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From: JimT on 29 Jul 2010 06:55

"Evan" <evan.news.reply(a)earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1b350991-f3b5-487e-b85b-8c2447150d0b(a)j8g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
On Jul 29, 12:26 am, Sum Guy <S...(a)Guy.com> wrote:

> It's funny how pruning paint is somehow not good for exposed wood, yet
> you see people applying coatings to their decks and other exposed wood
> all the time.


Decks and other exposed wood which has been cut and milled
into lumber is no longer alive...

Wood on a tree is still alive and growing...

It is best to leave tree wounds alone and allow them to heal
naturally... Exceptions to this logic are rare...

~~ Evan

====

Live Oaks maybe an exception. The pruners here are adamant about using paint
to prevent Live Oak wilt.

From: jamesgangnc on 29 Jul 2010 08:23
On Jul 29, 6:55 am, "JimT" <jthr...(a)toast.net> wrote:
> "Evan" <evan.news.re...(a)earthlink.net> wrote in message
>
> news:1b350991-f3b5-487e-b85b-8c2447150d0b(a)j8g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
> On Jul 29, 12:26 am, Sum Guy <S...(a)Guy.com> wrote:
>
> > It's funny how pruning paint is somehow not good for exposed wood, yet
> > you see people applying coatings to their decks and other exposed wood
> > all the time.
>
> Decks and other exposed wood which has been cut and milled
> into lumber is no longer alive...
>
> Wood on a tree is still alive and growing...
>
> It is best to leave tree wounds alone and allow them to heal
> naturally...  Exceptions to this logic are rare...
>
> ~~ Evan
>
> ====
>

Actually the wood inside the tree is dead. Only the outer layer of a
tree is alive. But generally it is best of you just let the tree bark
grow over the wood. The black tree paint inhibits that and does trap
moisture. It will eventually heal it's self but it will never repair
the rot inside. If a substaintual part of the truck has rot in a spot
it is now weakened. If that is the case and the tree has the
potential to land on your house then have it removed. Lots of times
if you look at trees that have broken off during bad storms you see
that it was at a spot like this. Used to be people would clean out
holes like this and fill them with concrete. Don't know how well that
works. It's possible your holes were made by wood bees. Were they
about a 1/2" round and so well done that they almost looked like a
drill had done them? Wood bees will go a long way into wood.
From: Sum Guy on 29 Jul 2010 08:54
ransley wrote:

> > Moisture could not be trapped - this is a vertical surface we're
> > talking about - roughly a circle about 3" diameter.
>
> what insect makes a hole 3"

The exposed inner heart-wood of the tree has a circular profile and is
3" in diameter, and it oriented vertically with respect to the ground.
This is where a secondary trunk had been, which was cut maybe 2 or 3
years ago.

This circular area was sprayed with pruning paint last year. The
surface was solid and intact at that time. The bark is growing nicely
around the perimiter of this area (this is a silver maple). I have two
such similar cuts on a sugar maple - the exposed area was even larger (4
or 5") and painted them soon after the cut was made. This was about 5
years ago. They are 75% covered over now by the growing bark, and they
remained solid (no rot, holes, fissures developing in them).

Getting back to the silver maple, at some point this year I noticed the
appearance of some cracks or voids on the cut surface along with what
looked like sawdust shavings around the crack. Yesterday I shoved the
plastic dispensing nozzle of a tube of PL Premium deep into the main
crack (it went in all the way - I wasn't expecting that) and I pumped
the crack full of glue.
From: Marty B. on 29 Jul 2010 09:01

"Sum Guy" <Sum(a)Guy.com> wrote in message news:4C50D026.EC3A74C9(a)Guy.com...
> I've found that PL-Premium (polyurethane construction adhesive) to be a
> very durable, strong and water-proof glue for wood for all applications
> (indoor and outdoor).
>
> I just filled a couple of holes on the trunk of a silver maple that have
> been formed by some sort of insect over the past maybe 6-months. The
> hole is in the face of a limb-cut that I made a few years ago and had
> painted with black pruning paint. I was surprised how deep the "rot"
> was - I was able to push the plastic dispensing nozzle of the glue
> cartridge all the way into down into the trunk.
>
> So even though I've already done it, I'm wondering if anyone knows how
> well this stuff works at filling holes in tree trunks to prevent further
> rot and allow the tree to grow over and eventually cover exposed
> heartwood.

Silver maple is a garbage tree. The wood is soft because they grow so
fast. Surely you've noticed how they break during wind, and how fast those
things grow. Why you would want to save the thing is beyond comprehension.







From: Sum Guy on 29 Jul 2010 09:17
jamesgangnc wrote:

> But generally it is best of you just let the tree bark grow over
> the wood. The black tree paint inhibits that and does trap
> moisture.

Pruning paint does not inhibit bark growth over the exposed cut surface,
and it does not trap moisture because the exposed heartwood quickly
dries out once exposed to the air after it's cut, and any moisture
deeper in the wood under the painted area will find other ways to move
within the tree.

> It will eventually heal it's self but it will never repair the
> rot inside.

I know that, but I'm thinking that the glue will (a) kill whatever
organisms/insects are in there causing the dammage, (b) fill the voids
to prevent re-introduction of similar pests, (c) perform mechanical
bonding and return strength to the dammaged area (in a way that other
simple fillers wouldn't).

> It's possible your holes were made by wood bees. Were they
> about a 1/2" round and so well done that they almost looked
> like a drill had done them? Wood bees will go a long way
> into wood.

We call them carpenter bees, and they have drilled those perfectly round
holes in the side of my eaves under the gutters in previous years before
I replaced the wood and covered them with aluminum siding. I have lots
of other lumber that sits in my back yard (remnants from other projects)
but I've never seen these bees go after that wood, nor the exposed eves
of my shed.

In the case of the fissures on the exposed cut surface of the silver
maple, these are not the perfectly round holes made by carpenter bees.
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