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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
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    Victoria
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    Default Grubs in Blackwood slabs?

    Hello I recently sold some green Blackwood slabs and the purchaser is not happy with. They contained what looks like to me, witchetty grubs under the bark and into the sap wood. I noticed some of this when I was milling but didn’t think anything of it as I just thought they would die and is normal in older trees. I have attached some photos. Note the first cut boards I chucked in free aswell. About 4 of them. Also I have been told they were cheap in the first place. I’m just looking at advice on how I should go about it ?
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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Behind that little door under the thicknesser...
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    The only issue with the grubs is that, while the timber is green, the grubs can keep burrowing into the heartwood.

    If you are going to fell and mill Blackwood then you need to debark it immediately on felling otherwise it attracts these guys...

    If you don't mind the grubs...they can be fried off successfully and tastefully on chilli flavoured oil...
    Ours is not to reason why.....only to point and giggle.

  4. #3
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    Jan 2020
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    Victoria
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    Default

    So even though the timber is slabbed and de barked the bugs will still live on now?

  5. #4
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    Aug 2011
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    bilpin
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    The Bardi grub is long lived (years.) The moth (Rain moth) only lives for one day as it does not have the ability to eat. The grubs live underground and attack trees from the roots and work their way up. while ever there is cellulose in the wood they will survive. Once the timber has seasoned cellulose is no longer available. The best method of handling Acacias is to treat with an insecticide at milling and kiln dry to speed up the seasoning process.
    Interestingly, the grubs are worth more than the timber. A small jar of pickled grubs fetches about $45. This may or may not be of interest to your client.

  6. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zac320 View Post
    So even though the timber is slabbed and de barked the bugs will still live on now?
    Nope...as Rustynail said...once the timber dries out so do the grubs. But they can make a proper mess if you aren't quick!
    Ours is not to reason why.....only to point and giggle.

  7. #6
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    Feb 2011
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    Emerald, Qld
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    56
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    103

    Default

    I cut a lot of Sally wattle and have the same issue. As the others said de-bark Asap. I also treat all my slabs with Borax. You can buy a small tub from woolies in the laundry detergent section. I put a lidfull of Borax to a watercan of boiling water. Flood the slabs with this mix. This will stop any new attacks on the wood.

  8. #7
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    Jan 2020
    Location
    Victoria
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    Just an update on this guys. The slabs I cut was from a tree I cut down 12 months ago. I am planning to cut a few more slabs in the future and I am wondering what to do with all the little logs 300-400 wide that I won’t get around to milling for maybe 12 months. And I won’t be able to debark it. Can I stack them up and spray them with something with the bark on?

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zac320 View Post
    Just an update on this guys. The slabs I cut was from a tree I cut down 12 months ago. I am planning to cut a few more slabs in the future and I am wondering what to do with all the little logs 300-400 wide that I won’t get around to milling for maybe 12 months. And I won’t be able to debark it. Can I stack them up and spray them with something with the bark on?
    Get them up off the ground, in a position to have the air circulate around them. Then cover them in corrugated steel (don't use a tarp). The faster the sapwood dries...the faster the Bardi grubs dry. And the less appealing the timber is to other things as well.
    Ours is not to reason why.....only to point and giggle.

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