Possibly the Shothole borer?

i would definitely plant a replacement ...

if you do NOT need this space... leave it there.. see what happens ...

if space is at a premium ... get rid of it ...

i suspect this was damaged upon planting.. pre exisiting ... back when you saw the ooze .... if not further back in time ....

what i dont like.. is the tree above the damage is significantly wider than below ... and when that happens.. they usually fail .. sooner or later.. in tree time ...

if that is in fact the graft wound.. its one of the worst i ever saw ... did they really leave the understock on.. until it required a one to 2 inch cut to remove it???? understock is usually removed at the end of the first year or so .... and shouldnt be more than a half inch cut .. its like they let it shrub out.. and then tried to prune it back into tree form .....

oh crikey im getting mad.. kill it now.. put it out of your misery ... lol ... my misery too .. lol...

ken

That's what I was afraid of. I hate to get rid of it without giving it a chance, but I also dont want to waste precious years that I could have something else getting established there. I guess I'm going to pull it out. What a shame. Luckily, it was not an expensive tree. I've learned my lesson the hard way that I need to be ordering trees from a reputable source instead of picking them up at box stores. I knew better, but was so happy to find one there. Thanks for the input.