Author Topic: hacking and squirting (Read 2686 times)

Splinter · « **on:** July 07, 2008, 02:49:11 pm »

Hi,

Have a mixed stand and would like to crop tree release white pine and red oak. Really I will release well formed dominants of any species except for hemlock and beech that are rocking along. I think diversity is a good thing.

The undesirables are mostly beech, red maple, and hemlock with some pine(crowding).
The white pine is really coming along and needs a little breathing room. Its kind of a surprise to me because I just didn't see it for years, now its everywhere, nicely formed and growing strong. Parts that got whacked 30 years ago are turning the corner from a thicket to a nice young forest.

What can I use to effectively hack n squirt beech, hemlock, and red maple without getting a license?

I am in NH and the undesirables are from 4-8" stems.

I have done a ton of reading, have a management plan, and worked closely with the forester who marked my last release/ harvest. I feel I can make good decisions about which trees to remove and which to leave.

Thanks

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #1 on:** July 07, 2008, 03:31:48 pm »

Triclopyr and 2,4-D are effective as hack and squirt treatments.

I recommend Crossbow, which is a blend of triclopyr and 2,4-D. You should be able to pick it up at any farm and garden store.

Riles · « **Reply #2 on:** July 07, 2008, 04:23:30 pm »

Different states have different requirements on restricted use pesticides. Your supplier will let you know if Crossbow is restricted in your state.

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #3 on:** July 07, 2008, 05:32:33 pm »

It just occurred to me that Crossbow is ineffective against conifers (that's why it's so popular down here - we southerners have a strange tendency to kill our hardwoods to promote pine growth

). You should mix in some picloram to kill your hemlocks. Grazon is a blend of picloram and triclopyr that would be very effective against the species you mention. Unfortunately, Grazon requires a pesticide license.

Splinter, if I were you, I would strongly consider getting a private pesticide applicator's license. Here in GA, you can go to any County Extension Office and watch a 3-hour video, then take a test. Nothing to it. Alternatively, you could get some Tordon 101R, which is a form of picloram which is not federally restricted. Mix the Tordon with some Crossbow and you're good to go.

WDH · « **Reply #4 on:** July 07, 2008, 10:42:34 pm »

I use Tordon and it is very effective. Be forewarned that it is non-selective, that is, it will kill anything that it comes in contact with. If you take care to confine the herbicide to the hack area, you are fine. It is great stuff. I mix mine 50:50 with water. I use Tordon 101 M. Not sure that you can get that without a license.

WildDog · « **Reply #5 on:** July 08, 2008, 07:35:30 am »

I use Tordon diluted and inject 2ml per cut, straight roundup if permitted usually works fine.

Apart from stem injecting you could try Basal barking, down here we mix Diesel with Starane (Fleuroxypyer) 20:1 and spray the bark for about 18inches from ground level, works a treat on honey locust etc.

Splinter · « **Reply #6 on:** July 09, 2008, 05:16:18 am »

Thanks all.

maestro · « **Reply #7 on:** July 10, 2008, 12:57:06 am »

Ok, dumb question time. How exactly do you deliver the chemicals to the tree? I've seen a hachet with built in delivery system and a spear looking thing that you can use to inject with. Can you also just rip a ring of bark off and spray/brush/squirt? Not planning to kill off any trees in the near future, just wondering how you do it.

beenthere · « **Reply #8 on:** July 10, 2008, 01:31:05 am »

Good questions.

I've done the hack and squirt, but found it cumbersome when using it on brush like our buckthorn. Getting into the base of the trunk to hack and then squirt requires pushing through the barbs. The buckthorn has needle-like 1-2" thorns. Now I use the bark spray, and can hit the buckthorn and other undesireables at a distance of at least a few feet. Carry one thing, rather than two.

I use Tahoe 4E, and find it works very well. Buy it on-line.

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #9 on:** July 10, 2008, 01:38:08 am »

FYI, Tahoe 4E is triclopyr

It's always good to know the chemical names, because there are so many brand names for the same chemicals, it gets very confusing

WildDog · « **Reply #10 on:** July 10, 2008, 06:19:50 am »

Quote

How exactly do you deliver the chemicals to the tree?

