Red Oak Hole Question

[OilNoMore]

I got a few rounds of red oak recently but did not know what the holes in them were. In the picture below they are the black circles, some of which come out through the bark at angles. Anyone have any information on this? I wanted to use a few of these as splitting blocks and I hope those holes are not indicative of any rot/disease. Also attached is a pic of our stove finished, in jail with the fence around it. I still have to repair the space in the hardwood floor where a wall had been, any suggestions on how to do that?

 

[gerry100]

Looks like some kind of bug did that.

Now that it's exposed to air and kept dry it shouldn't progress.

Use them as spliiting blocks until they fall aprt, then feed them to the stove.

 

[iceman]

I got a few rounds of red oak recently but did not know what the holes in them were. In the picture below they are the black circles, some of which come out through the bark at angles. Anyone have any information on this? I wanted to use a few of these as splitting blocks and I hope those holes are not indicative of any rot/disease. Also attached is a pic of our stove finished, in jail with the fence around it. I still have to repair the space in the hardwood floor where a wall had been, any suggestions on how to do that?

when had wood like that it had carpenter ants in it... split it and stack it

 

[Dix]

Carpenter ants. Nasty wood eating buggers.

One of the dead trees we took down, looks like this

I've also had them eat the back wall of my house, due to a hidden leak. Now that was fun :roll:

I've got a humungous oak in the front (like 3' diameter), getting eaten by them now. It's coming down, and soon.

They split (the ants) once they are discovered, pretty quickly. The wood will burn just fine !

 

[OilNoMore]

Well if it's ants eating those things are getting moved away from the house asap. I've been hunting mice all day and trying to seal off any holes, the last thing I want to deal with is ants, but I suppose that's why we pay the exterminator each month.

 

[burntime]

Yep, ants all the way. Cut it and split it, they do not like dry wood.

 

[Vic99]

When I get wood with holes like that, I grab it with both hands and bang it on the ground or my splitting block a few times to see if any bugs shake loose. If they do I may move the round further from the house before I split it. Sometimes there are hundred of ants living in the round. They explode everywhere when you split such a log.

Better to keep it away from the house. After splitting, I leave it for a few days then come back and split it again. Very often all the ants are gone.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Agree it's most likely ants. I have seen two kinds of borers in my Red Oak. These holes could be of the larger borer type, but look more like carpenter ants. I note, however, that only rarely have I seen ants into the Oak hard wood. They are lazy and prefer to make their tunnels under the bark right next to where the hardwood starts. But OTOH I scored some great free Cherry wood recently, and the little buggers had big tunnels well into the core hardwood. BTW I have been amazed at the variety of bugs that like to feast on Oak. Probably dozens of different types including at least two borer types and several different ant types- and more. Oak must be really, really tasty to bugs. hh:

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Likely carpenter ants. If you're unlucky- it could be some other borer like the asian longhorn beetle.

In either case- what you need to do is get a ballpeen hammer, a kiddie pool, a splitting maul, and a copy of Chaka Khan's 1999 "I'm Every Woman" best of album.

The rest should be obvious.

 

[billb3]

Oak borer.

Big black bug (I've always seen them waddling along on the ground full of eggs)ABOUT THE SIZE OF YOUR THUMB.
The larvae (white) chew throught the tree and emerge about the size of your little finger., a little longer, maybe.

If you do enough cutting early in the Spring, you'll eventually find one chewing away. Many of the red oaks here are infested with them. It may be a local thing as to my luck of actually finding them actually still in the larvae state chewing away.
When I see them on the ground (the black bug), I go out of my way to crush them.
Always full of eggs. Possibly why /when they are on the ground.

I've sliced a round to try to see a growth pattern (tunnel size) and entry / exit. without any much luck. I've found exit holes, but not point of entries.

Carpenter ants then use the borer's holes for entry and the tunnels to make a home.
Carpenter ants willl also use termite damaged wood to make a nest.
Supposedly they (carpenter ants) (can't / don't) just go boring holes in gren undamaged wood on thier own.


(broken link removed) oak borer/redoak.htm

 

[Cluttermagnet]

I've certainly seen the larger borers- live- in the Red Oak I've been processing here. They are basically white and about 5/16 in+ dia, look like a caterpillar of sorts, with big mandibles. I don't run into them often, but have seen at least a half dozen in the past few months while splitting. Yes, it sounds like what I have been seeing is the larval stage, not the adult.

 

[n6crv]

You have to look at the positive side. With the holes in the wood air can get in and dry it out faster. The ones like Dixie has will be ready to burn in a week LOL.
Don

 

[OilNoMore]

Yeah I was a little concerned it might be a borer of some kind and not just ants, I kind of thought the size of some of the holes seemed large for ants. The DEC is putting out all this literature about borers (specifically ash boring bugs) but nothing new and unique to oak. I think I am going to split all these rounds and dry them out away from the rest of the rows for a time, error on the side of caution. I certainly don't want to be bringing some sort of invasive borer into the neighborhood. Thanks for the information and I'll post any findings once I get a chance to review some literature on this. I wish I knew an arborist.

 

[Jags]

Likely carpenter ants. If you're unlucky- it could be some other borer like the asian longhorn beetle.

In either case- what you need to do is get a ballpeen hammer, a kiddie pool, a splitting maul, and a copy of Chaka Khan's 1999 "I'm Every Woman" best of album.

The rest should be obvious.

You forgot the anti-gravity boots and spandex.

Then it becomes obvious.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I like where you're going with this.