Cleaning Saw blades for oaks...

[NickfromWI]

My employer has started having us spray our hand and pole and chain saw blades with a bleach solution after and/or before trimming oak trees. He says there's some disease going around and it could be passed from tree-to-tree via our tools.
Have any of you heard of this?

love
nick

climb safe

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Oak wilt for one.

There are a number of discusions on this here.

100ppm bleach soak for 2 min will sanitize the blades. Only an autoclave will sterilize.

I know people wh do this on honeylocust too, do to their suseptablity to Nectiria.

 

[NickfromWI]

So john, would you say this is a good idea to do regularly here in WI, if you are trimming a lot of oaks and (my favorite) honey locusts?

love
nick

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I'm not John, but I say yes, it is good not to spread diseases from place to place.
We use rubbing alcohol because I don't want bleach anywhere near my ropes.
We should be cleaning between cuts in some cases, between trees in others, but between job sites at the minimum.

 

[Stumper]

I think Mike has nailed this one. Even if there is no sign of disease and even if the species involved don't ordinarily host the same diseases, it is such an easy and economical habit to spray tools with disinfectant at the end of the job and respray before starting work at the next job-site. It also has gotten me some jobs because people noticed and concluded (correctly) that I am concerned about their trees' health and doing quality work.

 

[Nickrosis]

Fireblight pruning

This thread is worth reading if you're concerned about fireblight and the sterilization of tools.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=3990

Nickrosis