Forums46
Topics538,527
Posts9,738,198
Members87,095
|
Most Online25,604 Feb 12th, 2024
|
|
|
Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
#8638632
07/11/22 02:43 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,538
Guy
OP
THF Celebrity
|
OP
THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,538 |
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638637
07/11/22 02:47 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,533
kmon11
junior
|
junior
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,533 |
Firewood, especially if it could hit the house if it fell
lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true Mainstream news might be fun to watch
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: kmon11]
#8638641
07/11/22 02:53 PM
|
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 44,042
Stub
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 44,042 |
Firewood, especially if it could hit the house if it fell Agree 100% you need to have that cut down.
“I never forget a face—but in your case, I’ll be glad to make an exception.” —Groucho Marx
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638645
07/11/22 02:55 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,295
oldoak2000
Extreme Tracker
|
Extreme Tracker
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,295 |
Those ants are not killing the tree. They like wet/rotting wood to nest in - they're just finishing off a tree that's already long in distress. Water getting into the heartwood (plus freezes/drought, etc) take a tree past the recovery point.
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638648
07/11/22 03:03 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 16,061
Jimbo1
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 16,061 |
Big tall tree, might be time to call the man. We had an even bigger oak cut down last year and it was cool watching the guy up in the tree doing his thing. Lots of good firewood.
FJB - Lets Go Brandon BBB - Bring Back Better Awake - Not Woke!
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638650
07/11/22 03:04 PM
|
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 3,437
JimBridger
Veteran Tracker
|
Veteran Tracker
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 3,437 |
Heavily dust the cracks where you see the ants with Terro ant dust and you’ll at least kill the nest.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Edmund Burke
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638653
07/11/22 03:06 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 14,956
don k
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 14,956 |
Maybe you got the "Oak Wilt"
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638654
07/11/22 03:08 PM
|
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5,400
PKnTX
THF Trophy Hunter
|
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5,400 |
Get an arborist to check it. If it can be saved it is a very valuable part of your property. We thought we were going to loose 1 but now looking like it will make it.
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638667
07/11/22 03:18 PM
|
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,183
flintknapper
THF Trophy Hunter
|
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,183 |
You have Bacterial Wetwood AND Carpenter Ants.
The amount of damage looks extensive.
Carpenter ants will eventually hollow it out, VERY dangerous.
Needs to come down IMO.
Spartans ask not...how many, but where!
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638675
07/11/22 03:22 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 4,600
decook
Extreme Tracker
|
Extreme Tracker
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 4,600 |
All good suggestions here. I'm fighting an infestation in my bathroom of those darned ants right now. I've done a lot of reading about them in the last week, I suggest you do too. Carpenter ants don't eat wood, they eat "food" like other ants. They are not termites, but get mistaken for those a lot.
Get rid of those things before they make a satellite nest in your house.
Press for an AMERICAN.
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638676
07/11/22 03:22 PM
|
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 19,863
TurkeyHunter
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 19,863 |
That looks like near a pool and/or possibly your home.
Time to cut it down.
To be determined
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638681
07/11/22 03:30 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 4,800
TexasKC
Extreme Tracker
|
Extreme Tracker
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 4,800 |
Is that a red oak? If it is it might be hollow and needs to come down. We had one very similar to yours and when they took it down I couldn't believe how hollow it was. I'd pay an expert to look at it.
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638698
07/11/22 03:44 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 17,721
Txduckman
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 17,721 |
If the carpenter ants are in the trunk that is not good. A branch is fine as you can just cut it off. They will make a widow maker for you. Check with an arborist first of course.
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: decook]
#8638713
07/11/22 03:54 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,295
oldoak2000
Extreme Tracker
|
Extreme Tracker
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,295 |
All good suggestions here. I'm fighting an infestation in my bathroom of those darned ants right now. I've done a lot of reading about them in the last week, I suggest you do too. Carpenter ants don't eat wood, they eat "food" like other ants. They are not termites, but get mistaken for those a lot. Get rid of those things before they make a satellite nest in your house. This is the stuff you need to mix & spray into areas where ants are - https://www.homedepot.com/p/BioAdva...and-Termite-Killer-Plus-700310/100638302They can't detect the poison in this stuff, so track it back into the nest and kills them all. Ants aside, you've got water getting in to the wood somewhere, which is what the ants are after. They don't mess with normal dry 2x4's. Gonna need to fix/remediate the moisture issue whatever it is.
