Pilot
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2004
- Messages
- 1,208
- Location
- Oregon
- Tractor
- JD 770, Yanmar 180D, JD 420 (not running), had a Kubota B6200
Keith came over with his blasting and gassing equipment. We used both methods and agree that gassing is better, although blasting is more fun.
What's needed: 1. Straight sulfur. Locally it comes in 50 lb. bags, with granules about 1/4 inch in diameter, maybe a little smaller. He had to order it at a local feed store, cost was $52. More than you'll use in a very long time, so share it with your neighbors and friends. 2. A sulfur dioxide respirator. He got his from a welding shop. Be sure it's rated for sulfur dioxide, the gas is nasty. 3. A weed burner & propane.
What you do: Find the hole in the mound, open it up a little to maybe 1.5-2" in diameter. Drop in about 2 heaping teaspoons of sulfur, light the torch and cook the sulfur to where it's brown and runny. You'll want a little roar from the torch to push the gas thru the tunnels. Soon after the SO2 starts cooking you'll see smoke coming from other mounds. Pay attention to the wind; you don't want to breath the stuff, even with the mask--it may not be 100% and the gas can irritate the eyes. And watch upwind, the smoke may be coming out of mounds behind you. Where we saw smoke coming out of the ground, Keith stepped on those spots to keep it in the tunnels and increase dispersal.
Be careful. About 10-20% of the population is hypersensitive to sulfur dioxide and it only takes 5-10 parts per million to cause symptoms. And it can irritate eyes and skin, so don't be casual with the stuff. Work on the upwind side of the hole and watch behind you.
The moles will be incapacitated with the first whiff and won't be able to block off the tunnel. They will probably get lethal doses pretty quick.
If your weeds or grass is dry, you may want to have a sprayer on hand to douse any fire that might get started.
Blasting: Keith blasted 4 or 5 tunnels. Once I felt a little thump under a foot, but it didn't amount to anything. I am sure it worked, but the equipment is spendy and the noise might disturb neighbors and you have a lot of stuff to buy and carry around--we used a wheelbarrow.
Henry showed Keith the sulfur method and Henry is kind of a carefree guy and doesn't use a mask. He caught a whiff of smoke and said his lungs were irritated for 2 weeks--so use a mask. Henry used the sulfur around our clubhouse where there were maybe 50 mounds and we were mole free for a few months--but they came back after awhile because we were surrounded by moles. So you gotta keep after them.
Blasting seems to be a little quicker. I didn't get a sense of how far the blast was effective. Henry says the gas will go as far as 50 feet, but we saw about 15 or 20 feet and maybe a little less with the blasting. But it may be effective for a longer distance than we saw.
So if you have a weed burner, all you need to gas them is the respirator and the sulfur and you are in business. A lot cheaper than the blaster.
What's needed: 1. Straight sulfur. Locally it comes in 50 lb. bags, with granules about 1/4 inch in diameter, maybe a little smaller. He had to order it at a local feed store, cost was $52. More than you'll use in a very long time, so share it with your neighbors and friends. 2. A sulfur dioxide respirator. He got his from a welding shop. Be sure it's rated for sulfur dioxide, the gas is nasty. 3. A weed burner & propane.
What you do: Find the hole in the mound, open it up a little to maybe 1.5-2" in diameter. Drop in about 2 heaping teaspoons of sulfur, light the torch and cook the sulfur to where it's brown and runny. You'll want a little roar from the torch to push the gas thru the tunnels. Soon after the SO2 starts cooking you'll see smoke coming from other mounds. Pay attention to the wind; you don't want to breath the stuff, even with the mask--it may not be 100% and the gas can irritate the eyes. And watch upwind, the smoke may be coming out of mounds behind you. Where we saw smoke coming out of the ground, Keith stepped on those spots to keep it in the tunnels and increase dispersal.
Be careful. About 10-20% of the population is hypersensitive to sulfur dioxide and it only takes 5-10 parts per million to cause symptoms. And it can irritate eyes and skin, so don't be casual with the stuff. Work on the upwind side of the hole and watch behind you.
The moles will be incapacitated with the first whiff and won't be able to block off the tunnel. They will probably get lethal doses pretty quick.
If your weeds or grass is dry, you may want to have a sprayer on hand to douse any fire that might get started.
Blasting: Keith blasted 4 or 5 tunnels. Once I felt a little thump under a foot, but it didn't amount to anything. I am sure it worked, but the equipment is spendy and the noise might disturb neighbors and you have a lot of stuff to buy and carry around--we used a wheelbarrow.
Henry showed Keith the sulfur method and Henry is kind of a carefree guy and doesn't use a mask. He caught a whiff of smoke and said his lungs were irritated for 2 weeks--so use a mask. Henry used the sulfur around our clubhouse where there were maybe 50 mounds and we were mole free for a few months--but they came back after awhile because we were surrounded by moles. So you gotta keep after them.
Blasting seems to be a little quicker. I didn't get a sense of how far the blast was effective. Henry says the gas will go as far as 50 feet, but we saw about 15 or 20 feet and maybe a little less with the blasting. But it may be effective for a longer distance than we saw.
So if you have a weed burner, all you need to gas them is the respirator and the sulfur and you are in business. A lot cheaper than the blaster.
