Latest Wood Adventures - Carpenter Ant Filled Ash and Easy Splitting Maple

The tale of two wood scrounges - one bad, one good this past weekend.

So my buddy gives me a tip about some already bucked ash near the police department that the township dropped off for people to take. The stuff was HUGE! I was already out, so I didn't have my saw or even a maul. There was someone else there and we helped each other load into our trucks. Got two really large pieces...was excited until I split it. Carpenter Ants! Tons!



Fast forward to Sunday - saw a Craigslist ad for just cut maple about 10 minutes away. Grabbed all the wood I could manage...the homeowner kinda had a weird CL ad (a lot of no's - don't park in driveway, don't drive on grass, don't knock on door, don't disturb) so I didn't want to break out the saw. Some guy came right after me and had a 16' trailer, two helpers and hand trucks...so I'm glad I got there when I did - it would've been all gone. Started splitting this maple - it split awesome. Square pieces left and right - beautiful!

 

Nice splitting. How do you like the husky axe? Too bad about the ants.

 

I really like it. But like others said, I wish it was a little longer - not 36", but a little longer. I like to use it for more precision splits. I usually hit the bigger rounds with a maul and then start using the Husky S2800 once it gets smaller. I've only been splitting for a few months and already have 3 splitting axes - Fiskars IsoCore 8lb Maul, Fiskars X27 and the Husky S2800. I have a problem.

 

The carpenter ants usually freeze t death if it is cold enough when you open up their nice little warm hibernation caves.
I find dead ones' carcasses in 3 and 4 year old splits .
I dunno how far they get if it is warm enough for them to crawl away.

 

I've never saw carpenter ants in ash. That's kinda neat

 

I take those ant filled splits and put them in the coop for the chickens. They don't stand a chance.

 

Nice work! The only maple I've ever come across was also a huge old yard tree. I was the only one that had permission to cut it so I scoped it out while I was out during the week. The weekend came and I loaded the saws and of course the fiskars. I figured I'd just block it up being it was light in comparison to oak and be on my way in no time. The bottom 6 foot or so of the tree was about 40 inches and the stihl was like a light saber going through it. Well that's where the fun ended I hit that first piece with the old fiskars and I had to bust a move like a prize fighter to get out the way. Needless to say I had to go get the hydro.

 

That gave me a good laugh this morning! Anyone who didn't grow up or have chickens has missed some funny sights when they get a load of good eats. You could throw them ants in the pen and they'd case the one chicken who had an ant. Even if there was 10,000 others free for the taking.

 

Pretty sure it was ash. Diamond pattern bark, pin hole in the center of the wood. I was going to bring my chainsaw back and get more....but after both pieces had ants pouring out, I decided against that.

I think your maple sounded like the maple I tried to get two weeks ago. Bit off more than I could chew today...
That stuff was 40"+ diameter at some parts and my maul bounced off like a rubber mallet. I'm not sure if I was splitting different types of maple or what. This new stuff was freshly cut - not sure if that makes a difference. I was almost going to swear off maple after struggling so much on that other stuff.

Yeah, they were really sluggish when they poured out. Thought they were dead, but then read they go dormant in the colder months. I had some Terro ant traps lying around, so put them near my stacks. Then I used ant spray on my splitting stump to kill the ones that poured out. I do have a lot of wood near my splitting area including a few live trees, so I was pretty concerned at first. I'm hoping most didn't survive.

Unfortunately, no chickens and I don't have a stove installed yet either.

 

Once split, that ash will be fine. You got their nest open, they should die if it is cold out. By the looks of it, a well placed boot would have taken care of 95% of them.

Edit: I just saw that you sprayed them and put out traps. That should be good enough. Also, just because the ants were in that one section doesn't mean the rest of the wood will have them in it. I would go check it out of you need the wood.

 

I spread handfuls of spectracide ant granules all around my wood racks. I'll even toss some into the obvious voids. I worked too hard to get the wood into splits and stacked to let ants have their way with it

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As already mentioned, ants may not be in the whole tree, I'd bring every bit of it home.
I use the granules around the outside and sprinkle the floor of my woodshed a couple times a year.
I also use wasp/hornet spray or even charcoal starter fluid to kill the bastards as I'm splitting the wood when I come across them.
Heck, I find a nice windless day in the summer when temps are 100+ in the woodshed and trip a couple fumigator bombs,,,,just in case. Takes care of spiders too.

 

The carpenter ants prefer moist places to dry and easy to chew wood over hard. You usually find them in rotted/rotting wood not solid wood.
In a house you might find some in the bathroom or kitchen . They'll be homed up in support beams that are getting wet: open exposed porch, leaking roof, etc. .
I found about a dozen had carved out a little cave for the Winter between two sheets of T-111 stacked horizontal outside. I had cut down a huge red oak that was full of them a few months earlier only a few feet away. I ran out of hornet spray trying to get them all quick as it was Summer at that time when we cut down the tree.

 

Father in law had black ants migrate into garage wall from his woodstacks which were against the garage. I never stack wood close to a building.

 

Get some chocolate syrup and knock yourself out!

 

Nothing like good timing, and a good score!!!!!

 

I had some wood that was loaded with ants, I laid them on the lawn for the pack of turkeys, they ate every last one of them.

 

I lay out those anty splits and the woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches really clean them up.

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Exactly, wood near buildings is not good. I keep a can of Ant spray at the splitter when I'm using it, If any rounds have ants they get sprayed right then and there. If it's cold and the ants are dormant I'll bring logs home with them in it, But not in the summer.