They're not long-lived trees, and prone to breakage. If it's got holes and carpenter ants, for the sake of your house, I'd have it removed ASAP.

and i would not need to pay an expert to tell me such ...

there is no repair... so what good would it do ...

harvest the firewood.. sell it on craigs list ...

and be done with that decaying old monstrosity ...

get estimates from 3 peeps.. and insure.. that they are insured ...

ken

Can't you just put some wood filler in there and paint it gray?

"Can't you just put some wood filler in there and paint it gray?"

Whaas, thanks for speeding up the conversation lol.

Wood filler of whatever kind may be harmful to the live section of the tree. We just do not know. Regardless if you try, do something to dry out the inside of the cavity before filling it. Moisture is not the friend of structural wood and I doubt you can dry it out bad enough to kill the live outer layers or cause shrinkage.

If the tree were out in the middle of a field or even away from structures I would let it be or experiment. Since it sounds like your home, or kids or classic car(!) may be under the tree much of the day or night we need to be more careful.

If it is leaning away from the house and other valuable stuff I would let it be for some more years.

we had a micro burst in tecumseh last week ... dozens of century old trees simply fell over ... every single on of them was completely rotted in the core ...

you can not fill a hole.. with something in-flexible.. and expect it to remain water tight.. inside a flexing tree ... you might actually cause more water to accumulate.. and close off a portal that would otherwise allow drying ...

ken

ps: i live half way between adrian and tecumseh... zip code A.. schools T ...

I was hoping someone was paying attention! lol

Its tough to really make a recommendation from my perspective without the bigger picture. But I like your idea of getting an arborist out and see what they say.

Perhaps bring that feedback and more pics to the post to get more recommendations/votes.

Hire an ISA Certified Arborist to access and determine the amount of sound wood within the tree. The amount of sound wood will determine the extent of decay and thereby the degree of strength left within the tree.

In the end, you will need to take down the tree rather than allow it to take itself down. The only question that will remain is when to do it.

"Hire an ISA Certified Arborist to access and determine the amount of sound wood within the tree."

That's exactly what I am in the process of doing.

Large rotting silver maple near house: Terminate with extreme prejudice!

Yeah, although that's not a large silver maple in my book, it is still large enough to hurt someone, badly. Even such trees have much intrinsic value though, things like wildlife habitat, shade, etc. But the interest of safety must predominate near your house.

I think the question of which way it is leaning is apropos, along with whether or not large branches are hanging over the house. It's a simple enough matter to not have your kids play tea party on a blanket under that tree when a storms brewing.

+oM