My crew is going to be working on a maple tree inBuffalo and it has poison ivy or poison oak right up all the way 30 feet. what should we do before w

Make sure whoever climbs it is prepared to get poison ivy... Some people are immune... if you can have the homeowner or you cut the vines at the base a few weeks before that would help. Sometimes if the situation allows, you can pull the vines off the trunk enough to get a webbing sling choked tight around all the vines and pull them off with a winch. That usually isn't going to work for a variety of reasons, but sometimes you get lucky
 
When we get those jobs, everyone looks to me to do the work. I rarely get a very mild case of it, even after bear hugging trunks covered in the stuff.

Others that I work with will apply sunscreen before and baby powder to attempt to create a barrier. Then wash with gojo and alcohol based hand sanitizer afterwards.
 
Enjoy not being itchy.

Seriously, is it a removal? Thoroughly washing in hot soapy water as soon as possible afterwards greatly reduces any reaction I may get. Just be sure to take precautions if you have to generate any poison ivy sawdust that can get into eyes or lungs.

Personally, I am able to turn down working on poison ivy trees so that's what I do.
 
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Jehinten said:
When we get those jobs, everyone looks to me to do the work. I rarely get a very mild case of it, even after bear hugging trunks covered in the stuff.

Others that I work with will apply sunscreen before and baby powder to attempt to create a barrier. Then wash with gojo and alcohol based hand sanitizer afterwards.
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We keep dawn dish soap In our trucks
 
Unless someone in the crew is highly allergic to poison ivy, I wouldn’t sweat it too much.

I’d be most concerned about treating my clothing afterwards since household members can get it indirectly…and they might complain
 
Reach said:
We keep a tub of those shop grease towels in the trucks, like baby wipes on steiroids. They’re a little expensive the way some guys use them, but they seem to work pretty well.

I like the Dawn idea, but what do you do about water? We don’t always have water access on our jobs.
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99% of the time we have access to a hose
But if not a couple extra water bottles go along way
 
I'd cut the vines and treat the stubs now and tell them we'll take care of the tree next year. Or, I'd pass.

Maybe another day I'd give a different answer (and end up regretting it), but last Monday was doing some forest improvement work that involved a clearing saw and couldn't cut what we needed without hitting PI. Both legs (through pants - guess that is what I get for turning it into sauce), both arms, back of the neck.

I HIGHLY recommend Zanfel. Since I've started using it - wash 2-3x per day for 2 days as soon as you notice any hint of a rash - It hasn't gone to blisters on me.
 
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Zanfel is the best medicine hands down we’ve found but the dawn dish soap immediately after your done even at lunch
Dawn takes the oils off and we’ve had amazing results
 
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Tyvek suits

Lots of water and soap available at all times

Everyone brings a change of clothes. Make arrangements with the client to use their garage or setup a privacy tent so that everyone changes out of their work clothes and puts them in plastic bags before leaving the job site.

Don't cut through vines with the chainsaw. That sprays sap over everything. Be neat.

Postpone the job until cold weather if possible.
 
VenasNursery said:
99% of the time we have access to a hose
But if not a couple extra water bottles go along way
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99% of the time we have access to poison ivy on the job site.

If it’s not a removal, see if you can get a safe TIP that is not plumb with the trunk so you don’t have to brush past it on your way up and down.

If not, grin and bear it, come home and wash up. This is a frequent occurrence for me.
 
Stumpsprouts said:
99% of the time we have access to poison ivy on the job site.

If it’s not a removal, see if you can get a safe TIP that is not plumb with the trunk so you don’t have to brush past it on your way up and down.

If not, grin and bear it, come home and wash up. This is a frequent occurrence for me.
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Same here. We have it everywhere
 
I'm amazed at how common it is for homeowners to let poison ivy take over their trees. English ivy too. I guess many folks just don't do anything outdoors, don't care about maintaining their property, have no plant/tree knowledge and/or don't have the ability to do outdoor activities. I'm sure many people just never find the time to take care of such things. I think a lot of people are just lazy too. I've had some jobs where I had to pick up the bigger pieces of broken glass before starting work. Blows my mind how some people live.
 
Reach said:
We keep a tub of those shop grease towels in the trucks, like baby wipes on steiroids. They’re a little expensive the way some guys use them, but they seem to work pretty well.

I like the Dawn idea, but what do you do about water? We don’t always have water access on our jobs.
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I upcycle liquid laundry detergent dispenser containers, the ones with the little push button to dispense the detergent. When cleaned and refilled with water and set on the tailgate with a bar of soap and a roll of paper towels, they make a very effective, and free, hand washing station.
 
It never hurts to clip the vines a few weeks prior. Even if the oils are still present, you'll have much less contact with the dead foliage than you would if it was thriving. If a customer agrees to do work while I'm still on site, I'll usually get permission and just clip them right there before I leave. Most of the time it's like 5 minutes with some loppers, 10 minutes on the bigger stuff with handsaw and pry bar.
 
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