wood score with possible poison ivy - advice?

[sw18x]

My first big score clearing a lot for a builder...up until now it's all been scrounge a tree here, a tree there. We checked out the site last week and it's 100% hardwood, 90% black locust. Perfect location, enough wood to get a year ahead at least. Problem is, there were ominous looking vines growing up several, possibly many, of the trees. Before I was thinking, I broke off a leaf before my buddy asked, "is that poison ivy"? I didn't break out with any on my fingers, but a few days later a very small patch broke out on my arm.

We're headed out there today to start clearing, at which point I'll take pics and try to get a positive ID. If it is poison ivy, this would be a very difficult job for me to walk away from - free hardwoods are tough to come by around here and my OWB demands them. Any advice for how to approach this? My only plan at this point is bring some big trash bags, carefully cut the vine away from where we make our cut to drop the tree, then once it's on the ground pull away the vine, stick it in a bag, and toss it in the garbage. Gloves of course, maybe even rubber gloves under my tree gloves to be safe. Thanks for the help.

 

[sld961]

Check out Ivy Block.

 

[haveawoody]

sw18x,

Here is a good id of leafs of the nasties in the area.
Mainly poison oak the ground version here in Southern Ontario but we also have poison ivy a spindly vining plant and poison sumac looks much like low growing black walnut but shiny leafs.

If it's any of them the best way to deal with it is spend a day hand removing vines off trees and area trees will fall.
Get a few pairs of dollar store gloves and a pair of cover all you intend to throw away.
Clean the area, put everything in garbage bags and do not burn, wash arms and hands in a good soap with cold water starting from top down.

Wear a dust mask and gloves when cutting suspect trees and logs to size and moving them.
Pile everything at home in the sun for a month before you split, active oil only last about 1 month in sunlight.
Broken vine pieces still on the tree can be active for a year or more.
Wear gloves when splitting.


<img src=http://img.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/media/medical/hw/hwkb17_017_18_19.jpg>

 

[BrokenToys]

I now carry some bleach and water in a spray bottle [i have one of those 1/2 gallon pump sprayers] to spray down arms and hands as soon as possible too just in case. it's like 95% bleach 5% water. Even on the runners you see spray them with some of that bleach as you go. It's no magic bullet but it "Seems" to dry out the runners faster as well.

I'm in a similar predicament now clearing out my new back yard and this primo cherry tree fell into a huge patch of poison ivy and been working to get it out. Not to mention 1/2 the yard is crawling with poison ivy and I am in the middle of ripping that out too. Lawn Guyland is really known for Poison Ivy and Sumac and if it is even a thought of it may being poison [something]...it more than likely is and treated as such.

Also; I got some Tecnu which seems to work as well. YMMV though.

All I can add is when you are done wash all your clothes separate from anyone elses!! And clean off all your tools too as soon as you can.

 

[CTYank]

Fact is, the one product that protects you beforehand from Poison Ivy, and greatly moderates the reaction after, is "Oral Ivy". It's a liquid, you mix so many drops with a few ounces of your favorite beverage x times per day for so many days before going into the "ivy woods.

After the fact, you take more, more often. It kept me out of the hospital last fall.

Lowest price is on Amazon. Like ~$10/bottle.

Poison Ivy vines are easy to ID on tree trunk- so thickly covered with rootlets. The leaves are very shiny on top, typically red on fringes and stems; the groups of three are a warning.

Cut 'em off low with loppers, months before working on the trees. With leaves off, drop trees, lopping off sections of vines as you go. Do NOT EVER burn PI bits, can be deadly. Herbicide for the other stuff.

Clean loppers with mix/alcohol/acetone.

 

[angelo c]

I now carry some bleach and water in a spray bottle [i have one of those 1/2 gallon pump sprayers] to spray down arms and hands as soon as possible too just in case. it's like 95% bleach 5% water. Even on the runners you see spray them with some of that bleach as you go. It's no magic bullet but it "Seems" to dry out the runners faster as well.

I'm in a similar predicament now clearing out my new back yard and this primo cherry tree fell into a huge patch of poison ivy and been working to get it out. Not to mention 1/2 the yard is crawling with poison ivy and I am in the middle of ripping that out too. Lawn Guyland is really known for Poison Ivy and Sumac and if it is even a thought of it may being poison [something]...it more than likely is and treated as such.

Also; I got some Tecnu which seems to work as well. YMMV though.


All I can add is when you are done wash all your clothes separate from anyone elses!! And clean off all your tools too as soon as you can.

Nice one on the "lawn Guyland"...guess ya had to be there to get it ....

 

[angelo c]

Man i feel for you guys that get this poison ivy real bad. I used to when i was a kid. Used to blow up like a balloon, face, mouth, it was horrible. I just dont get that kind of reaction to it anymore. What has kind of "limited" my reactions is knowing when i am itching and just dont scratch. Then wash the itchy part as soon as i am scratching it with soap and water. This aint a living for me so if im itching i stop and wash. How about "stop , drop, and wash" for a reminder.
Everything else above should be considered too. Gloves, mask, tape, ect. Not scratching limits it for me.
Some people seem to be more allergic then others and for some it seems to fade some. For others its a flat out deal breaker. Figure out what its really worth to you before you head into " greener" ivy pastures.

 

[Henry and Wanda]

Hello,
I think I would have to walk away from that wood !!! I was 47 when I got my first dose of poison ivy !!!! You just don't want to get that stuff !!!!! I didn't really get it that bad, but it was still terrible. When I lived at my last house, we had some of those big vines wrapped around a lot of our trees. I just gave them wide berth !!!!!!


