Friend who no longer burns wants to give me a bunch of wood that's been stacked for several years and has termites and probably carpenter ants in a good portion of it. Take it or leave it?
Free Wood Dilemma
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If it was close by, I would probably at least go check it out to see. Not sure what kind of wood it is...Some of it might be punky, but perhaps the ants/termites are just on the lower/wet stacks.
Good luck
Good luck
Depends . . . I had a bunch of wood that I had stacked on my property for several years. In my first year of burning some of the wood was great and good for burning . . . the wood at the bottom of the pile (stacked directly on ground) was too punky . . . never hurts to check out the wood.
Well, it's a big stack, 3 - 4 cords, of hardwood. I was thinking the same thing about pulling from the top, but it's not covered, so it looks like the top stays wet enough to support termites.
Den said:
should be some good wood there...I would start a fire, start splitting and anything bad goes on the bonfire and anything good gets stacked.
Den said:
Well, I would take the good stuff....buy your buddy a case of his favorite beverage, and you can have a decent bonfire with pest infested wood
Look it over good. If the wood is still solid - take it. Re-stack it in the hottest, sunniest spot you can find, and off the ground. Re-split anything that is ant infested. They don't like being disturbed.
sounds like my first scroung this spring, new homeowner bought a house with a stove and didnt burn. wood was sitting uncovered in the yard for a LONG time. was about 2.5 cords, i ended up with about 2 cord of good but dirty wood out of it. the other half a cord i brought to the dump for him.
I had some infested stuff. I spilt, spayed and stacked it.. I just don't bring it in the house till I'm ready to burn that piece.
How did you tell which were female, for spaying?
But seriously folks, I appreciate all the good advice. Assuming you meant that you sprayed it, with what?
Infested stacks of wood are all over the place around here. Many people stack directly on top of the ground without even thinking about it. The lowest layer of wood quickly becomes chow for all manner of cellulose loving critters - especially ants and termites. You'll probably lose the lower stuff - but it should be burned in a bon-fire anyway to clean up the area and to kill the insect habitat.
I would further recommend that you have some insect killing spray handy (to spray the ground) when you/your friend begin pulling up old, rotten pieces. There is great satisfaction in knowing the termites are being eliminated and will not have the opportunity to target the house next.
I would further recommend that you have some insect killing spray handy (to spray the ground) when you/your friend begin pulling up old, rotten pieces. There is great satisfaction in knowing the termites are being eliminated and will not have the opportunity to target the house next.
I already have 1 load of it sitting in the truck. I tried to cherry pick, but did take some that had been chewed on by bugs, if it still had some weight to it. I'd hoped it would be okay after tossing it into a pile by the truck and banging splits together several times before loading. When I went to unload the next day, ants were visible on top of the load, and I found termites inside a cracked split. That's when I figured I'd consult with the brain trust here before proceeding to unload. We've had carpenter ants before, and these are smaller. I guess I'm mostly worried about the termites. Then again, we live in the woods, so it's pretty unlikely that there aren't any termites already around here. . .Anyhow, I deployed the bed cover last night before it rained, and today when I opened it, hot moist air escaped, and I saw no ants, so I closed it up to cook some more. Mobile solar wood kiln! Anyone think this killed the bugs, or have they simply fled?
Den said:
As others have said . . . when you split the wood take the good stuff and it to one side . . . splits infested with bugs can either be tossed to the side and the bugs may move on in a day or two . . . or you can burn them in a campfire after doing the splitting.
As for spraying . . . I often run into carpenter ants, but have never bothered spraying . . . generally they move on after I've destroyed their home.
I'd sort it. Then stack away from buildings and only bring in enough to fill the stove at a time.
If you can stack it away from the house up off the ground, should be ok. Or, leave til next winter and bring over when you need it.
Den keep the punky wood separate it's a good shoulder season wood, we burn it all the time. It's drys out fast once you put it on pallets.
I already have 1 load here. . .was going to stack on treated 4x4's. Is that high enough off the ground? How far from the house should I keep it?andybaker said:
Since the wood is now in your possession I would keep the wood far away from a wood structure and off of the ground until the weather was freezing and bugs dormant before I would move it into the woodshed and make sure to use the wood up by spring.
Personally, I would have also committed in taking the wood but with the stipulation that I move it when the weather was cold enough to make sure the bugs were dormant.
Personally, I would have also committed in taking the wood but with the stipulation that I move it when the weather was cold enough to make sure the bugs were dormant.
I would definitely keep my eye out daily for any mud tunneling from the pile. The last thing you need is to establish a new colony of termites. I would also keep that wood as far off the ground as possible and permanently dry as I have seen them create a 3 foot mud tunnel from a piece of firewood before.
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