Cutting wood with poison vine on it

[blades]

our immune system treats it as an invasive- rushing white blood cells to combat it as I understand it. Hence the blisters, for me it gets into my blood stream and I end up with what looks like and feels like a heat rash everywhere, takes some nasty steroids to clear it up. My mom would get huge blisters from it. Don't remember my dad ever having a reaction to it. One of my dogs was kind enough to share some with me about 10 years back, so it has been a while since I have had to deal with it.

 

[ericm979]

Roughly 1/3 of people are currently allergic to urushiol, about 1/3 people are not now but will become allergic when they have been exposed some more, and about 1/3 of people will never be allergic to it. I was in the middle 1/3 but now I'm in the first group. I have had it go systemic a few times. The course of steroids is unpleasant.

My property has a lot of poison oak. I've been able to deal with it by 1) learning to recognize it and watching for it always 2) wearing full clothing when working in the woods, no shorts or t-shirts 3) wash any exposed skin really well with Dawn dish soap, and 4) do not cut it with power tools.

When I have to cut it I use a set of loppers dedicated for the task. If I have to I will cut it into lengths with the loppers and use them to pick up the lengths and put them in a trash can to be disposed of elsewhere. It's laborious but it works.

Zanfel and Technu are expensive and don't work any better than Dawn. The Dawn is cheap so you can slather it on and really lift those oils. After a few hours the urushiol bonds with your skin so if you're working in PO you need to do a few hours at a time and then wash off.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Thanks for the replies. I saw that tree again today from a different angle then yesterday plus the sun was out today and I can see that the poison vine goes up the tree at least 16 feet not 6 like I had said yesterday, goes way up the other side of the tree.

No thank you...

 

[Mad Professor]

Poison ivy on my property, spray it Glyphsophate, spray it again on resprouts.

That **** is nasty

 

[Captain Bruce]

Leaves of three, leave it be.

I'm in the woods all time and
I'm not allergic to the Poison Ivy and Oaks but I respect it.
I do not saw on it, breathe the dust nor would be around burning wood when knowing that MIGHT HAVE/had Ivy on it.
As a kid I climbed trees that had the vines on the trees.

Best to not push your luck.
Get it into your lungs and you will start wondering why you did such for few sticks of wood.
Then when you start deep thinking about such YOU WILL SMELL WOOD BURNING. It's your block head.
Also the Sumacs bushes that make the white blooms is in same family as the Poison Ivy
s. The Red berry Sumacs are not so much. What is strange is Deer and goats eat the Poison Ivy's.

I've seen people that are very allergic to the Ivy's that could just look at it and break out around the eyes.
I've seen some very bad cases from Deer hunters that did not know about such and had sit down in it or just walked through Poison Oak patch and I've heard of (not seen) deer hunters that wiped with it when taking a dump in the woods.

If you get it on your body best to not bathe in bath tub due to the oil floating on top of water and spreading to rest of body.

Thats a mouth-full...

 

[Mad Professor]

Thanks for the replies. I saw that tree again today from a different angle then yesterday plus the sun was out today and I can see that the poison vine goes up the tree at least 16 feet not 6 like I had said yesterday, goes way up the other side of the tree.

No thank you...

Big vines I will take an axe or loppers and sever them, never chainsaw. Full clothing/gloves. Paint the stem with triclor or gylphosate. Hose down any foliage on severed stem going up tree trunk.

Wash clothes and tools. Treat any resprouts with more herbicide.

 

[fields_mj]

I don't get it very bad. Between cutting firewood and putting up deer stands, I've been around it a lot over the years, usually not on purpose. I can only remember 3 times of ever actually getting the rash. As others have said, best to avoid it. Personally, I'm willing cut it depending on the size of the vine. I chop it off at the base with an ax, tie a chain around it, and pull it out of the tree with a truck or tractor, then drop the tree and cut it for firewood. I also handle everything as log length which makes it easier to remove anything I've missed, and avoids any small stuff that might have broken off up in the top (small stuff). If I missed the vine to begin with (ie tree fell on its own), I basically do the same thing. I wear chaps which keeps saw dust out of my boots. I also wear gloves (atlas 300) which helps keep it off my hands. If I know I've been in contact with it, I'll wash my gloves off with some simple green and dish soap down and the creek on my way out.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Came home from work and saw that the landlord must've came by today and cut it up and hauled it away, so it is just a memory now. I just hope he or whoever cut it doesn't get it, I still see the vines with the shiny "leaves of 3" climbing all around the base of the tree and upwards!

Thanks for the replies!!

 

[tJKrider]

Wash any affected areas ASAP with cold water.

And scrub, scrub, scrub. Even if you don't have immediate access to soap scrubbing in a hard and vigorous manner has been shown to be very effective on its own...