Maestro I usually use a small tomahawk, I have used the larger 3/4 axe size with the attached injector trigger but these days we can only kill trees back to 1990. For a six inch diameter tree 3 to 4 hits about waste height around the trunk then inject 2mls(not sure how to convert to fluid ounces) to inject I use a purpose built stainless steel injector made by Phillips Vet supplies that holds delivers up to 5ml. Any of the livestock injectors designed to deliver parasite control subcutaneously and conected to a backpac will do the job. For our trees down under it is important to test that the sap is rising before injecting

OneWithWood · « **Reply #11 on:** July 10, 2008, 10:31:12 am »

I am lazy so I don't do hack and squirt. I use a Triclopyr product called Garlon 4 mixed 1:4 with another base oil product called Ax-It. Applied as a basil spray it is very effective. Overspray or inadvertant damage to surrounding plants is minimized with a basal application, I believe.
I participated in a webinar sponsored by Cornell University, compiled by Peter Smallidge. In the webinar it was shown that by felling a beech and applying a herbicide (don't remember which chemical) to the cambium layer of the cut stump that the surrounding beech were 'flashed' or taken out as well. If you need to kill a lot of dense beech this method may be worth looking into as it seems to be cost effective and minimizes labor. I don't remember if other species are affected or if it was just the beech.

Phorester · « **Reply #12 on:** July 12, 2008, 08:58:15 am »

Don't know if these things are still available or not, but many years ago there was a tool called (I think) a tree injector that was very effective in doing the hack-and-squrit treatment.

It was a metal pipe about 5 feet long with a short ax-type blade at the bottom and a valve just above the blade. You'd fill the pipe with the chemical and set the valve to deliver how many milliliters of chemical you wanted to inject into each hack. Walk up to the tree, slam it down into the root flare, then push it against the tree while leaving the blade in the root flare. The valve would open against the tree trunk, the chemical would flow down the blade into the cut it had just made. Heavy, but the weight helped with cutting into the tree. Being a straight pipe it was easy to manuever in thick brush, and you just slammed it straight down into the base of the tree. Didn't have to swing it like a hatchet which could get hung up on vines and brush.

Another tool called a hypo-hatchet. Looked like a regular hatchet, but with a steel tube attached to the blade, which was attached with a plastic hose to a container of chemical on your back.. You'd set the valve at the end of the pipe to deliver the amount of chemical for each "hack", then chop into the tree at waist height. Inertia would open the valve and the chemical would be injected into the cut.

Ron Scott · « **Reply #13 on:** July 12, 2008, 12:06:01 pm »

We did many acres by using both methods when I was with the USDA-Forest Service. Both pieces of equipment are available through Forestry Suppliers. The tree injector has been improved and is now called the E-Z-Ject Lance. It uses capsules containing herbicide which can be injected directly into selected brush and trees.

WDH · « **Reply #14 on:** July 12, 2008, 08:44:03 pm »

On my property where I may be treating 10 or 15 acres at a time, I simply use a Forumla 409 Spray cleaner plastic bottle with the trigger that sqquirts out the cleaner. Works real good to deliver a squirt of herbicide. Hatchet in one hand and spray bottle in the other. Low tech, but cheap and effective on a small scale.

I am going to have to try OneWithWoods basal spray with ax-it and garlon. OWW, I assume that it works on most species that one wood (sorry

) treat with garlon as a foliar spray?

OneWithWood · « **Reply #15 on:** July 13, 2008, 08:47:07 am »

It has effectively killed everything I have used it on. Ailanthus, Multiflora rose, Autumn olive, honeysuckle (applied both as a basal spray and foliar), Paulonia, beech, spicebush, maple, blackberry and greenbriar. I started a three year program this spring to eliminate invasives on my property. Years two and three will be devoted to follow up of any regen that occurs.

I carry a couple of spray bottles on my belt when I am doing my inventory and spray as I go under the canopy where the infestations are light. I use a backpack sprayer in the openings, the log and barn yards and along trails. Sometimes I will return to an area with the backpack sprayer to work on beech sapplings if they are numerous.

WDH · « **Reply #16 on:** July 13, 2008, 08:57:35 pm »

Is the spray bottle a 25% solution for basal spraying or is it for foliar?

OneWithWood · « **Reply #17 on:** July 14, 2008, 08:28:42 am »

25% for basal spraying. I add a little extra blue dye so my old eyes can see if I have already sprayed something. I open the nozzle so I get a stream instead of a mist. You can be pretty accurate with the stream and not bend down as much.

customsawyer · « **Reply #18 on:** July 16, 2008, 08:55:24 pm »

Beware Tordon is soil active. If you have alot of stems in one area it can go through the soil and get the trees you are trying to release.

WDH · « **Reply #19 on:** July 16, 2008, 11:37:19 pm »

I have had very good results with Tordon. Like Customsawyer says, it is soil active, so discretion and tidiness is important. Keep it in the cut and on the bark of the target tree, and do not get it on the soil. Not for the faint of heart, and powerful if used right. Garlon is safer and not nearly as soil active.

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Author Topic: hacking and squirting (Read 2686 times)