I'm not sure I can keep up with the Ash suppy

[H-Ranch]

With the last night I have a few new trees to work on. This afternoon I pulled down a 16" DBH dead Ash that was hung up in a big White Oak and figured I'd add more to the stacks. When I started bucking it the saw went right through it - quite often they are like that at the bottom 6-8 feet. This tree was like that throughout. I'm afraid it's just going to explode when I put the Fiskars to it. The last leaner I took down was great - maybe 10" DBH.

I have been leaving the standing dead to focus on the stuff already on the ground or the ones hung up in another tree. Most of them have been OK for firewood. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up now though. There are probably 10 standing dead within throwing distance of the house and many, many more throughout my 10 acres (Sassafras, Oak, and other down stuff too.)

Anybody have a guess at how long the standing dead Ash will be good? I have been saying that the Ash supply will come to an end, just not sure how quickly.

 

[justchecknjr]

ash

it will be good in my stacks!:wink2:

 

[Encore]

Get the ones on the ground first. You'd be surprised how long the standing dead will last. By standing I mean not leaning, standing on their own.

 

[johnnylabguy]

How did I know from your title you are in Michigan? lol. It is a question I'm interested in knowing the answer to as well. I live in Northcentral Ohio and we are just seeing its(emerald ash borer) damage. Very sad. My woodlot has some ash and I'd like to space out the harvesting for firewood as long as I can(unfortunately all the good saw logs were taken before I bought it).

 

[computeruser]

The standing ones will last for a good few years. Usually 3-4 years after the bark drops off before they turn to punky to bother with.

 

[oneoldgeezer]

We have not seen too much of that around here, but in the woods they may have been dead longer then we know. The last ones we cut for you seemed alright. The ones we used in the shop stove were alright too. Will get out today and check some more.

 

[H-Ranch]

This tree may have been dead for years from something besides EAB then. It still had the bark - I assume with the cambium layer eaten by the EAB that the bark falls off much easier. I can see several others that have started to debark this year so they are going to have a limited "shelf life".

We've been in this place for 4 years now. I'm not sure how long some of the trees have been dead - it's time to pick up the pace of turning them into firewood I guess. Fortunately the time change next weekend should give me more daylight hours to work!! :jester:

 

[H-Ranch]

Well it does split OK - I was able to quarter most pieces I tried this morning with only a few exploding into chunks. It will definitely go in the shoulder season stack.

 

[oneoldgeezer]

I checked some of ours today and the ones that are dead but standing seem to be all right. A couple of broken off but still hung up seem punky a ways up the tree, maybe 4' to 8' up. Will have to get those out before they get any worse. But with daylight saving time coming I might not have as much time.