Status of this Black Walnut tree

[grweldon]

A couple of years back I posed a question about the condition of the only large (20+ DBH) Black Walnut I have on my property.  The general consensus was that the tree was probably healthy but to keep tabs on it.  Yesterday I took a picture of the damage again.  The older picture is on top, new on the bottom.  The hollow area at the bottom is noticeably deeper than the older picture. I want to mill this tree but I don't want to cut it down before it's time.  It looks to me as if it is becoming more hollow and if I don't cut it soon, I'm going to lose a lot of valuable wood.  Will y'all please let me know what you think?  If I need to take more pics I can certainly do that.  Thanks folks...

[Ron Wenrich]

It's getting deeper because the tree is growing, and trying to close the wound.  Also, you have some of the wood deteriorating and turning to dust.  To me, you've already lost some wood in the heart.   If I was marking timber and come across a tree like this, I would mark it out. 

Generally speaking, I have found rot like that to extend about 4 feet up the tree, at most.  It's hard to say how healthy the rest of the tree is just by looking at the stump.  If you have swelled knots, there is a good chance that part of the tree is also hollow.  How far does the seam run up the tree? 

Is there a reason you want to leave the tree?  A tree can still be healthy and have rot and a host of other problems.  It's just not as healthy as one without. 

[mesquite buckeye]

It is rotting the most valuable log. I always consider a tree like this is probably rotting as fast as it is growing. My opinion is get it out, get some lumber and open up the space for other trees to grow.

[grweldon]

...How far does the seam run up the tree? 

About 4 feet...

[mesquite buckeye]

If you poke around the top of that seam up the trunk, I'm betting it keeps going upward. I had a walnut that got some butt rot going in it as it was the leave trunk of a double trunk cut down in the eighties. I cut it in like 2012. There was a lot of rot and I wish I had cut it sooner. Complicating this is the tree was hit by lightning in 1997 and a sector of the trunk was also rotting as a result of that, particularly on the upper part of the trunk. I got maybe 1/2 - 2/3 of what I would have gotten from a healthy tree.

[Ron Scott]

It is rotting the most valuable log. I always consider a tree like this is probably rotting as fast as it is growing. My opinion is get it out, get some lumber and open up the space for other trees to grow.

I agree, and would cut it now.

[Ron Wenrich]

Seams don't usually mean that the lumber isn't any good.  A good sawyer would put the seam on a corner and edge it out.  But, that indicates that there are problems up that far, and probably a little more.  Often a seam will go into a shake area, in oak.  Not so much in the walnut. 

When you buck the tree into logs, leave the butt long.  Don't cut off the rotted area unless there's no way it will make any lumber.  I was always given heartrot logs at 10' or better.  That way I could pull some long boards, and when I hit the rotten area, I would still have some nice, usable lengths after trimming.  Most times it worked out pretty well.

[grweldon]

Thank you folks for your replies.  The tree is on the cut list.  I'm busy this weekend so it will be next week or so before I get to it.  I'm a bit excited.  I've never cut or milled a black walnut tree. 

[mesquite buckeye]

They are purty when fresh cut and smell good. ;D 8) 8) 8)

[Ron Scott]

Consumer Advisory:

Scammers on the prowl for black walnut trees,
Thousand Cankers Disease not detected in Michigan

For immediate release: September 14, 2015
Media contacts: Jennifer Holton, MDARD, 517-284-5724

Consumers are being warned to be on the lookout for scam artists looking to buy black walnut trees using the detection of an invasive species as the hook. There are reports of log buyers pressuring Michigan woodlot owners and others to sell their black walnut telling them that Thousand Cankers Disease has been detected in Michigan.
Thousand Cankers Disease has not been detected in Michigan. The Michigan departments of Agriculture and Rural Development and Natural Resources continue to have a disease surveillance program in place to look for invasive diseases and exotic pests and protect the state's natural resources from things like TCD. Although TCD does present a real threat to black walnut, to date is hasn't rapidly spread and impacted walnut on a large scale.  It is nothing like an Emerald Ash Borer or Dutch Elm Disease.
If TCD is eventually detected, it would be announced by the state identifying the affected areas, outlining the response plan and quarantine restrictions would apply to the affected area. This is often only a small portion of one county. 
Thousand Cankers Disease is caused by a combination of small beetles boring into walnut branches, and a fungus introduced by the beetles. The crowns of affected trees begin dying and the tree eventually succumbs. 
In May 2010, MDARD established a quarantine to protect Michigan walnut (Juglans spp.) from thousand cankers disease.  Michigan's quarantine restricts movement of the following from infected states into Michigan:
•   All plants and plant parts of the genus Juglans, including but not limited to: nursery stock, budwood, scionwood, green lumber; other living, dead, cut or fallen wood, including logs, stumps, roots and branches; and composted and noncomposted chips;  hardwood firewood; and any article, product or means of transport that risk the spread of the walnut twig beetle or fungus.
•   Articles that are not a threat and are exempt from the quarantine include:
1.   Nuts, nut meats and hulls;
2.   Processed lumber that is 100 percent bark-free and kiln-dried with squared edges;
3.   Finished wood products without bark.
Michigan's forests are home to approximately 8.5 million black walnut trees with an economic value of more the $86 million and ecological value as a food source for birds, mammals and other wildlife. There are also more than 80 walnut growers in Michigan with approximately 4,000 trees in nut production.
Black walnut trees in many western states, and in Tennessee and Pennsylvania, are already being negatively impacted by TCD. The beetle and fungus can be transported into new areas in walnut logs, firewood and staves used for woodworking.
If black walnut trees have wilting leaves or dying branches during the summer, check the tree carefully. If there is no obvious cause of the problem, such as a broken branch, note the location of the suspect tree and report it. Identifying the tiny walnut twig beetles and confirming the presence of TCD requires specialized expertise.
Learn more: www.michigan.gov/exoticpests and www.thousandcankers.com.
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[WV Mountaineer]

Cut it.  Cut it now.  That seam might not go above 4 feet on the bark but, you can bet the money it brings that the heart is different.  If the sap is still up, it will be wet, if not rotten several feet higher. If the face of the cut shows wet, it will bust as it dries in lumber form around that wet seam.   That tree should have been cut a while back to minimize the lose.  God Bless

[WV Sawmiller]

Good luck on your decision. Poor old tree ain't worth what it could have been without the hollow but looks like it could still be a nice wildlife tree providing food and shelter to some of your critters. Many of my trees are more valuable to me for my wildlife interests than for their lumber value. I just about won't cut a mast bearing tree on my property until it falls or shows signs of dying but to each his own. Good luck and be careful.