Ash Lumber

SHALER · Mar 29, 2019

In one of the other forums a poster was asking what would be the best lumber for a wagon bed. He thought the answer was ash, and made a trip to his local mill and they
told him the price was very high, it was all going to Canada or some such. The poster lived near Syracuse, NY. Since ash was going to be too expensive, that is why he was
asking his question. Anyway, will all the ash trees still going thru the process of dying, I could not beleive the price of ash was sky high? Is that true around you and
I am having a hard time figuring out why. Is the lumber from dying ash trees not good for use?

kcm.MN · Mar 29, 2019

It "might" depend on how/why the tree died.

There's a big thing in Minnesota about taking firewood across state lines, or even from one part of the state to another, due to diseased trees. Apparently some of these diseases can spread even as the wood is burnt. I don't know if Ash is one of those woods.

What wood properties do you need for the wagon? Strength? Low cost? Rot resistance? Have you considered going with some other (less expensive) wood and treating it with oil? Even fresh, new oil is a low-cost means of protecting the wood.

Barts Dad · Mar 29, 2019

Just a thought, wonder if anyone has tried using any of the synthetic decking materials for a wagon floor. Advertised as warp and rot resistant.

rustyfarmall · Mar 29, 2019

(quoted from post at 13:47:51 03/29/19) Just a thought, wonder if anyone has tried using any of the synthetic decking materials for a wagon floor. Advertised as warp and rot resistant.

Why synthetic? Just get the common, pressure treated decking. Let it age for one year and then paint it. It will last longer than most of us.

Dave H (MI) · Mar 29, 2019

Ash is not killed by a disease, it is an insect. I remember when there was a ban on moving ash wood in Michigan...may still be. A useless, impotent law. The borer can fly and it moves from place to place. I don't know how they survive with most all of the ash trees dead, but every time a seedling hits 3-4" caliper there they are...and the tree is terminal. I had hundreds of large ash on my place. I cannot keep up with them. Every wind brings another few to the ground. Aerial photos of my woodlot look like a bomb went off in it. Dead trees everywhere. Standing, on the ground, in between.

Dave H (MI) · Mar 29, 2019

Because it is slippery as he!!. I have one wagon with 5/4 decking on it and it is more than a little dangerous. I use rough sawn from a small mill nearby. Last load I got was ash and it was not very expensive. Maybe 5 years ago.

Oregon Tractor Jack · Mar 29, 2019

Synthetic deck boards do not have any real strength. When you build a deck with composite materials you have to double the joists. I believe that material requires support at either 12" or 16" on centers. PT lumber is the way to go. If you have some where to cover and stack it correctly then let it air dry for several months that's even better.

OTJ

RLA · Mar 29, 2019

My choice for wagon lumber is White Oak... As for ash they aren't going to be making much more of it so the Price his High..
We had our's cut last year. 3 Week ago a neighbor who owns 3.5 acres we sold him had a few trees & some guy offered him 1800.00
for the trees. He ask me if I thought that was OK ?? I called a cousin who cut & skidded out my neighbors logs. Ended up being
1 triaxle load after hauling my Cousin gave my neighbor a Check for 3500.00. Yes ash is High right now. Good trees which aren't going
last much long might go higher.

rrlund · Mar 29, 2019

They make baseball bats out of ash. I'd heard they were cutting live ash and stockpiling it as fast as they could before it dies.

Mike(NEOhio) · Mar 29, 2019

It took a little longer for the ash borers to get to Ohio. The state banned transport for a while but it didn't work and they spread anyway. State then lifted the ban. I was surprised that it's so expensive, figured with so many dying there would be plenty going to the mills. Ash left standing dead will rot quickly.

Adirondack case guy · Mar 29, 2019

Adirondack Bat is to my north, just across the valley in Dolgsville, NY. Thay make most of the wooden bats used these days in pro baseball. They are screaming for live Ash logs. We also used to have Union Fork & Hoe in the valley which made hand tools as the name suggests, but they were another casualty of our NY manufacturing economy. They bought far more Ash logs in this area than anyone else.
I think that new growth Ash is on a rebound around here. Trees 6" and less seam to be doing well. Time will tell.
Loren

Tom OConnor · Mar 29, 2019

We used ash lumber for the reel bats on this combine when we restored it several years ago. We also coated it with three coats of marine polyurethane to guard against it getting wet when we ever showed or hauled it. I remember that it was about five hundred dollars for the lumber. I am not sure what John Deere made them out of but I would guarantee that it was not clear white ash.

Stephen Newell · Mar 29, 2019

Ash shouldn't be high priced. It was over used in the 1970's and is still hated. I rebuild a lot of cabinets for people just because they want to get the ash cabinets out of their house. People have nicely paneled walls made with ash plywood but a lot of them are painting the woodwork because it dates the house.

While it could be used for a wagon bed it would be better to use pressure treated pine.

