Cutting Apple Trees - Apple Orchard - Spray Chemical Concern

[Sal Barsanti]

I have a local apple orchard who said I could come out and cut some wood from trees that were taken down this year. Here's my question:

What about all of the pesticides/chemicals that have been sprayed on the trees? Is that a concern?

I also have access to a local property where they want a couple old apple trees cut down. No spray on those trees.

But I'm curious about the apple chunks you buy at the hardware store in bags. Are those from orchards where they'be been sprayed? Concerns?

Or does the chemical dissipate over time?

 

[mike243]

I would guess no more in the tree than in the apples ,fire by nature is a cleanser but also releases toxins and who knows what all has pee'd on the tree and acid rain is never mentioned any more ,I wouldn't be afraid of it

 

[kmmamm]

You will be fine. The pesticides used in orchards have very short half-lives and will not pose any health issues, especially since you are going to need to stack and dry the wood for several months anyway. Do not assume a tree coming out of a backyard is any safer than that from a commercial orchard. Orchards are legally required to follow a pesticide manufactures label requirements and generally (because of the high expense) will only apply the minimum amount of product necessary to do the job. Sadly the average urban homeowner is woefully unfamiliar with pesticide label requirements and due to the relatively low volumes (lower associated cost) much more likely to go "off-label" when applying pesticides.
If you want to worry about residuals on the wood, Poison ivy/oak oil residue will cause far more problems than pesticides applied "on-label".

 

[bluewhisper]

For anyone who doesn't already know: Poison ivy will grow up a tree trunk and form a canopy up there. The stems grow roots like hairs that grab into the tree bark. If you get wood with that, DO NOT use it for smoking.

 

[Sal Barsanti]

You will be fine. The pesticides used in orchards have very short half-lives and will not pose any health issues, especially since you are going to need to stack and dry the wood for several months anyway. Do not assume a tree coming out of a backyard is any safer than that from a commercial orchard. Orchards are legally required to follow a pesticide manufactures label requirements and generally (because of the high expense) will only apply the minimum amount of product necessary to do the job. Sadly the average urban homeowner is woefully unfamiliar with pesticide label requirements and due to the relatively low volumes (lower associated cost) much more likely to go "off-label" when applying pesticides.
If you want to worry about residuals on the wood, Poison ivy/oak oil residue will cause far more problems than pesticides applied "on-label".

thank you for the reply. I guess I was viewing it as orchards spray and some home owners don't. I understand your point if a homeowner is treated his tree and possibly over-doing it.

I will always worry about poison ivy. If I look at it the wrong way, I'll get it.

 

[Sal Barsanti]

For anyone who doesn't already know: Poison ivy will grow up a tree trunk and form a canopy up there. The stems grow roots like hairs that grab into the tree bark. If you get wood with that, DO NOT use it for smoking.

Yep, will definitely watch closely. Thx. And for wasp nests! (and ground bees)

 

[Sal Barsanti]

I ended up cutting down an overgrown apple tree in someone's back yard locally. Originally, they asked me to cut down both of their huge apple trees, but then decided that just one should come down. No worries, it was enough wood.

I was actually surprised how much "large" chunks I was able to take away from that tree. After cutting all of the small branches/twig and dragging that to their burn pile, I was left with a healthy amount of nice apple tree wood.

I now have some splitting to do and then I need to figure out where to store the wood for drying purposes. I currently have large amounts of oak and cherry, so I'm doing pretty good. I'd like to find some hickory to add to my inventory.

 

[Sal Barsanti]

Well, since I created this thread, I had two local homeowners offer me apple wood from their personal tree. A red apple tree and a golden delicious tree.

I cut down the two overgrown apple trees and took the wood that I could split. A lot of splitting over the last couple weeks.

Today I was cutting the split wood into chunks with my miter saw and noticed red marks on some of the wood. Not every piece, but on some pieces you can see the red smudge from the blade. What are your thoughts on this? Would you use those wood chucks? Chop off the red marking and use the rest?

Maybe it is time for me to change blades?

Anyone ever run into this issue?

 

[kmmamm]

Hey Sal,

Red marks are nothing to worry about. Most likely paint off a chainsaw bar or your miter blade. No need to change the blade until it starts to cut hard...trust me you will know when that happens. Congrats on scoring the apple wood. It is one of my favorite woods for almost anything. Probably too late now, but if you happpen to find another one, consider renting a chipper and chipping the smaller branches and twigs, a bit of advertisement and you will be surprised at how many electric smoker friends you didn't know you have!

 

[Sal Barsanti]

user error

 

[Sal Barsanti]

thanks for the response I was very clear to the homeowners that I only wanted wood that i could split. That I wouldn't do complete cleanup. I made sure they understood that they would need to deal with the limbs/twigs/small stuff. Each of the homeowners told me they were going to have someone come out to cut their apple trees down because they were a little bit overgrown. So I provided a service to them (partial) in that I brought the trees down and cut everything into manageable sections/lengths.

I appreciate the comment about the blade marks. As soon as I saw some of the markings I thought, "how is that going to work if I put that piece in my smoker?" Essentially, the paint smudge will burn off, right? Even though it is tiny, I'm not too excited about it.

Take care and thanks.

 

[kmmamm]

Don't sweat the paint, it will vaporize soon after the log hits th flame. It is so small there is virtually no chance it will effect the product

 

[Homieside]

I am always tried to buy natural fruits and vegetables chemicals, because in my life was a very unpleasant case of intoxication. A lot of years I were buying vegetables and fruits in one supermarket near my house, everything was great, they were very tasty. But one year, I have noticed some weird symptoms like bone weakness, ocular problems and headaches. I were very shocked when my doctor prescribed me to use heavy metal testing kit. I have ordered it on myhealthconfirm.com. It showed a high level of gadolinium. I don't know for why did chemical manufacturers use this metal, but I haven't bought vegetables and fruits in this supermarket since then.