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Woodpile with "sawdust" on logs?

24,803 Views | 19 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by flashplayer
1208HawkTree
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I was moving some of my firewood around today to get the wet stuff in the sun, and noticed that a lot of logs under the top layers had sawdust on them. Assume it's a pest of some sort. Ive seen bees occasionally burrowing in some older wood, but I don't see any holes in the logs immediately above the sawdust. I've read that there are beetles that can do this and also carpenter ants. Haven't noticed any ants while moving logs around. None of the wood is touching the ground or any structure, so doubt (hope) its not termites.


MouthBQ98
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Termites would be obvious if you moved the wood around. They also ingest the wood. Carpenter ants will leave wood scraps like that under a next because they do dig or bore into the wood.
rather be fishing
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Could also be carpenter bees
1208HawkTree
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I obviously won't be burning this anytime soon, so is there anything I can apply to the pile to ward this off for the next few months, yet won't be an issue when cooler temps finally come and we start to burn some of it?
carpe vinum
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Squirt it with a malathion solution mixed as directed.
Good residual.
agrams
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Oak?

Most likely powder post beetle, longhorn beetle borer, or flat head borer. They tend to like the sapwood vs the heartwood.

They aren't too much of a fan of dry wood, but like greener woods. If you are concerned, get some Timbor solution and spray the wood. I wouldn't do that with wood you want to bbq with, but it would be fine for firewood. You can't cut a mesquite tree in texas and not treat it and expect to keep the longhorn beetle out. Those things are like bloodhounds for sniffing out fresh fallen mesquite.
1208HawkTree
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Yes, oak. Talked to the guy I bought it from and he said beetles as well, as it's likely what killed the trees that he cut up. I am not using this to cook, just for fires in the pit.

Not really concerned unless it's a risk to the garage/house/pergola it's stacked next to.
sunchaser
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I wouldn't stack that anywhere near my house.

About twenty years ago I got a cord of mesquite for BBQing. It got infested with the longhorn type. You could actually hear them munching....maybe it was a mating call. Regardless it was very audible.

Five or six years ago I got several slices of a large mesquite tree and made some Lazy Susan's. The first ones had the bark edge removed. The last slice sat around for several years due to the water damage. I eventually made another but left the bark edge on. The picture was before it was finished. I gave it away and about six months later had an occasion to visit. I noticed a jagged edge of fine dust on the table under it. I took it home and they did not survive the sawmill's gas chamber.

sunchaser
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These are a couple of in progress bench seat tops I made for a mesquite ranch table many years ago. As Agrams said they attack the bark edge. When you work with mesquite and this much infestation you spend more time getting the wood epoxied than you do building.

letterman72
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Cover tightly with black plastic in full sun. No pesticides needed.
hurricanejake02
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I realize that's probably hardy siding and not wood, but I wouldn't keep wood stacked near a structure like that.
Allen76
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That is a normal thing in my woodpile which is 95% mesquite, and for me it is the flat head borer.
CS78
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Definitely beetles. I'd be more concerned with inhaling a burning pesticide than I would the beetles. Just burn them with the wood when the time comes.
1208HawkTree
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TLDR- do carpenter ants nest/burrow into cedar fencing?

Letterman...Took your advice, as best as I could (not direct sun) and covered the entire rack with a tarp. Apparently wasn't tight enough or enough sun because I'm still seeing dust on the ground. I have a smaller rack that is close to the pit that had some older logs and some of the smaller sticks from a recent tree pruning. Moved some of it today and there was sh|+pile of ants all over it. I will say that I also saw some huge bees flying around the yard which I haven't seen in a long time, so I assume it's a combination.

Burned the small stuff and a few of the bigger logs I had with them, sprayed the empty rack and surrounding area with pesticide and now plan on moving the large rack behind the garage, and wrapping in black plastic. My only other concern is if I move it away from the garage, do I need to worry about the fence? No other place to put it other than the center of the back yard. I did just treat the entire lawn twice within the last month with insecticide (sod webworms getting after it in Houston).
bluewave58
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Be sure your wood is not touching the siding! I had a similar problem years ago and ended up with damage to some siding which had to be replaced.
1208HawkTree
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Definitely not touching before, and certainly not now with the tarp over everything.
Msgt USAF Ret
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Some time back my neighbor had the problem in his mesquite but not on the oak in his fire wood stack. He called l an exterminator who said that it was mesquite wood bores and they don't go to another type of wood such as oak, pecan apple etc. Since what you see is oak logs it probably is the same. The will often backfill the hole with the wood dust that you see there in the picture so you don't see their bore holes. I agree with CS78 in that I would be more afraid of pesticide smoke then the beetles. My neighbor burned his wood with no problems. Also his stack touched the back of his garage in places and not one hole is the siding.
1208HawkTree
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That's kind of what I was thinking. The garage is detached, nothing touching the structure, and it's all off the ground laid across the cedar runners connecting the ends of the rack. I haven't seen any ants on the ground, along the two cedar boards, or trails going into the garage, and if they don't like the heat, they want no part of my garage right now anyway.

I'm in the process of power washing my driveway and patio. I wonder if some high pressure water would do anything, or just spread them around... I have definitely decided to not spray anything on the wood itself.
1208HawkTree
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Burned through that pile and as of Friday, I have a matching pile of relatively fresh cut oak. I'm taking the letterman/black plastic approach from the get go and will report back.

1208HawkTree
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flashplayer
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I keep my woodpile far away from the house and let those beetles go to town most the year. Then during the winter I move the stack closer to the house a little at a time. Move some, burn some, repeat.

No pesticides. Fire kills them nicely but I typically find them gone before moving the wood in winter.

The wood burns a hell of a lot better when the air has all those tunnels to move through.
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