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Cedar Borers.

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Joined
May 19, 2021
Messages
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Location
The Woodlands, Texas
Howdy, y'all,
I'm near Houston, and bought some cedar poles up in North Texas that I use for the fly on my pyramid tent. They measure about 8' long and 1" to 2" diameter, with the bark still on.
I noticed little piles of sawdust under them on the back porch, and closer inspection found little holes in the poles. Holes are about the size of the head of a pin, and some poles have more than other poles.
Is there a way to get rid of the borers without burning the poles?
I have lots of pine and other trees in my yard, so I can't leave the critters alone.
Thanks,
Brazos John
 
WD-40 sprayed into the holes takes care of carpenter bees fast, give it a try.
We call those powder post Beatles up here in northern Michigan. They only attack down or dead trees or lumber with the bark still on. Remove the bark wrap in plastic, give it a good shot of Raid and seal up. If you don't remove the bark they will be back.
 
If you don't remove the bark they will be back.
Dang, I got compliments on the poles with the bark, that it looked more like it was done on the run. I had planned to peel the bark to begin with, and now maybe I need to.
I guess I'll need to burn the bark, so the critters don't get into the ground.
I might go with the WD40 for the lesser smell.
I planned to store them in my garage, hanging from chains overhead. It works for some other lumber I have, I'll just have to isolate the cedar.
Thanks for the ideas, y'all.
I was bummed about having to burn the poles, so now I have some hope!
 
Just peel the bark, lightly sand, and wipe down or spray with a light coat of a 60/40 mix of turpentine and linseed oil. It will kill what powder-post beetles that may be in the wood as well as keeping other beetles at bay. The beetle holes is what antique dealers call "Worm Holes" and bring big money in certain pieces of furniture , so the value of your poles may have been enhanced.
 
A real head scratcher is when you go into or come out of Canada, if you have ANY bark on your poles, you can either surrender the poles, or go over each one, and remove any bark that may be there. While you are doing that, loaded logging trucks are rolling by, all the logs with bark on them. Damned gubbermints.
 
Keep the poles away from your house. My Mom brought a bench home from a yard sale and set it up next to the garage which is board and batten framed. The bench of course had powder post beetles, and they infested the garage siding and framing. Been treating with borax for five years and a few still come back. You do not want them to spread. For just a couple of poles, I'd burn them to kill the bugs and get new ones. PP beetles can do a lot of damage given time.
 
We call those powder post Beatles up here in northern Michigan. They only attack down or dead trees or lumber with the bark still on. Remove the bark wrap in plastic, give it a good shot of Raid and seal up. If you don't remove the bark they will be back.

Keep the poles away from your house. My Mom brought a bench home from a yard sale and set it up next to the garage which is board and batten framed. The bench of course had powder post beetles, and they infested the garage siding and framing. Been treating with borax for five years and a few still come back. You do not want them to spread. For just a couple of poles, I'd burn them to kill the bugs and get new ones. PP beetles can do a lot of damage given time.
I agree with the authors of both of these posts. We have powder post beetles in Florida, also. I know the little rascals live in some kinds of bark, then penetrate the wood when it dies or is cut. They will absolutely migrate from one piece of wood to colonize another, so you don't want to bring those poles into your house or shop. You will want to either peel them as fast as you can, burn the bark and treat the wood, or just burn the poles and start over.

We had powder post beetles get into the untreated roof framing of our pole barn some years ago. A friend who had worked for a pest control company advised spraying with Bora-Care, which you can order from epestcontrol.com online. This is a concentrate. You mix it with water and dip, brush, or spray it. The active ingredient is an inorganic salt, which is not approved for food preparation surfaces, but it is approved for use in homes. It also has glycol, which enables it to penetrate deeper into the wood.

Bora-Care worked well for me. I sprayed it all on the overhead woodwork in our barn. I wore a hat, safety glasses, long pants and long sleeves, and washed myself and clothes after spraying, but I will say I got it all over me and lived to tell about it. It took care of the bugs, too. It ain't cheap but it's worth it.

I would not use Raid or similar insecticides. They are quite toxic, and you're going to be handling those poles. The name "Bora-Care" suggests maybe it has a boric acid or borax base, and a couple of the fellows suggested using boric acid or borax. I respect those recommendations, but if it were me, I would use Bora-Care. It was purpose-made for this usage, it is safe with reasonable precautions, and it worked well for me in the past.

Good luck to you!