 

[echomeister]

I grew up in the country swimming in the stuff every day. Last summer I was cutting poison ivy vines with chainsaw shirtless with the chips pelting my stomach and chest. Didn't have any issues. I wonder if the stuff varies in strength by region. It grows here in central Ky everywhere. There is no escape. Maybe that why I don't get it

 

[sean donato]

I grew up in the country swimming in the stuff every day. Last summer I was cutting poison ivy vines with chainsaw shirtless with the chips pelting my stomach and chest. Didn't have any issues. I wonder if the stuff varies in strength by region. It grows here in central Ky everywhere. There is no escape. Maybe that why I don't get it

I definatly think there's some component to being around it a lot. I was swimming in it taking bamboo down this past weekend and got 2 dots of it up near my left armpit. You just can't get away from it.

 

[Mad Professor]

I grew up in the country swimming in the stuff every day. Last summer I was cutting poison ivy vines with chainsaw shirtless with the chips pelting my stomach and chest. Didn't have any issues. I wonder if the stuff varies in strength by region. It grows here in central Ky everywhere. There is no escape. Maybe that why I don't get it

Don't press your luck.

I knew some who said the same. Weed wacked a patch in shorts and t-shirt. Next time he tried it, he looked like a 2nd degree burn victim all over.

 

[abbott295]

Chainsaw chaps are good protection from flying sticks and stones and poison ivy if you are weed whacking and it’s too hot to dress fully.

 

[Gumneck]

I never really got the full rash prior to an incidence I had with a pine tree that had alot of ivy leaves in the top. By the time I got to the top to remove it I had some scrapes on my forearms from being in short sleeves and probably a little too fast/careless to get the tree done and had to get the steroid to heal up.

Seems like having open wounds and the oil getting right in it made me breakout more than I did prior.
Maybe my imagination ?

Now if one spot breaks out on my hand, I'll get another somewhere else with a mild rash.

 

[Mike mike]

Poison ivy shows up on the weakest part of the skin first.
I get it bad to the point of a shot needs done within the hour..
The best thing is now I'm a decade older it no compromising my air way anymore.
And use antibacterial soap kills it quickly drys it out..

I had a situation where tree fill across the road It was raining I took my chainsaw and got the tree up not realizing that the fine of the poison ivy was all over it and splashing all over me.. that was a bad really bad
I was 18 at that time
To your point of trying to get rid of it spray with white killer let it die and then pull it off with printing shears or something you don't have to touch on ce and throw the clothes away.
And whatever you do don't burn the poison ivy It's going to nail the smoke in your lungs and end up getting poison ivy in your lungs.

 

[FrugalFirewoodDad]

Dish soap.

As a kid it was a nuisance only. Then I had an amssive exposure (long story) and now I get it worse than anyone I have every heard of. I've been hospitalized 3 times in my 20-30's (slow learner!)

I have found that washing with dish detergent immediately after exposure is as good or better than anything short of 100% prevention.

As mentioned here, once it sets in and bonds with your skin the real trouble starts. For some, no biggie. For others, nuisance. For a few, a medical emergency.

I keep dish soap and a gallon of water in my truck at all times. Its a blessing. Hands, arms, boots, pants, the whole shebang.

Upon exposure, rub it on near full strength, rub it in like suntan lotion, and then rinse off with soapy water.

 

[SS396driver]

I’ve never gotten a reaction from any of the poison ivy oak sumac etc . And at 64 I don’t think I ever will . But I still don’t burn it .

 

[Mad Professor]

Dish soap.

As a kid it was a nuisance only. Then I had an amssive exposure (long story) and now I get it worse than anyone I have every heard of. I've been hospitalized 3 times in my 20-30's (slow learner!)

I have found that washing with dish detergent immediately after exposure is as good or better than anything short of 100% prevention.

As mentioned here, once it sets in and bonds with your skin the real trouble starts. For some, no biggie. For others, nuisance. For a few, a medical emergency.

I keep dish soap and a gallon of water in my truck at all times. Its a blessing. Hands, arms, boots, pants, the whole shebang.

Upon exposure, rub it on near full strength, rub it in like suntan lotion, and then rinse off with soapy water.

^^^^^

What he said.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Trimmed a big shrub on Saturday that I got poison from before, didn't wear a long sleeve shirt, got it on my left elbow this morning. Maybe next time my empty head will remember to wear a long shirt.

If I'd had cut that tree at my neighbors I'd be in bad shape if I got it from this shrub. I know I hardly touched any of the shrub but I guess the trimmer throwing it around and stirring it up got me, very weird....

 

[tJKrider]

Upon exposure, rub it on near full strength, rub it in like suntan lotion, and then rinse off with soapy water

Scrubbing vigorously helps as well...