Poison Ivy vines the size of my forearm...

[svk]

Cut them now and get the degrading process going. Also brush the stumps with a herbicide so they don’t come back.

I’ve cut them off at the stump when I’ve cut trees in the winter then came back the next fall and they grew 6’ the first summer after being cut. They pile up on the stump and reach for the sky!

 

[mountainguyed67]

Grows like a weed, and hard to kill.

 

[morewood]

I'm a survivor. When I was much younger I was with a group who knew nothing of PI. As a kid I didn't either. They built a campfire over a PI root system. I don't remember any of it, but my dad told me he had to take me to the hospital. I'm still fairly allergic. My general go to is Triamcinolone, my last prescription they gave me five tubes of it. Cut it, pull it off.

Shea

 

[BuckthornBonnie]

+1 on cutting it at the base with a dedicated axe while wearing ppe (gloves, glasses, junk clothes, long sleeves!).
Like said above, it will dry out over a summer and eventually can be pulled off. Treat the vines, tendrils, etc. as hazardous waste lol. I put them in brush piles to rot away. Brush piles are good for wildlife.
Toss the gloves and clothes if you can, clean up the axe with soap/water, and take a shower with a good degreaser soap. I’ve even taken the Dawn in with me when I know I’ve been exposed.

 

[SS396driver]

Guy around here rents out his goats to local orchards to get rid of poison ivy.

 

[mountainguyed67]

Guy around here rents out his goats to local orchards to get rid of poison ivy.

I’ve heard of goats being used for that, some say it’s their favorite food.

 

[Woody912]

I completely agree with this, however even dead poison ivy 10 yrs old can still get you. Especially if it is as big as you are describing. The problem I can foresee though is that it WILL grow after you cut it. So cut a big gap in the vine at the ground all the way around the tree. Then monitor it so that the vine coming from the ground doesn't regrow back up the tree. That crap is horrible and relentless.

Agree, I cut it with an axe to keep the chips from flying and frequently will grab it with channel locks and peel it from the tree. In his case loop it with a rope tied to a tractor and drag it somewhere. PI chips in your gloves are bad news even in the winter time. Drown your stumps in Crossbow, Tordon or equivalent.

 

[Woody912]

I would treat the tree and vines as hazardous waste, and get rid of all of it.

I cut an oak once, that must have had poison oak growing on it at one time. The first I knew was when I woke up at 3 am like I was on fire. My forehead, forearms, and belly were thick with red rash. I used my shirt sleeves to wipe the sweat off my brow, and carried the logs against my belly. I still processed it, thinking it would go away. Three years later I still got a rash when I handled it, I ended up throwing it away.

no reason to waste the tree, PI can be dealt with

 

[mountainguyed67]

no reason to waste the tree, PI can be dealt with

It’s risky, I don’t imagine a customer wanting it if they knew where it came from. That poison oak oil transfers, the saw will transfer it all the way through, after picking it up on the bark. So after removing the bark, both cut ends will be contaminated. Maybe cut it again with a clean bar & chain. When pulling the logs out of the bark, they can’t touch the ground in the area it came from, or the outside of the bark. Tedious, and there’s still likely to be some contamination. Nobody’s perfect.

Or I suppose you could remove the bark with an axe before you saw to length, but the axe will also transfer the oil.

 

[U&A]

If it truly is poison ivy it is 100% not worth the risk.

Stay away.


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

 

[Justsaws]

If you think you have been exposed to poison ivy, as soon as possible, take a top down shower using...
as cold water as possible, warm to hot water makes the pores in the skin expand,
use a basic dishwashing liquid such as Dawn, AJax, etc., avoid dishwashing liquids with skin conditioners,
soft wash cloth or sponge, something that helps create a bunch of suds without abrading the skin,
wash, do not abrade the skin.
wash all of your body, top down, never go back up
Rinse, repeat. Might use warmer water second time around, especially if sweating or working wet.
Dry off.

Many dishwashing liquids contain ammonia, if you are sensitive to ammonia check the ingredients.

It takes time, so take your time and wash throughly.

Drink some water, make sure to keep well hydrated. Not a time for alcohol.

Wash all affected clothing with hot water, detergent, no fabric softener. Rinse and repeat. Most washing machines do a poor job of rinsing so if an extra rinse per complete cycle is an option, use it. Do not use extra soap as it will not rinse out.

You are trying to remove a thin oil residue from your skin and clothes, without doing additional damage. Be careful of over scrubbing, abrading, scratching and or drying out the skin. Try not to get any additional cuts or scrapes until you are past the normal reaction time.

Burning poison ivy is extremely horrible, do not do it.

I would cut those vines with a large pair of lopers in two places at least a foot apart. Pull the vines off next winter. I do not use saws or striking tools because of splashing and dust. You do not want to breath the dust or aerosolized oil, let alone get it in your eyes.

