?

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Welcome to the forums, another PA. guy ! Where are you at?

 

[Green_Will]

Welcome to the forums, another PA. guy ! Where are you at?

Duncannon, but I do most of my business around Harrisburg. Thanks!

 

[Green_Will]

Any chance you can answer the question I had in an earlier post about the "shaved" bark? Just a note on that, it was all up an down the tree as far as 20'-30' and I saw it while the tree was standing so it wasn't from deer, bear, another tree falling against it etc....

I'll try to get a pic next week. Really bothering me. I've never seen anything like it.

 

[BobUrban]

Green_Will
New Member
Joined:
Dec 28, 2014
Messages:
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Loc:
PA
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Any chance you can answer the question I had in an earlier post about the "shaved" bark? Just a note on that, it was all up an down the tree as far as 20'-30' and I saw it while the tree was standing so it wasn't from deer, bear, another tree falling against it etc....
I'll try to get a pic next week. Really bothering me. I've never seen anything like it.

Green - if it is like a splotchy pattern this is another sign of dead ash - all the trees here look like that if they are standing dead and still have their bark.

 

[D8Chumley]

I thought I read that if the ash tree was already dead the borer was gone from that particular tree at that point. Is that right? Welcome Green Will

 

[Green_Will]

Green - if it is like a splotchy pattern this is another sign of dead ash - all the trees here look like that if they are standing dead and still have their bark.

Okay I found a pic online. Apparently it's called "Bark Scaling" and is done by Hairy Woodpeckers on deciduous trees. Sorry for the vague description. I didn't know how to explain it. These standing dead trees I've been cutting down have a lot of this bark scaling and dozens of small holes that look like they are from the outside in so the woodpeckers are helping me identify the snags.

 

[Wood Duck]

I have not encountered stands of standing dead Tulip Poplar, but there are lots of stands of standing dead Ash in PA. I'd guess your trees are Ash.

If Ash trees have been dead a while, they may not have any Ash Borers still in them. The borers eat live trees.

The picture Green_Will posted above shows an Ash with characteristic emerald Ash borer damage.

 

[Green_Will]

I have not encountered stands of standing dead Tulip Poplar, but there are lots of stands of standing dead Ash in PA. I'd guess your trees are Ash.

If Ash trees have been dead a while, they may not have any Ash Borers still in them. The borers eat live trees.

Thanks WD.
I was checking for any signs of ID and found a couple living trees with similar bark still had the tulip bracts attached so that was my initial guess, but it makes sense that a large quantity of the same variety would be Ash. Thanks for reminding me of Occam's Razor.

Once I realized I may be moving Ash trees and the EMB's around I was very concerned but after some research I found that the state lifted the quarantine for in-state movement of wood because it is basically everywhere at this point. Also, if I am dealing with Snags I shouldn't be moving any EMB's as you said because they have moved on to living trees.

What are your thoughts regarding selling this stuff as firewood?