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638766
07/11/22 05:37 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 4,600
decook
Extreme Tracker
|
Extreme Tracker
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 4,600 |
Believe it - my house is all metal stud construction. I think they might be in the insulation in the drywall; I cannot see any outside. That said, all I know is where I see the most of them, and I'm not convinced I actually found the nest. It could be thee, but to find out for sure I have to rip down walls, and I'm trying to avoid that.
I did have a drain leak in my primary shower that I fixed months ago. We had the leak for a long time, but never saw any. After I fixed that we started seeing them.
I'm using Terro drops and I see a few eating where I applied a week ago, but not like the videos where hundreds come to the tough and eat like pigs. I'm going to take a close look at that bioadvanced. Thanks for that tip.
Press for an AMERICAN.
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638768
07/11/22 05:44 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 5,663
Ox190
THF Trophy Hunter
|
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 5,663 |
Have a buddy that turns wood on a lathe, I know he'd love to get the base of that tree if they haven't destroyed it, that is oak burl.
"There has never been an occasion where a people gave up their weapons in the interest of peace that didn't end in their massacre." Louis L'Amour
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638774
07/11/22 05:49 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 9,977
unclebubba
THF Trophy Hunter
|
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 9,977 |
Oldoak is right. The ants aren't killing the tree. They are there because the tree was already dying. If you don't cut it down, make sure you've got really good insurance! Either you are going to harvest it, or Mother Nature is going to harvest it for you.
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638788
07/11/22 06:10 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 15,549
reeltexan
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 15,549 |
Red oak, the tree that keeps on giving.
"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." Ronald Reagan
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638794
07/11/22 06:24 PM
|
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 14,285
Hudbone
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 14,285 |
I think Red Oaks have a 70 year or so expected life span. From the size of that one, you may well be at or very near the end of its usefulness. To my untrained eye, that there tree is on the decline.
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638799
07/11/22 06:33 PM
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 16,853
68rustbucket
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 16,853 |
The red oaks are highly seceptible to the wilt around here. I lost mine to some sort of fungus that set in couple years ago, after pruning and painting wounds immediately after trimming. Cut it down last fall. I planted it ‘95.
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Hudbone]
#8638800
07/11/22 06:34 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,538
Guy
OP
THF Celebrity
|
OP
THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,538 |
I think Red Oaks have a 70 year or so expected life span. From the size of that one, you may well be at or very near the end of its usefulness. To my untrained eye, that there tree is on the decline. Going off memory, I had an arborist come look at this tree in 2013 when I first moved into the house, and it seems like that is what he said, I will eventually need to cut it down. Guess I should get another arborist out here, just to confirm what I already know. Hate to see this tree go, it shades the whole back yard and house..
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638803
07/11/22 06:44 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,538
Guy
OP
THF Celebrity
|
OP
THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,538 |
Thanks for the comments, I got an arborist coming by tomorrow..
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638805
07/11/22 06:45 PM
|
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 19,863
TurkeyHunter
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 19,863 |
Now you can think about what you might want planted there.
To be determined
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: Guy]
#8638806
07/11/22 06:48 PM
|
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 14,285
Hudbone
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 14,285 |
It appears Red Oaks grow well there.
|
|
|
Re: Carpender ants killing my oak tree?
[Re: TurkeyHunter]
#8638815
07/11/22 07:01 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,538
Guy
OP
THF Celebrity
|
OP
THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,538 |
Now you can think about what you might want planted there. Yep, and how much it is gonna cost me, and I will be dead by the time the new tree gets big enough to shade the yard again. lol.
|
|
|
Moderated by bigbob_ftw, CCBIRDDOGMAN, Chickenman, Derek, DeRico, Duck_Hunter, hetman, jeh7mmmag, JustWingem, kmon11, kry226, kwrhuntinglab, Payne, pertnear, rifleman, sig226fan (Rguns.com), Superduty, TreeBass, txcornhusker
|