Poison ivy?

[bigair]

I have been cutting a bunch of ash that the city cut down due to emerald ash borer infestation. They have cut down alot of trees over the winter and it makes great firewood after seasoning. I have cut probably three full cords so far for next season, but would like to get a couple more. The trees that are left have a thick (probably an 1" to an 1 1/2" diameter vine growing up them. My first thought was poison ivy, so I have avoided these trees so far. I know what grape vines look like and these are not grape vines. They have a hairy root structure running along them into the ash bark. I could identify them as being poison ivy if there were leaves present, but there are none. Any ideas as to how to remove this stuff and still use the wood? I am very allergic to poison ivy and don't wan't to get it.

 

[gumneck]

Did I invent a new word in this reply???

Poison Ivy or Oak. "if leaves of three, leave it be..." Five leaves is VA creeper. At least that's what I hear it called around here.

If you gotta do it. Before you do it, go to drug store and buy some OaknIvy brand Tecnu outdoor skin cleanser. Its not cheap but if your allergic to the vines than you'll be better off using it than not. Wear some long sleeves,gloves, goggles, and dust masks if your gonna be sawing it creating dust particles. When your done for the day toss all the clothes/gloves/dust mask right in the trash. Then jump in the shower and scrubb yourself with the Tecnu using as bottle says.

The last time I got in some was up a pine with short sleeve shirt and my arms were scratched up(skin broken). The next couple of weeks the skin was just shluppin off my arms and my daughter thought I was some freak monster.

 

[woodshop]

Not sure about Michigan, but around here, if the vine has reddish brown hair helping to hold the vine to the bark, it's poison ivy all right. Spring has sprung, so look for soft Cinnamon brown felt-like buds. If it has those, its definitely rhus toxicodendron (poison ivy). I get it bad too... and found only way to avoid it is just be real careful around it. Wear disposable gloves you can toss... soap down tool handles after you're done, and within a few hours, soap down your arms and hands with hard soap, like Fels Naptha, it works well to clean off the oil that is the culprit. If I'm working a log that has thick vines of the stuff, I knock them off with an ax and kick them out of the way. Careful using a chainsaw, as the chips flying into your face/arms/clothes are full of that oil. I often used to get it on the insides of my arms even when I thought I was being real careful. Then one day I figured it out... as I took my boots off at end of day, arms would rub against pant legs, which were full of oil from waking through the woods full of ivy that day.

good luck

 

[bigair]

It looks exactly as you describe it. Maybe I should pass on the rest of the wood.

 

[chipper]

ah ha! toxicodendron radican

 

[woodshop]

ah ha! toxicodendron radican

YES, you are correct... my bad. It actually used to be called rhus radicans, but they reclassified it as toxicodendron radicans about 35 years ago.

thanks chipper

 

[chipper]

Any time bud. Good working, by the way!

 

[chipper]

wood working, that is......

 

[jimbo1490]

Rubber trees are about as bad. If you happen to get the sap in your eyes, the real misery begins!

Jimbo

 

[treeman82]

Get yourself some Oral Ivy. It takes about 2 weeks from the time you start taking it until you can safely work with poison ivy. It costs about $18, and 1 bottle should last you for about a year. I am alergic to the point where I have to get the pills when I come in contact. I've been using the Oral Ivy now for 2 or 3 years, and at my worst I've had it for 36 hrs. Vs. 1 week +

 

[gumneck]

Then one day I figured it out... as I took my boots off at end of day, arms would rub against pant legs, which were full of oil from waking through the woods full of ivy that day.

good luck

Woodshop.

Never thought about that but makes great sense. Anyone know if poison ivy vines can release their oil like a mist ? Sometimes I think I get the rash without ever touching or being in it even though I'm 3 or 4 ft from it.

 

[jimbo1490]

Woodshop.
Anyone know if poison ivy vines can release their oil like a mist ?

Absolutely yes!! You also have to be careful when and if you burn poison ivy in a fire. The smoke may also contain the irritant so you can get exposed by inhalation or cutaneously.

I ran into the mist problem with a rubber tree I cut down just a few hours before hurricane Andrew a few years back. From living down in South Florida all of my life I knew to be wary of rubber tree sap but that darn white sap got vaporized and really gave me a hell of a reaction on my face, neck and arms where I was exposed. And I'm all but immune to poison ivy. Go figure!

Jimbo

 

[woodshop]

Absolutely yes!! You also have to be careful when and if you burn poison ivy in a fire. The smoke may also contain the irritant so you can get exposed by inhalation or cutaneously.

Don't want to argue, I'm not an expert, and don't know squat about rubber trees in FL. Yes you can definitely get poison ivy from smoke when burning it. I personally know of someone that got a serious case in their nose and throat that way. However, I am pretty sure the oil does not just "mist" and thus you can't get it that way. That said, if you disturb the vines, as when cutting with a chainsaw, oil droplets can be airborne along with the chips, and you can get it that way. Just walking past poison on a windy day though, will not give you a rash. The oil is on the leaves and bark, and does not spontaneously mist out. Could some oil evaporate into the air enough to then cause a rash on the skin? Not sure... but never read or heard of that.

 

[ray benson]

If you or your family ever had poison ivy reaction, the answer is....... PASS on the wood. Imagine getting the wood and one of the kids helps carry a piece 6 months later to burn and they get a reaction. It can't be worth the risk.

 

[pmuscato]

Poison ivy oils will float on top of water and if it contacts your skin you can get a reaction. I carry the anti-body also, never had a reaction. But i wonder if i may start to lose immunity from repeated contact.

 

[Proj Eng]

Wait until next winter to fetch the wood assuming it will still be there. Especially after a nice hard MI freeze but before the snow piles up.

 

[056kid]

I cut 3 oaks that had that ???? all over them. Around here in va we call any thing on a tree besides bark ????. But ya some have 3 leaves some have 5. No matter what it is, if its a vine on a tree it will ???? me up on some way or another.

 

[curdy]

I have the same issue with some of my trees I cut down. They had massive poison growing on them. I plan on removing and tossing the vines, stacking the wood in a different pile from my clean wood and letting them get rained on for a year or 2 before burning them. Really, once you remove the vines the rain washes the oil away. I've read that the vines themselves can hold the oil up to a year or 2 after dying...nasty stuff. So I figure if I toss the vines the firewood should be a-OK in the same time frame.