 

[Hard_Yakka]

Poison Ivy, Poison Oak == Contact Dermatitis which can present itself both externally and internally (smoke). If you get a bad case of skin contact imagine your lungs with smoke inhalation or esophagus if you somehow swallow the oil. Yes folks die even using significant amounts of steroid therapy (Depo, Pred, etc) with internal exposure.
As 'Just Saws' said, wash thoroughly with cold water and if you get a dose continue to use cold water. There are commercial products like Technu (originally developed for radioactive decontamination) that's pretty effective if you use it shortly after exposure. There are now pre-exposure wipes that have reasonable effectiveness also.
IMHO and clinical experience after 15 years and leaving the medical profession my father suggested Fels Naptha soap, this was like 30 years ago when we owned 100 acres of POak. I could just imagine a few old colleagues snicker, almost like the "Windex Dad" in a movie, (movie was not out when he suggested it but reminds me of it to this day) I thought he was being, well, silly. Now 30 years later and 200 acres of PO we use only Fels Napha and yes, I'm sure it's taking off a layer but it almost has a perfect record with us. Works up to a number of hours post exposure too and we wash a second time awhile later with it depending on exposure. Cheaper and goes farther than Technu, which we still have on the self but threw out one bottle last summer, as the solution had turned yellow it was so old.

Not one method works all the time killing POak. We either spray (Triclophor 3A, MSM), mow, or just plan cut it out leave it on the ground and mow/mulch the vines (with mulching head not chipper) after it's been exposed to the sun a good while.

Winter is best for us as the plants have pulled back and the leaves are gone. With POak at least the more shine the leaves have the more oil (active agent) there is which means we stay further away.

Just like life everyone's sensitivity is different. A couple of folks we know that walk/work in the stuff all the time and rarely get effected. I vaguely remember a study that did suggest constant exposure does decrease sensitivity, it's just getting that exposure would be very hazardous to us.

 

[ericm979]

I have a lot of poison oak on my property. Cutting the stem just makes the roots mad. It will grow back quickly. Plus if you are allergic like I am you just sprayed poison all over yourself and your tools.

I spray the stem with a solution of 20-25% Triclopyr (Garlon 4) in diesel. Just enough to wet the stem for 18" or so. It takes a few weeks to a month but it kills the entire plant including the roots. Even when the leaves are 50' up in the tree. I have had some luck pulling big PO plants out of trees using a tractor with a grapple. It's hit and miss though as the grapple's teeth are sized for brush and trees. When it works it's great as you can then use the grapple to pick up the PO and put it somewhere safe to rot.

 

[Chris Cringle]

I would caution against cutting the vines with a chainsaw. It fills the air around you with a cloud of the urushiol. My advice would be, skip these trees. Easy for me to say, I am blessed with lots to pick from. If you must have this wood, I would use a hatchet or hand saw to sever the vine above and below where you plan to cut with your chainsaw. Then remove that segment of vine with tools you later wash with mineral spirits. Then like others have said, let the blocks age until the bark is falling away.

 

[chipper1]

Depends on how soon you are taking the trees down. I cut the vines a good while before taking trees down. The vine dies and then comes off pretty easy when dead. You Stihl need to be careful if you are really allergic to it.

This.

If it is gonna be a year I would cut them now. Yes they should just about fall off when you have the trees dropped. Being dead should also help lessen your risk as the sap will be dry.

This.

You could just cut the logs to length and stack them for a year. Then the bark (and the PI vines with it) will just about fall off when you move the logs. Might stack away from your normal splitting area and move the bare logs when ready to buck and split. Black locust will still be solid for years. That may only work if you have equipment to move the logs. Can still do it with the stack in your normal splitting area but then you'll have vines and bark to deal with there.

This also applies if you can't get all the vines off now anyway. Seems to me the vines hold on pretty good even after they are dead.

This, especially the parts about the bark falling off and the wood lasting yrs, I will add that it will be there after you're long gone.

definitely don’t burn it Either in a bonfire or in your stove. The oil in the smoke can get inside your lungs and it’s a chemical burn in a very slow way to die so I’ve read. I am very allergic to contact and the technu soap helps but apparently the key is a lot of mechanical scrubbing with a washrag no matter what kind of soap you use

This.

, however even dead poison ivy 10 yrs old can still get you.

I've never heard of this, I've always been told two yrs max.

Or could come down and cut it now for you . I'm not allergic to it, I only charge half of the locust

I'm in my 60s never had it

This sounds like a great deal.

So what did you do.
I would cut the vines off with the top of the bar so it sprayed the chips/oils away from me.
In the fall you can cut(or re-cut) them off and put Tordon RTU or Garlon on as mentioned above. Doing this in the fall will cause the PI to draw the killer in, any other time of the yr it will not be absorbed as well.

We usually just cut the vine at the base, cut again 3ft up, remove vine with a peavey and fell.

I use this method when I need to fell one as I don't want the chips/oils spraying on me, then when bucking the logs I don't cut the vines with the bottom of the bar. The good thing is that locust bark will fall right off within a yr or two and all the PI with it.

Unfortunately one downside of black locust is PI, but if you can get past it it sure makes great firewood.