Dropped a 20" Ash this weekend. As much as I love to cut Ash, I will be sad when they are all gone. I haven't seen a healthy Ash in years, the EAB has killed them all.
I hate that we have EAB in the world, but I'm hoping we can get as much good use out of a terrible situation as possible. Ash is one of the best IMHO.
It is my favorite firewood. Splits well, burns hot, and best of all, you can cut a dead one down and burn it that day if you have to. It is all I have burned for the last two months.
Yeah, its the lion share of my stacks this year too. Can't go wrong. Some of the twisty stuff likes to hold moisture, but the straight stuff dries quick.
Nice work Frank and Beans. Nice firewood for you. I'm cutting some of my Ash to sell as logs and some for my firewood supply of course. I will thin out better than 50% of my Ash on the property this way in case EAB has its way. I'll be able to use the rest for firewood if they do. I am going to begin replacing them by planting some fast growing hardwoods. Maybe Maples. How much Ash do you have access to?
I need to do a walk through to see exactly how many there are. I know there's 4 or 5 more near the one I just cut. They seem to grow in groups around here. At my old house, I had to have nine of them dropped by a professional, because every one of them was in striking distance of the house! That was before I burned wood, so I gave them all away. I sure would like to have all of that wood back!
I have a small grove of ash that has to be cut because of the little green monster. Most are smaller trees but there are 3 that range from 20 to 30 dbh, so I'll be burning ash for the rest of my burning life.
Nice work Frank. Rather than a few ash trees, we numbered more in the hundreds. It really makes me sick to look at our woods now and compare it to what it was 15 years ago. But, we got some lumber and a lot of firewood plus we have been able to help out a few unfortunate folks. One little hint though on the dead stuff. Although most of our ash were attacked starting in 2002, those that have been dead for many years still have plenty of moisture in the base of the tree. Of course there are a few that are dry all the way but the last one I fell in January still had plenty of moisture even if it only went 6-8' up. Therefore it is still good to take those bottom logs and put them in a pile for next year or better yet, get on the 3 year plan and they will be in the stack 3 years! It is sweet to be that far ahead and it pays great dividends; better than money in the bank.
I've been cutting all ash myself it's ashane too but I guess I'll get hear out of the deal Ash just like the chessnut will be a memory some day
I think I've seen it mentioned here before.. Has anyone else ever noticed a pattern similar to that under the bark of oak? The ash I burned this year had no signs of eab but some 100% for sure oak I split this year looked like that..
I haven't cut hardly any oak at all. I'm gonna try to get all the dead ash cut first, because some of it is starting to get punky. It would be a shame if something started attacking the oaks. It sure is amazing how quickly an invasive insect can decimate an entire tree species that has been around for so long.
In MI we also have a problem with oak wilt. It appears there will be no end to something attacking the trees.
