New Branson 4720H owner

[ericm979]

i used my grapple yesterday to pull up a bunch of poison oak (also out of an oak tree I want to keep) and pile it out of the way.
Some of the stems were bigger around than my wrist.

The grapple stays on the loader unless I need a bucket or forks.

 

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i used my grapple yesterday to pull up a bunch of poison oak (also out of an oak tree I want to keep) and pile it out of the way.
Some of the stems were bigger around than my wrist.

The grapple stays on the loader unless I need a bucket or forks.

Poison oak surprises a lot of people with its different forms, they're used to seeing this little shrub and then I'm like, this 12 foot bush? That's some. That vine thirty feet up into the tree? Yep.

I used up be seriously sensitive to the stuff and gradually have become less so. I still react some but only to large amounts like when I've been wrestling with it.

Things I've found help: 1, use a moisturizer like Aveeno that has a silicone protectant in it on any likely exposed skin (helps keep your skin from absorbing the irritant oils) 2, if you one you're going to be exposed to a lot (whatever a lot is to you) pretreat with a tab of benadryl to block any initial inflammation and take another 12h later; 3, soap up with dawn dish soap before turning on water in the shower and then gradually dilute it with cool water as you wash and rinse, to avoid the pores of the skin opening and admitting any oils more deeply.

Last summer I cleared a large area of poison oak and managed to get only a couple dots of irritation despite the fact I'd been working in a t-shirt and pulling much of the stuff by gloved hand trying to get roots and all.

 

[Branson Bob]

Poison oak surprises a lot of people with its different forms, they're used to seeing this little shrub and then I'm like, this 12 foot bush? That's some. That vine thirty feet up into the tree? Yep.

I used up be seriously sensitive to the stuff and gradually have become less so. I still react some but only to large amounts like when I've been wrestling with it.

Things I've found help: 1, use a moisturizer like Aveeno that has a silicone protectant in it on any likely exposed skin (helps keep your skin from absorbing the irritant oils) 2, if you one you're going to be exposed to a lot (whatever a lot is to you) pretreat with a tab of benadryl to block any initial inflammation and take another 12h later; 3, soap up with dawn dish soap before turning on water in the shower and then gradually dilute it with cool water as you wash and rinse, to avoid the pores of the skin opening and admitting any oils more deeply.

Last summer I cleared a large area of poison oak and managed to get only a couple dots of irritation despite the fact I'd been working in a t-shirt and pulling much of the stuff by gloved hand trying to get roots and all.

Good stuff, thanks.

Yes it's the oil that gets you. I've had numerous losing fights with poison oak and poison ivy but don't seem to be developing any sort of tolerance for it.

There's an old wives tale about eating the stuff in order to establish a tolerance but I'm not going to test that theory.

 

[ericm979]

Supposedly the native peoples did that. I'm super allergic to it. I've had it go systemic and had to take powerful steriods to deal with it. Not fun. I considered ingesting some as a tea, which is what most recommendations seemed to use. However I found a few people who had an adverse reaction to that, with PO irritation on the inside. That really does not sound like fun.

After I work in it all my clothes go straight in the washing machine and I go in the shower and scrub any exposed areas long and hard with a lot of dish soap. I started doing it after seeing the video I'll link below. It mostly works. I'll get a little irritation but not major problems.

How to never have a serious poison ivy rash again - YouTube

 

[scatterlandsfarms]

Congratulations!

 

[Branson Bob]

Supposedly the native peoples did that. I started doing it after seeing the video I'll link below. It mostly works. I'll get a little irritation but not major problems.

How to never have a serious poison ivy rash again - YouTube

Thanks Eric.

Happy New Year!

 

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There's an old wives tale about eating the stuff in order to establish a tolerance but I'm not going to test that theory.

I've heard this as well. There's a "homeopathic remedy" which lets you do this in super small doses (smaller the better, in homeopathy! That Mitchell and Webb Look: Homeopathic A&E - YouTube) - Highland's Poison Oak Tabs. I've used them, and consider it possible that they get the credit for my considerably reduced sensitivity (I don't bother washing after casual exposure any more unless I'm otherwise dirty, only after I've been practically rolling in the stuff). Considering everything I've read indicates that sensitivity typically increases with age, and I used to be covered in rashes half the summer here and now I can pick the stuff and barely get itchy, something happened...

 

[scatterlandsfarms]

when I was a kid the older boys talked me into eating it and said if I did I would never be allergic to it . Well I ate quite a bit and got very sick , good part I can pick it, lick it ,rub it all over with no issues .. I was very lucky the buddy that was with me almost died and was in the hospital for a month . Older kids got a **** of whippin from their Dad , buddy was known as stupid kid from then on , me I was dang lucky and still don't know why me or any of my kids are immune to it .

 

[Branson Bob]

I've heard this as well. There's a "homeopathic remedy" which lets you do this in super small doses (smaller the better, in homeopathy! That Mitchell and Webb Look: Homeopathic A&E - YouTube) - Highland's Poison Oak Tabs. I've used them, and consider it possible that they get the credit for my considerably reduced sensitivity (I don't bother washing after casual exposure any more unless I'm otherwise dirty, only after I've been practically rolling in the stuff). Considering everything I've read indicates that sensitivity typically increases with age, and I used to be covered in rashes half the summer here and now I can pick the stuff and barely get itchy, something happened...

Thanks very much for the link. The stuff is really easy to spot out and I was an arborist for 10 years so I can't really explain why I blunder into it so often. Avoidance is the best prevention when possible. This winter though I'm trying to ensure "100 feet of defensible space" as suggested to those who live in wildland fire areas and there is tons of it behind our place. I might go this route.

when I was a kid the older boys talked me into eating it and said if I did I would never be allergic to it . Well I ate quite a bit and got very sick , good part I can pick it, lick it ,rub it all over with no issues .. I was very lucky the buddy that was with me almost died and was in the hospital for a month . Older kids got a **** of whippin from their Dad , buddy was known as stupid kid from then on , me I was dang lucky and still don't know why me or any of my kids are immune to it .

Wow... that reminds me of the pole scene in A Christmas Story.

Do you know for a fact that you were allergic to it before you ate it?

 

[ericm979]

I've been using 25% Garlon 4 in oil to kill PO. Spray a foot or 18" of the stem of a larger plant and it kills the whole plant. The usual foliar application of 1-2% Garlon 4 kills the leaves but if you fail to kill just a few leaves the plant survives and sprouts new leaves. The stem application takes 5-6 weeks to kill the plant but it works. Cutting the plant without killing it just makes it mad and it grows back quickly. I had a crew clear about 100' of old road that had 8' high PO bushes. They cut them down to the ground level. The plants keep sprouting new leaves from the stumps (and randomly on the ground). The 25% stem application doesn't work because there's not enough stem. When I can I prefer to kill the plants before pulling them out.

Of course often times it's a challenge getting to the stem!