There is an insect problem with ash killing the trees. The wood would need to be kiln dried to sterilize it before using it.

coshoo · Mar 29, 2019

I still remember when I was about 8 or 9 I was using a stick as a bat to hit rocks. Grandpa and Grandma came out every Sunday for dinner, and when he saw me doing that, he said what you need is a bat. So after dinner we found an ash tree about 3 inches in diameter, cut it down and then to length, and he started carving. By the time they went home, I had a perfect bat. He said NO ROCKS. He brought me a couple of baseballs the next day, and I used that bat for a long time before it finally broke. He was a great grandpa, and he was actually my step-grandpa, both my "real" ones died before I was born. RIP, Ellis Bramlett.

Zachary Hoyt · Mar 29, 2019

I have sold rough cut ash that I cut at our sawmill for 11 years now, always for $1 per board foot. I have been trying to cut the ash trees that die each year, to keep up with them so they won't go to waste. Within the first year or two after they die they're fine for lumber, after that they start to degrade a bit. Ash doesn't seem to spalt, it just gets little black dots in the wood. With over 100 acres of woods here and some areas that are hard to reach I don't get all the dead ash cut, but I'm trying to keep up, and use it for lumber or firewood depending on the size of the tree.
Zach

RandyB(MI) · Mar 29, 2019

The ash borers just etch the wood just under the bark. If left to stand after dead for long enough, the woodpeckers start in on them to get dead borers and bugs that come in to take their place under the bark. The woodpeckers do more damage than borers to the actual wood. Around here in Cent MI we have many Amish with portable sawmills that take them right to the woods and cut it up. I got all mine to do an 8X15 wagon for $ 200 This was 2yrs ago. . 3X10 stringers and 2x 6 - 2X8 2X10 cross boards. These are ACTUAL measurements. Inc strips down edges also and enough extra for steps etc. Far as I'm concerned, can't beat it. Soaked good with linseed oil. Go back to the post last week on implement alley to see pics.

Dave H (MI) · Mar 29, 2019

Hello Tom! Hope it is warm down where you are. Spring is just around the corner here. Nice little combine. I remember you taking two and making one...thinking that is it?

Spook · Mar 30, 2019

The ash borer can survive in other plant species, such as lilac.

rustyfarmall · Mar 30, 2019

(quoted from post at 13:57:24 03/29/19) Because it is slippery as he!!. I have one wagon with 5/4 decking on it and it is more than a little dangerous. I use rough sawn from a small mill nearby. Last load I got was ash and it was not very expensive. Maybe 5 years ago.

Any thing you use will get slick after a few hundred bales of hay have been drug across it.

big tee · Mar 30, 2019

Like!---Tee

ffreeb · Mar 30, 2019

I am from the Finger Lakes area of NY. I have access to a sawmill and have been cutting the ash trees for lumber as they die. We have built 3 wagon racks from ash. We don?t have room to store them inside. They are not holding up very well. The last new one is larch and I have the material cut to do another. So far the first one is holding up well but it?s too soon to tell.

Zachary Hoyt · Mar 30, 2019

I haven't used it for a hay wagon, so far for those I've just used hemlock, which isn't great but could be worse. I do have ash side boards on the dump wagon that I cut just after we got the mill in late 2007 and while they are battered from being hit with thrown firewood and rocks and the occasional loader bucket they haven't rotted yet, though it sits outside.
Zach

jddrawbar · Mar 30, 2019

Tom OConnor · Mar 30, 2019

Hi Dave,
We have had a wonderful winter season here, don't remember wearing anything heavier than a sweatshirt. The seasons are much different than Michigan as they mow alfalfa every thirty days and grow all kinds of vegetables all year around.
We live about half way up the White Tank Mountains about twenty five miles west of Phoenix. This area was once owned by Caterpillar and was used for their proving grounds. The first city east of us is Goodyear and was owned by the tire manufacturer for many years and they grew thousands of acres of a special variety of cotton for their bias ply tires. Still quite a bit of cotton grown in the area. Last spring I rode several rounds with a custom harvester cutting irrigated wheat and they were using Shelborn headers on the combines. The field they were working in was yeilding 150 BPA and they were saying that it was mediocre. The valleys are all irrigated farmland except where they have built up subdivisions. Also several extremely large dairy operations. I don't know just how many cows they milk but I have seen a semi back in and load three times a day. We have gone to many spring training ball games this year as a young kid by the name of Joc Peterson lives across the street from us plays left field for the L A Dodgers. What you were thinking of was the corn head that goes on that combine. I will send a picture or two if I can find them. Tom

Bret4207 · Mar 30, 2019

(quoted from post at 09:36:18 03/30/19) I am from the Finger Lakes area of NY. I have access to a sawmill and have been cutting the ash trees for lumber as they die. We have built 3 wagon racks from ash. We don?t have room to store them inside. They are not holding up very well. The last new one is larch and I have the material cut to do another. So far the first one is holding up well but it?s too soon to tell.

You need to get some type of preservative on the wood. Even drain oil will help. Better would be a real wood preservative meant for outdoor use and something meant to sink into the wood, not sit on the surface. Larch (tammarack) is good stuff, but it needs to be kept clean and dry like ash and preservative will help it too.

Bret4207 · Mar 30, 2019

(quoted from post at 21:46:28 03/29/19)
There is an insect problem with ash killing the trees. The wood would need to be kiln dried to sterilize it before using it.

It's an insect problem, not a disease issue. "Sterilizing" it isn't going to do anything for the wood or to keep the insects from spreading.

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