A friend of mind has a couple of ash trees he is having taken down some time this fall and told me I can have the wood. He is having the brush chipped. He told me there had been PI growing around and on the trees but he removed the PI maybe 10 years ago. How long does PI oils stay on trees after the vines have been removed? Haven't burned any ash yet to I am interested in giving it a shot, provided I don't expose myself to PI.
I have heard that the oil can stay on tools for 5 years if you don't clean them some way. I get poison ivy very easy, I wouldn't worry about that tree if there hasn't been any on it for 10 years, but if there's any old vines on the tree I would pull them off before I cut. I have cut trees with live vines on them but I cut the vines with a hatchet get them out of the way then cut the tree down pull the vines off (with rubber gloves and throw them away) and buck it up. Leave the vines in the woods don't burn them
These ash trees are in my friends back yard in town. I think power lines go thru the area where the trees are so he is getting a tree service to get them on the ground. Trees will have to be climbed and pieced down.
If there's no vines on it don't worry about it, if there is pull them off. You just don't want to cut the vines with your saw. I have come across vines on rounds while splitting just pull them off and keep going with regular gloves
Thanks for all of your help. I have not seen any PI on my land so I have no experience dealing with it. It is good to be able to tap into all of your collective experiences.
Not sure how useful my experience would be. I know from accounts of people who were in the field with me that I just wade through the stuff and have no allergic response. Some of us are just lucky that way.
Let the rounds stacked up for a few months before you split them. The bark will peel off easily when you do split them. When the bark is gone there's no chance of burning the PI. If you find a hairy vine ...RUN !!!
Do you know how PI affects you? I can pull it off bare handed and typically don't get it so I don't worry too much if I see it. My brother on the other hand gets a rash that spreads over his entire body if he touches it and has to see a doc to get rid of it, but not many people are as allergic to it as he is.
i've cut with poison ivy twining up the bark--dead of course and never had a reaction--always have long sleeves on and gloves--don't want to break a nail--anyhow has anyone ever been told their wood pile or collecting obsession was an "eyesore" to a neighbor? in the spring i always move pile "A" to position"B" and "C" to "D" etc so my yard may look in disarray--"how much wood do you need?" came out of her mouth--i was holding the chainsaw at the time and had to control myself--then i went into her front yard for an objective viewpoint and thought the whole operation looked beautiful--ps anyone headed to the pa gtg from ohio?
Hi scavenger These are great questions. We need a thread on this topic. It will get some interesting feedback for sure. (Use "how much wood do you need?" as your title ...then sit back and watch it go )
I would't worry about it too much then as long as all the vines are gone. If you want to be safe wear gloves and long sleeves, but chances are even if the vines were pulled off yesterday you wouldn't get a rash.
I would not worry about the trees either unless you spot some vines still on the trees. Then, as HDRock said, use a hatchet or axe to strip the vine off the tree before cutting. Also, when in doubt, wear gloves and heavy clothing then remove all clothing (depending upon who else is around) and throw into washer immediately and jump in the shower. Also, keep some of this on hand at all times when cutting wood.
There is a good demenstration starting about the 2 min mark of the video posted. It shows bar soap, tecnu, and dawn dish soap.