Thread: bugs in timber

Originally Posted by hazard

G'day all. Much of the raw timber (trees and logs) I recover has bugs and borers in it. Any suggestions on "dealing" with the pests without using highly toxic chemicals. Some of the timber I will need to store for some time before milling. I don't want the bugs eating my timber I have worked so hard to collect and I don't want them migrating to my shed or house framing!!!! Cheers all, Hazard

Borax.

you cant store logs for any great length of time . mill them cut the sapwood out (that'll stop the lyctid borer) stack the timber, treat with borax like bobl said and most of the problem is solved

Thanks for the replies. Borax? Where do I buy it? How to apply it? I thought borax was toxic?? Thanks Hazard

Borax (sodium tetraborate) is used to make some Washing Powders. Dissolve it in warm water (add a bit of detergent to help it flow) and paint it on using a paint roller It's not completely safe (what is? ) but it is much safer than insecticides. Check out the wiki entry will give you some tips. If I had a problem I would use it well before any insecticide.

Thanks Bob I will give it a go. I certainly don't want to use insecticides and then spray contaminated dust all over the place. Hazard

Hi Hazard

This probably will not help you back back in thr 70's I worked in the timber industry and regularly visited Japan. There, a timber milling industry based on imported logs grew quite quickly on Tokyo Bay near the old Haneda airport. Logs were just dumped overboard from the logships and held in floating in corrals; then they were floated up canals into the sawmills and cut while still wet - quite literally.

The advantage here was that Tokyo Bay was so polluted that all the worms had died and there was nothing left to eat their logs.

Besides borers, do you have any fungal attack? (usually bluish or grey stains in the timber).

Cheers

Graeme

Hi Graham, I haven't been able to open up my storage area for a while as I am building a new shed and wood store. Most of the timber has been covered all winter but I have kept as much air as possible flowing through. I hope to have the woodstore completed this month and be able to see what I have and if there is any fungal growth. Is there anything you can suggest for dealing with fungal growth or will the borax take care of that too???
Thanks Hazard.