Canadian Ash

[Alixander Beck]

I have a source for fresh cut Ash from Ontario through an Arborist friend.

What are the opinions of the group on Ash for boat building purposes?

Thank you

A

[Bob Smalser]

Ash is similar to spruce softwood only in the hardwood flavor. The best strength-to-weight ratio of its kind but it rots while you watch.

It's best use is in canoes and such that get pulled from the water daily and are stored under cover.

Requires a full drying season (May-Sep) per inch of thickness to stabilize with its environment.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

Get it while you can. An Asian beetle, the Emerald Ash Borer, is killing trees by the millions and there is no remedy in sight.
The State of Ohio ordered the cutting of tens of thousands of these trees along the Michigan border trying to create a shelter belt but, it didn't work.

[Rich VanValkenburg]

Best to check with local ordinances about the problem Chuck mentioned. Here in St Clair County, we can't even sell it across county lines as firewood. Macomb County is a mile south and they've been watching it closely. I have a lot of Ash that are dead/dying.

I've White Ash for furniture and even a couple of deck beams on Sonja because of it's hardness and white color.(encased in epoxy, though)

Rich

[Bob Smalser]

Make sure you cut away all the sapwood before transporting, and there will be no danger of spreading Emerald Ash Borers. The eggs are deposited on the outer bark the larvae penetrate to feed off the cambium layer, penetrating no deeper than short forays into the sapwood where they pupae in the outer layer ebfore emerging the following Spring.

Similar life cycle to the various and ubiquitous Ambrosia Beetles, which are kept in check by the natural predators this Asian species doesn't have over here. You're not gonna use the sapwood anyway.

http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/4501/eab/current/lifecycle/