Ash trees to be knocked

irishguy19772

Anyone knocking a lot of ash tree before the disease takes hold. We knocked one yesterday where there was a black cylinder down along the whole tree near the base of the trunk. I imagine this gets wider and wider over time and it falls. What an awful disease. We will have an abundance of ash timber this year

jaymla627

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058423683/ash-trees-to-be-knocked

Their dangerous trees to be knocking, they have a habit of splitting 5-10ft up from where you would be making the cut, you need to be ready to run if you hear it splitting like above when cutting

irishguy19772

Yeah fair enough. Trying to be careful when knocking but thinking might be safer now before the rot takes hold

lmk123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058423683/ash-trees-to-be-knocked

yes, I cut a load of them late last year, the middle of some of them was like a sponge, I’m glad I didn’t leave them there any longer because it was dodgy enough the way they were, plan the escape route and have nothing in your way, there’s a mountain of firewood here now, not much good for my air to water unit but the parents are delighted

mr.stonewall

Knocked a good few big ones a few weeks ago by the roadside. Was a job for the hymac and a chap with a forestry winch.

Frightening the way the branches and boughs shattering when the drop.

For anyone, it's worthwhile getting well experienced man on the saw for some of these big ones

Heaps of firing to cut up, that's the problem

minerleague

I have noticed that there isn't many trees getting worse this year compared to last few years, like as if situation is levelling off or is this just my imagination?

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123787801#Comment_123787801

I'd notice the same, what it means I've no idea, last year was a real jump forward for the dieback so maybe we are back to a normal pace.

I don't know.

fits

I took 30 trees down last year by the roads and buildings using a contractor to do it. One tree gave him a bad fright by snapping. Dangerous work. . I haven’t noticed any levelling off of it.

blue5000

I got involved recently with a forestry discussion group and the amount of elderly people who planted ash 30 years ago as part of a pension plan is frightening. Even the land is worthless.

Govt dragging their feet on the issue because time is on their side. One man reckons the 3 year delay to get a felling license cost him 100k.

50HX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123788379#Comment_123788379

This is where a tree shears on a track machine comes into its own.

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123789026#Comment_123789026

Contractor will limb very little ash with the shears. Too volatile with the stuff shattering above your head.

jaymla627

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123788914#Comment_123788914

Was he hoping for compensation down the line so was leaving in place to get it, you'd imagine if you just clear-felled it, and documented the ash die back, you'd hardly be done for it...

Reclaimed 7 acres here recently that was a habitat/abandoned mine site that ash trees had taken over the cost to get it back into workable land was frightening, 27k for digger man/dump-trailers plus 100's of hours on my own loader/tractor also, along with cutting and splitting....

I reckon 7k plus a acre to get back into grass if you contracted out the entire job

blue5000

He was waiting for the felling license, buyer wouldn't take them without it. They went rotten in the 3 years.

jackboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123787801#Comment_123787801

I still see a small number of large mature ash trees that look perfect. Don't know if they have just been lucky so far or if they have some resistance. They are surrounded by smaller specimens that are dead or dying.

fits

they can Look quite well and be rotten in middle.

Water John

TMK a small amount, 3% may have immunity. A few have been harvesting their seeds.

geographica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123791128#Comment_123791128

Was that the green party’s Pippa Hackett over the licences 🙄

Neddyusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123794361#Comment_123794361

I think that 3% immunity figure came from a Scottish study few years ago. Apparently newer studies now saying there could be 10 to 20% immune in some places.

The die back was slow to get going around here compared to other parts of the country. Really only seen obvious symptoms in 23 and 24. And as other posters have said, doesn't seem to have gotten much worse this year.

So will be taking some of the diseased ones out of it this year, but leaving any that still look good (which at the moment is more than half of them).

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123794712#Comment_123794712

Same here in the midlands. We’d be in a lot of different farms during the summer and last year there was a serious increase in the amount of dieback around. This year it seems to have stagnated and I’d go as far as to say some of them seem to be recovering.