UF, could you elaborate a bit further?
Dave
The POTENTIAL for damage DOES exist, but 99% of the time what I have seen is the incorrect use of the equipment. That happens one of three ways. Incorrect location of the wedge-chek, either to high up the trunk or in an area that doesn't allow for smooth translocation i.e. grafts or sunken areas, between buttress roots (valleys), the tissue in the graft or valleys holds the product and as a result can cause decay. Another way is that the wedge-chek is not placed at the proper depth putting the product in non-conductive tissue, once again holding the product. There is also what I call "rapid deployment" of the product causing bark splitting. Thin bark trees are most suseptible to this. The applicator pulls the trigger too fast causing the product to "rush in" behind the bark causing the split. Finally, there is a problem with the angle the gun is inserted into the wedge-chek, it MUST go in straight, so that the oil in the wedge-chek can seal around the needle, too much of an angle up or down while "misplace" the product causing a problem. While the wedgle IS a gun, it's NOT a M-16. All of these things come from a lack of training and/or a lack of patience on the part of the co./applicator. When inquiring about the wedgle @ the website, Skip (the owner of Arbor Systems) will be VERY helpful in providing you with all the assitance you need. With regards to what the "competition" says, the one biggest negative about this industry I have seen in my 20 years in it is it's cutthroat nature. I am a FIRM believer in selling YOUR product on it's merit's, NOT putting down the other guy. I found that most of the current application methods available, regardless of what they are, have their good points and bad, and have a place in the arborist "tool belt". If the big 3 acted the way MOST companies in the "green industry" act they would all be up to their butts in libel and slander lawsuits. I don't understand the need to slam the "other guy", but it happens all the time in this industry.