Henry and Wanda

 

[EXCALIBER]

I have never found much in the woods that would ever bother me except for pissed off bee's and a hungry bear, or a woman! Hell cut the trees and get er done. If I was closer you wouldn't have to worry about it the trees would have been hauled away to my house already. If your deathly allergic that's one thing if not drop your socks and grab your saw's and get the chips flying. Oh and not sure what a breathing dust mask is going to do for you since the problem is in the oil in the plant not an airborne problem?

 

[unclemoustache]

PI affects different people differently, and the way one reacts now may be different from how they react later. No way of telling. I did a lot of research on all this a couple years ago. Very strange, to say the least!

Some people swear by the preventative treatment of ingesting a bit as the season progresses, and some people swear AT ingesting it.
Heard about one guy who tried it, ate too much and his bunghole got the rash. I can't even imagine how horrible that would be....

My advice is to go for it and be careful. Do as little cutting of it as possible, and try and pull off the ivy as much as you can.

I took the whole family on a little hike a couple weeks ago and the trail was covered with it. I told them all to keep away from all leaves, but of course that was impossible. We carried the smallest kids and didn't worry about the others. When we got home we put all our clothes in the same washer, then I put bleach on everyone where they may have come in contact (and washed it off with soap/water quickly) then had everyone shower and scrub well. Didn't have any problems with anyone.

 

[unclemoustache]

No that isn't me, but I think I'd shoot myself if it started to get this bad! :msp_scared:

 

[Fred Wright]

90% black locust? There'd have to be something a hellofa lot meaner than poison ivy or sumac to keep me away.

Agree with the previous responses. Wear gloves and long sleeves. Wash the paws and arms after handling the stuff.

Cut vines at the base of the tree and above your felling cut area first. Then peel 'em away and bag it as you go. A buddy of mine suggested using a bow saw or scissors trimmer to sever poison vines on the log if you're especially allergic.

 

[EXCALIBER]

The best advice I can give is wash hands vigorously with soup and water, and maybe put surgical gloves on before taking a leak, the alterative would be very uncomfortable and you would not be very romantic for a long time. Also be careful If you go to add a log to the forest and pick carefully the log you use to drop your log over, and don't use the native plants for toilet paper!

 

[crowbuster]

Right on Fred. The stuff tears me up somethin fierce. We cut tons of ivy covered wood over the years. Take as much care as you can, we pull as much off as we can, carefull cutting it as the dust and particles will get airborne and you DONT want them in your throat or worse. If it is real bad wait till the dead of winter, chances are slimmer you will get it but are still there. We do a lot of fence rows and they are the worst for all ivys. Good luck op

 

[zogger]

Man i feel for you guys that get this poison ivy real bad. I used to when i was a kid. Used to blow up like a balloon, face, mouth, it was horrible. I just dont get that kind of reaction to it anymore. What has kind of "limited" my reactions is knowing when i am itching and just dont scratch. Then wash the itchy part as soon as i am scratching it with soap and water. This aint a living for me so if im itching i stop and wash. How about "stop , drop, and wash" for a reminder.
Everything else above should be considered too. Gloves, mask, tape, ect. Not scratching limits it for me.
Some people seem to be more allergic then others and for some it seems to fade some. For others its a flat out deal breaker. Figure out what its really worth to you before you head into " greener" ivy pastures.

that is what I do, absolutely do not touch the itchy area, cold water and soap. Same thing, used to get it so bad had to go to the doctor store, sucked, figured out if you can get thorugh the first initial stages of itching, then all of a sudden it gets milder and milder. Washing away the oils with good strong soap and cold water works the best for me.

Heavy vined trees here, I have the luxury of killing the vines first, waiting a year or two, strip the now dried dead vines out of the tree, then cut it down and finish stripping the vines, then cut it up. I just walk around with an axe or hatchet and cut a section out of the vines as I pass by, out walking the dogs, etc.

I do that to every big poison ivy vine I find, year round, been gradually working out into the woods around here. Have done just hundreds of trees so far, no idea really in quantity, just a whole lot. I might hit a dozen or more per session, it adds up day after week after month after year..

 

[sw18x]

Just spent the day on site...if it's poison anything I may be in trouble but my buddy, who refused to wear gloves, will really be screwed. Call me selfish but I didn't complain when my chain dulled out and he did most of the cutting while I loaded with the tractor. I used latex gloves under my leathers, long sleeves, etc. Not sure what it is, two different types of vines, the 3 leaf variety had no sign of red that I remember, the leaves were rounded with no steps which I see on most pics of poison ivy. And oh yeah thanks for the pic unclemoustache, that really made me feel better, think I'll bust his balls and send my buddy that one later in the week and tell him the wife had to take me to the ER.

View attachment 308935View attachment 308936

 

[ShaneLogs]

Just remember, "leaves of 3, let it be". If I was you, I would try to cut those vines down and make sure you wear gloves and possibly long sleeves so nothing can come in contact with your skin, get in there and spary it down and let it die then you can get in there and get the wood cut!

 

[haveawoody]

sw18x,

Your first picture looks like poison ivy but I don't think it is.
Almost looks like a young box elder tree with young bark on the stem.
Any of these climbing up things?
Be careful though poison ivy ranges quite a bit in look, size and stem.
Stem bark and leaf look wrong to be poison ivy, maybe someone here has seen this plant and can id it easy?.


The second picture I'm about 99% sure is Virginia creeper (non poison).

 

[zogger]

sw18x,

Your first picture looks like poison ivy but I don't think it is.
Almost looks like a young box elder tree with young bark on the stem.
Any of these climbing up things?
Be careful though poison ivy ranges quite a bit in look, size and stem.

The second picture is Virginia creeper (non poison).

+1, especially pic two, virginia creeper, harmless

 

[haveawoody]

zogger,

What do you think that first picture is?
At first glance easy to mistake for poison ivy, but a good check on the close up and who knows what it is.