# Big Ash Tree Down



## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

I had a big ash tree blowdown from high winds so i decided to mill it.I can't get a large mill to it or even get it to a mill as it's on the other side of a river that runs through my property and is at the back of my property with no axcess so i decided to go at it with my alaskan 395 set-up. Here's some pictures.


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

sorry didn't get the pic's. hope it turned out awesome.


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

*pics.*

Sorry, i can't seem to be able to post pics on this site. every time i click on to manage attachments i get a red stopsign with a hand in the middle of it and nothing comes up to post pictures.


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

*This may help.*

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f16/how-post-photos-1120/


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

mdntrdr said:


> http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f16/how-post-photos-1120/


 I get the same red stopsign with a hand in it when clicking on your link as well. Don't know why i can't bring anything up on this site.


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

*pictures*

lets see if this works.


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

Glad you got it figured out! :thumbsup:

Those are great pics..........Keep 'em commin'!


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks Scott, but i had to use my wifes computer with windows7 as mine has millinium and won't let me post pictures still. I think they are phaseing it out to make people upgrade.:shifty: I never had these problems in the past on my computer.:furious:


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

Looks good. But man I'd be tired after pushing a chainsaw through that. What thicknesses did you go for?

Daren, this is what I was calling "Dark Centered Ash" in another post about a week ago. I can link it if you don't happen to remember (I don't really expect you to). I was told that the darkened grain was due to the tree growing in a wet environment.
Slabmaster, was this true, did the tree come out of a low lying area?
I'm just curious, if anyone knows the reason for this dark colored ash. Is it due to a specific species or what?
I'm not classifying the tree as a lower grade, I'd have it sawn (or is it sawed:blink up, too, if I had it.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

djg said:


> I'd be tired after pushing a chainsaw through that.
> 
> Daren, this is what I was calling "Dark Centered Ash" in another post about a week ago.


Yea me too.

I was unfamiliar with that term, all the ash I see around here is white ash and they grow in yards, so they are white all the way through. That is another wood I mill asap after felling to keep it white, like maples.


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

If I understand you correctly, you're saying one of the causes for the darkening is 'aging' after being cut. Or say a dead standing tree. That might explain some of the ash trees I've seen sawed.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Yes, that is exactly what I am saying.


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

*Ash Tree*

This tree grew in a low lying area for sure. Where it fell is usually under water most of the time, but we had a drier than normal spring here and that's why i was able to mill it where it fell. It was also dead from the ash borer before it fell. I cut only one section so far at 8/4 to get it out quicker. I'm hopeing the rest of it will spault before i do the rest. There is alot of good lumber in the tree as it is at least 40" at the base. The section i did to get that board is at the upper part of the tree and was 18" wide. I will probably get the rest this fall.


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

slabmaster said:


> This tree grew in a low lying area for sure. Where it fell is usually under water most of the time......I will probably get the rest this fall.


 I am speaking out of inexperience, but I was told that ash can get buggy quick, especially in a wet environment. We used to saw ash right away and then spray the stickered piles. That d*@ powder post beetle would still show up in the dried (air) lumber. I don't know what kind of bugs or how bad it is already, but I'd hate to see an infestation ruin all the lumber because you waited that long. Of course if you want the buggy look in your lumber and will be kiln drying it, that's OK. Maybe someone else has a more informed opinion about the bugs.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

In my neck of the woods a downed ash gets borers pretty quick spring-fall, they can lay all winter no problem. In warm weather they are on the logs...well like me on a pork chop.


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

*bug*

I have milled around 5 hundred thousand board feet of ash from my 2 properties already and haven't had a big problem with the powder post beetle. This tree has been dead for a few years and it is beetle free as well. My biggest problem has been black ants in some walnut and oak i've milled. As long as i get this ash milled before it becomes puncky i should be alright. It is hard as a rock right now. I build guitars and like spaulted wood so that is why i'm letting it sit. I will keep an eye on it though and thanks for the warning on the beetle.


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

Looks like I'm preaching to the choir:yes:. Sorry about that. I tend to spout out what little I know without considering whom I might be talking to.


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

djg said:


> Looks like I'm preaching to the choir:yes:. Sorry about that. I tend to spout out what little I know without considering whom I might be talking to.


 No problem here.:smile: I know they can be a problem in alot of different types of trees. Especially in spring and summer when they are active as Daren stated. Your intent was good to mention it.:thumbsup:


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

slabmaster said:


> I have milled around 5 hundred thousand board feet of ash from my 2 properties already . . . .


You've milled half a million BF with a CSM? :blink: Or you mean you've hauled that much to other mills? You've been a busy beaver!


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

Yes ,all with a CSM over an 8 year period. :yes:


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

:huh: Wow that's a lot of 2 stroke smoke and sawdust. My ears are ringing just thinking about the countless hours of listening to those powerheads.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

slabmaster said:


> Yes ,all with a CSM over an 8 year period. :yes:




In 6" wide 4/4 boards, that's one million linear feet. Dude, during that 8 years you averaged milling over 2400 BF a week, week in and week out . . . . with a chainsaw mill! I want to be your chainsaw salesman! :laughing:


:rockon:


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

*ash tree*

Yeah, I don't think my saws would be happy doing 4/4 lumber 6" wide nor would i. Most of it was beams and lumber over 8/4 to speed the process as most of the trees died at once from the ash borer and i was overwelmed with dead trees that had to be processed before they went bad. The board feet really adds up fast when doing it that way.:yes:


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