Notchy Bob
 
I have 8 poles. I think I'll peel the worst one, and try the WD40 to see if the sawdust stops.
If that doesn't work, I have to decide between the Bora-Care or burning. The Bora-care will cost more than the 8 poles cost, but I can't find any poles in the Houston area, so replacing them would be hard.
If the peeling goes well, I'll keep going. Last time I tried to peel cedar bark, it took me a long time. Learning curve, I guess...
Thanks for all of the suggestions. If you have more, bring them on.
And I don't freak out if folks stray from the original topic. I like good stories.
 
I've got an old Crossman pump .22, pump, and I can pour about 15 to 20 #8 shot down the barrel and shoot carpenter bees. Works great as long as you keep the muzzle above level.

One day my son, about eleven at the time, asked if I was a good enough shot to shoot one out of the air. I said sure, do it all the time. I went and got the pellet gun, loaded it up with shot and blasted one out of the air at about 15' ft. I reloaded without letting him see how and blasted another. He ran back in the house and told the wife that I was outside shooting bumble bees out of the air on the wing. It was several days before I told them how I was doing it.

If they didn't cost so darn much, I would like to have one of the break-barrel airguns that is designed to shoot the refillable shot cartridge.
 
Howdy, y'all,
I'm near Houston, and bought some cedar poles up in North Texas that I use for the fly on my pyramid tent. They measure about 8' long and 1" to 2" diameter, with the bark still on.
I noticed little piles of sawdust under them on the back porch, and closer inspection found little holes in the poles. Holes are about the size of the head of a pin, and some poles have more than other poles.
Is there a way to get rid of the borers without burning the poles?
I have lots of pine and other trees in my yard, so I can't leave the critters alone.
Thanks,
Brazos John
Wrap them in blackm plastic and put them in the sun for na few days. Internal tempmover aboutn120 degrees should do the trick, the apply some clear stain or other finish. There are powder post beetles everywhere, so don't worry too much about enhancing your local fauna.
 
I have 8 poles. I think I'll peel the worst one, and try the WD40 to see if the sawdust stops.
If that doesn't work, I have to decide between the Bora-Care or burning. The Bora-care will cost more than the 8 poles cost, but I can't find any poles in the Houston area, so replacing them would be hard.
If the peeling goes well, I'll keep going. Last time I tried to peel cedar bark, it took me a long time. Learning curve, I guess...
Thanks for all of the suggestions. If you have more, bring them on.
And I don't freak out if folks stray from the original topic. I like good stories.
Good post, John! I like your attitude!

I believe those poles will need to be peeled for best results, regardless of the chemical pest control you choose. I would be concerned about the bark absorbing all or most of the treating agent, and it sounds as if the bugs are already in the wood. I would peel them even if I used Bora-Care.

The sap is up in the trees now, and as a rule, late spring and summer cut wood peels more easily than winter cut wood because of this. So, if the poles were recently cut, the bark ought to peel right off. I have harvested cedar bark from my trees to use for tinder, wadding, and twisting into cordage. The outer bark is waste, but the fresh inner bark has a texture almost like leather. I don't know how big your poles are, and I doubt I've peeled that much cedar at one time, but at this time of year, you can pretty much pull fresh bark off with your hands. I would start at the big end and peel toward the small end. You can use a wood chisel to push in the cut end of the pole between the actual wood and the inner bark. Loosen a piece enough that you can grab it with your hand, then just pull it away from the wood. If all goes well, you can pull off a piece several feet long. Keep going until the pole is clean. You can use your pocket knife to cut off any stubborn bits around the bases of limbs.

There is a specialized tool called a "spud" which is used for loosening and prying off bark. Our frontier ancestors, living off the land, would peel bark by the wagonload to sell to tanneries. They called it "tanbark." "Vegetable tanned" leather is actually bark tanned. In any event, the spud was a well-known tool back in the day.

If the poles have dried out and/or were winter cut, the bark will be harder to peel, and a drawknife will be the best tool for the job. It will go a lot faster if you have a helper to serve as a "clamp." Lay the pole across sawhorses, and start at the big end, peeling with your drawknife. Cut deep, taking the inner bark off with the outer. Your helper will hold the other end of the pole to keep it from shifting and to rotate the pole for you when needed. As you progress, your helper can move to the other end of the pole. Without a human helper, you can make-do with C clamps or maybe even a pipe clamp, but it will take longer as you have to stop peeling to reposition the clamp.

Years ago, I cut a truckload of fire-killed cypress posts for a fencing job. The posts were heavy enough that they didn't need to be clamped, so I just jury-rigged some vee-blocks to hold them. Peeling the posts wasn't difficult, but just took a little time. If your poles are heavy enough, some simple vee-blocks might be handier than a clamp.

However you go about it, if I were you I would get on it pretty soon to minimize bug damage to your poles and to get rid of those little varmints and keep them from spreading. I would go ahead and peel all eight poles. They will look fine without the bark.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob
 
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