Free "Diseased" Wood Question

[itsanaddiction]

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.

 

[Wood Duck]

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.

 

[jcjohnston]

I have been burning the stuff for years, time oaks takes to dry sure leaves no wilt left to worry about.

 

[savageactor7]

I think you have a great deal going there...don't bother debarking.

 

[itsanaddiction]

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!

 

[quads]

Almost every single piece of firewood I burn was killed by oak wilt.

 

[jcjohnston]

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.