Thoughts? This tree has never been real healthy, the base of the tree was like this when we moved here in 2013. This pic is base of tree, can see saw dust from the Carpender ants?



These cracks go all the way up the trunk, ants going in and out, i have killed a lot of them…I think the have eaten all inside the tree, it is probably dangerous and should cut it down? Really sucks because it provides great she to the back yard and pool area. Thoughts?

Firewood, especially if it could hit the house if it fell

Agree 100% you need to have that cut down.

Those ants are not killing the tree. They like wet/rotting wood to nest in - they're just finishing off a tree that's already long in distress.
Water getting into the heartwood (plus freezes/drought, etc) take a tree past the recovery point.

Big tall tree, might be time to call the man. We had an even bigger oak cut down last year and it was cool watching the guy up in the tree doing his thing. Lots of good firewood.

Heavily dust the cracks where you see the ants with Terro ant dust and you’ll at least kill the nest.

Maybe you got the "Oak Wilt"

Get an arborist to check it.
If it can be saved it is a very valuable part of your property.
We thought we were going to loose 1 but now looking like it will make it.

You have Bacterial Wetwood AND Carpenter Ants.

The amount of damage looks extensive.

Carpenter ants will eventually hollow it out, VERY dangerous.

Needs to come down IMO.

All good suggestions here. I'm fighting an infestation in my bathroom of those darned ants right now. I've done a lot of reading about them in the last week, I suggest you do too. Carpenter ants don't eat wood, they eat "food" like other ants. They are not termites, but get mistaken for those a lot.

Get rid of those things before they make a satellite nest in your house.

That looks like near a pool and/or possibly your home.

Time to cut it down.

Is that a red oak? If it is it might be hollow and needs to come down. We had one very similar to yours and when they took it down I couldn't believe how hollow it was. I'd pay an expert to look at it.

If the carpenter ants are in the trunk that is not good. A branch is fine as you can just cut it off. They will make a widow maker for you. Check with an arborist first of course.

This is the stuff you need to mix & spray into areas where ants are -
https://www.homedepot.com/p/BioAdva...and-Termite-Killer-Plus-700310/100638302
They can't detect the poison in this stuff, so track it back into the nest and kills them all.

Ants aside, you've got water getting in to the wood somewhere, which is what the ants are after. They don't mess with normal dry 2x4's.
Gonna need to fix/remediate the moisture issue whatever it is.

Believe it - my house is all metal stud construction. I think they might be in the insulation in the drywall; I cannot see any outside. That said, all I know is where I see the most of them, and I'm not convinced I actually found the nest. It could be thee, but to find out for sure I have to rip down walls, and I'm trying to avoid that.

I did have a drain leak in my primary shower that I fixed months ago. We had the leak for a long time, but never saw any. After I fixed that we started seeing them.

I'm using Terro drops and I see a few eating where I applied a week ago, but not like the videos where hundreds come to the tough and eat like pigs. I'm going to take a close look at that bioadvanced. Thanks for that tip.

Have a buddy that turns wood on a lathe, I know he'd love to get the base of that tree if they haven't destroyed it, that is oak burl.

Oldoak is right. The ants aren't killing the tree. They are there because the tree was already dying. If you don't cut it down, make sure you've got really good insurance! Either you are going to harvest it, or Mother Nature is going to harvest it for you.

Red oak, the tree that keeps on giving.

I think Red Oaks have a 70 year or so expected life span. From the size of that one, you may well be at or very near the end of its usefulness. To my untrained eye, that there tree is on the decline.

The red oaks are highly seceptible to the wilt around here. I lost mine to some sort of fungus that set in couple years ago, after pruning and painting wounds immediately after trimming. Cut it down last fall. I planted it ‘95.

Going off memory, I had an arborist come look at this tree in 2013 when I first moved into the house, and it seems like that is what he said, I will eventually need to cut it down. Guess I should get another arborist out here, just to confirm what I already know. Hate to see this tree go, it shades the whole back yard and house..

Thanks for the comments, I got an arborist coming by tomorrow..

Now you can think about what you might want planted there.

It appears Red Oaks grow well there.

Yep, and how much it is gonna cost me, and I will be dead by the time the new tree gets big enough to shade the yard again. lol.

There are faster growing trees than the red oak. Ask the arborist about a replacement.

I have had problems with them-I bought some Termidor SC and sprayed a 1' band at the top and bottom of the exterior walls of my house, and also circled every tree in the yard. I didn't see an ant of any kind for nearly a year. The 100+ carpenter ants laying outside their nest the next day was very satisfying.

I managed to save two badly damaged trees some years back. One was a pecan that I had hit with the shredder. Knocked a big chunk out of the bark at the base. My wife yelled at me a bunch, so I tried to save it. Ants were all over it by then. I killed the ants with a spray and then sealed the damaged bark area with a spray on tar compound. The tree did finally perk up and survive. Looks pretty good now.

When our house was built a nice 8” thick oak near the house (good shade tree on the south side) was badly damaged by the builders. It was full of ants and bark was missing from the ground up to about 6’, in a strip about 3” wide. Since it had worked on the pecan tree, I killed the ants and sprayed that tar compound in a thick layer on the open ‘wound’. Sealed it up completely. That tree survived too, and looks very healthy.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the OP’s tree looks too far gone.

A real nice guy that lived 4 houses down died a few years back after parking under a big oak tree. Limb fell on his convertible corvette top and crushed him. He was at his sons baseball practice

Front of House was framed by a 35 foot tall Post Oak. Largest one on the 10 acres. Lost a massive limb a few weeks ago during a wind storm and almost hit the porch. Trunk was over 3 foot in diameter. Still crying as I had it cut down.

Plant a Osage orange for the future owners.

Bill knows a man.

Hard to tell from the picture but the most common mistake people make is planting a tree too deep. The other one is mulching around the trunk which in addition to be unnecessary is not good for the tree. Roots need to breathe.