Sanitizing Pruning Tools

[GregManning]

The Internet says rubbing alcohol takes all of 10 seconds to have kill certain bacteria. Now as ghostice said it's best to know what pathogens you are trying to kill for each scenario and come up with a plan. I don't see why caring with you a small spray bottle filled with isopropyl alcohol would slow the production down dramatically.

As a human we have to live with our conscience, we have to pay bills and feed our family's. So when you work for someone else you might not have the luxury to take time to sanitize certain cuts. The only thing you can do is educate the owner of the trees, your employer and do your best. it would be one hell of a choice to quit your job over something like that. I have ran into people that don't care about anything but getting their view back and it doesnt matter what you have to do to the trees, as long as they have their view. I hate those situations and have seriously considered turning those jobs down. After some deep thought I think of it this way, I know i will do the least damage to the trees, and will give the trees the best chance they have. Luckily almost all my customers are amazing and they trust me 100% with thier trees and I can do what ever I need to, to finish the job.

The reason I have been interested in cleaning tools is that in my region slim flux runs rampant in our mesquite trees and I am trying to come up with the best possible program I can for those infected trees.

Does anyone have any insight into slim flux?

Be CAREFUL !
Alcohol may kill CERTAIN bacteria in 10 seconds.

However, it must pass bar oil, sap, etc.; then it must transfer thru saw dust debris, etc; etc

 

[ghostice]

Be CAREFUL !
Alcohol may kill CERTAIN bacteria in 10 seconds.

However, it must pass bar oil, sap, etc.; then it must transfer thru saw dust debris, etc; etc

True with all tools - dental and surgical tools as well. So years ago I tried to do a bit of a literature study on disinfection/ sterilization in arb work and kind of settled on cleaning my saws (not chainsaws) with ~98% isopropanol/ rags to remove sawdust/ sap etc. and then dousing the blade after cleaning, wait 5 min with a wet blade and then flame the blade (hard on retainer or "snug" nuts with plastic inserts). Mostly this was for black knot thinking it would get rid of spores, more or less. It's a bit of a mugs game anyway me thinks, because you could have a perfectly sterile blade and spores on the trunk wood you're cutting into and voila, infection (although there is such a thing as an infective dose in most pathogens I suppose). When cutting infected stuff though I tend to try stay away from chainsaws and stick to "cleanable" handtools. In thinking about this more, the medical metaphor for arbwork is probably dental work to me - trying to do sterile procedure in an environment festooned with all manner of badness. To this end, Alberta Dental College a few years ago came out with sterilization guidance for dental equipment that mandated use of a chlorine sterilization regimen (not just autoclaving) that got the dentists somewhat up in arms because it would have been so hard on their tools and instruments = frequent replacement and $$$. This was for concerns with, among other things, prions (infective proteins that are notoriously hard to eliminate). Probably at the far end of the sterilization regimens I mentioned in CDC or in American College of Pathology Guidelines for various bad things visited on us by the dark one.
Chlorine is harder on metal tools for sure. Have thought about a standup plastic pipe with an end cap, just filled with isopropanol (careful of fire hazard) where you leave cleaned off saw blades to soak for 15 min or >. You could rotate through the blades as you move thru the tree or from tree to tree. Also watch out for "clean saw blades, dirty saw scabbard" syndrome.
This thread leaves me pondering once again "aseptic tree technique"!
Cheers

 

[Mesquite]

Be CAREFUL !
Alcohol may kill CERTAIN bacteria in 10 seconds.

However, it must pass bar oil, sap, etc.; then it must transfer thru saw dust debris, etc; etc

in my thinking if you were in a tree with known disease you could easily spray some alcohol on you hand saw, or what ever tool then clip it to your belt and then go on your way to your next cut. by the time you get to the next place a minute or two have past and your tool is more steral than it was before. that alcohol sprayed on the tool will equally attack the bacteria on the bar oil, sap, etc.


ghostice, have you thought about sending some isopropanol down your scabbard? you could use a air gun and blow anything that will come out and then spray or squirt some isopropanol down the hole, and even hit it with your fire trick and then blow it out before the metal starts to melt. just a thought. then in the tree if your cutting heavily infested stuff you could not put your saw in the scabbard until you have cleaned the saw.

we wont be able to get every single bacteria there is out there on out tools, but with regular cleaning and cleaning after the real bad stuff. we are at least better off than not using any precautions. the tree's odds are better with human intervention being as clean as possible, over human cutting 100's of trees and never cleaning any of their tools before i stick something in me i give it the isopropanol and flame treatment and i have yet to have an infection or anything negative side effects that i have noticed. we play the odds game every day, its just moving the odds into ours/trees favor.

i hate just learning all this kinda stuff, but better late than never!

 

[ghostice]

ghostice, have you thought about sending some isopropanol down your scabbard?

I use a bottle brush, soap and boiling water to clean out the plastic scabbard at days end. But I don’t use it when trimming infected wood. Usually just clip handsaw to a pocket sling I keep as a “work station” in the canopy or hang from saddle. Have a look at the old links to CDC etc - bacteria are easy - fungi and esp spores are a lot tougher customers.
Cheers

 

[KentuckySawyer]

You're not realistically going to carry buckets of disinfectants in a work truck are you? If you're talking about "between trees" its likely an aerosol or nothing.

 

[Webfoot]

Barbicide is a neat idea - there's a link from their website regarding sterilants and fungal vs bacterial spores:
https://www.barbicide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/05/difficult_to_kill_pathogens_handout.pdf

This link is dead. Do you have a copy or know where to find one?

 

[ghostice]

This link is dead. Do you have a copy or know where to find one?

Sorry no I don’t - it was brought up in the thread by someone else - maybe phone up your local barber college program and ask em. I still use isopropanol 99%. Non medical grade ethanol (i.e. denatured ethanol) would probably work too. I’ve tried Everclear (etoh) for cleaning rope at someone’s suggestion here on Treebuzz - it works like isopropanol but is supposed to be safer for rope textiles.

 

[Birdyman88]

Since Barbicide was mentioned, I thought I'd bring this up.

Barbicide's active ingredient is dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (DBAC), part of group of biocides referred to as QUATS, or quaternary ammonium compounds. QUATS are widely used in many products, including health products, household cleaners, and commercial kitchen sanitizers. One product targeted to nurseries, Pace KleenGrow, uses a QUAT, Didecyl Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride (DDAC); and the product label has instructions for sanitizing nursery tools. I have also run across another QUAT product found at Sam's Club, Members Mark Commercial Sanitizer, which uses several QUATs, at lower concentrations than the KleenGrow, with didecyl diemethyl ammonium chloride (DDAC, same as Kleengrow) listed as one of those ingredients. I have been using the Sams product for a number of years in our home kitchen by recommendation of my son, who is a commercial cook. I have recently converted over to using it to sanitize my arborist tools. The advantage that I see is that it doesn't evaporate as easily as alcohol, and it doesn't ruin clothing as easily as bleach, making it pretty portable and easy to keep around in a spray bottle.

Let us know you're not a robot - Sam's Club

www.samsclub.com

 

[ghostice]

Pretty much the "bible" on current disinfection/ sterilization from CDC. Keep in mind what you're trying to get rid of - bacteria, encapsulating bacteria, fungal mycelia, fungal spores or other stuff . . . increasing in difficulty if sterilization is what you're after. Quats are used in hospitals for topical disinfection. Good note above.