At Home In The Woods

[Obed]

I got to work on my round wood stack today. I am certainly liking using the splitter in the vertical position. The key is sitting on something while splitting. I split wood most of the day today. My back would have been worn out if I had been bending over the splitter in the horizontal position.



I laid three poles across the stack. They poles are supposed to help keep the stack from falling outward.



I encountered some varmits in the wood. I killed two or three queen ants from this nest.



I believe these to be powderpost beetle larvae. You can see the round holes that the larvae have created. The red oak in my pile is teaming with these fellows. These things are a concern with all the hardwood flooring we have in our house. I don't want these things living in our house.



My stack is coming right along.

 

[dstig1]

Most bugs don't eat wood that is kiln dried like flooring. It is when it is wet that you have problems. There are some exceptions, but not ants and powder post beetles in oak.

 

[Obed]

Dave, I hope you are right. However, I have read that powder post beetles will eat hardwood flooring and even furniture. But I have also read that properly dried hardwood is a deterent to getting infested.

Obed

 

[jinman]

Drying seems to be a big critter deterrent. I suspect that after your wood drys for a year, most critters will be gone except for maybe on the bottom two layers near the ground. Up on pallet supports with plenty of air around your pile, I'd bet it will be pretty much critter free by this time next year. I keep a deck box for firewood on my treated deck away from my house. I may see critters in my wood pile, but rarely in the wood I bring into the house except for a random beetle of some kind. In my area, you also have to check for scorpions, especially if your wood is kept outside near a lighted area. Scorpions are drawn into the light to feast on moths and crickets. If you keep your wood under an outside light here, you better wear gloves when you go to pick it up. I'd guess that scorpions are not a problem in your area.

BTW: Obed, has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like Gilbert Gottfried the comedian. If you take off your glasses and hat and screw your face into a pained smile, you could probably say "AFLAC" and make it believable. :laughing:

 

[Obed]

BTW: Obed, has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like Gilbert Gottfried the comedian. If you take off your glasses and hat and screw your face into a pained smile, you could probably say "AFLAC" and make it believable. :laughing:

Jim,
You shouldn't insult Gilbert like that! I do have lots of people say I remind them of someone. I just seem to have a "common" face. In high school, I had a look-alike. Unfortunately, the girls liked him more than me. In college, I apparently had a look-alike. Someone saw him outside of one of the women's dorms one night yelling "I love all the women in the world."
Obed

 

[clemsonfor]

powderpost will eat dried wood. Just don't leave the wood in your house or anywhere near it and you will be fine.

 

[Ted Summey]

I wouldn't worry too much about the insects unless you leave wood stacked close to the house for extended time. Sweep up periodically and keep your woodpile dry. If you do worry about the bugs, two products you can use that have few toxic worries are food grade diatomaceous earth and borax. Sprinkle a little of either in and around your wood pile and you will have fewer critters. Usually keeping the wood dry after splitting gets rid of the bugs. Mice are another thing. A good cat or a feist dog keeps the mice in check (we have both).

 

[clemsonfor]

Yep Borax is a good thing. Its (if i remember right from my pesticied license class, a rock or something that is ground up and is toxic or harmfull to insects) harmfull or leathal to insects yet harmless to humans. You can touch it and nothing will happen, im also pretty sure its harmless for you to injest it, but insects just walking through it will kill them. This is why its so common and used in pretty sensitive places like homes and kitchens and such. It also stays forever and can be blown in or injected through cracks so its easyier to get into wall cavities through like switch covers.

 

[Iowachild]

oint: Borax - What Is Borax? - Where Can I Get Borax? :checkmark:

 

[PhysAssist]

My mother has moved in with us due to some health issues. She has been here for about a month. She has trouble getting out of normal height chairs so I made a platform out of some scraps in order to raise her recliner 4 inches.

That is too funny, because we did the same thing when my M-I-L had her hip replaced and could no longer sit DOWN into her recliner, AND when she moved out, I inherited it and despite being a little worn, it has become my favorite place to sit.

It has a wooden frame though, so we just made a box of 2x6's and screwed it to the frame.
It no longer rocks but that also makes it more stable and easier to sit in and get out of

Great minds and all that....