What to use to kill poison ivy?

[Brad_bb]

Need to kill a few poison ivy vines in a particular area so I'm not rubbing against them in the future.  They are about the diameter of a nickel.  What is the best way to kill them?  If you tell me Round up, does it have to be when foliage is out?  It's lost it's leave for this year already. So would I have to wait for spring?

[OldMasterTech]

I sit safely in my tractor cab, put the tip of one fork against the base of the vine and cut it off. They don't seem to grow back, at least from the cut stem.

[curdog]

http://ohioline.osu.edu/for-fact/0045s.html
Here's some good info on herbicide application. I've used basal bark treatments for poison ivy and wisteria with good success.

[Sixacresand]

In my case, I would just avoid the poison ivy area completely.  The foresters here can tell you how to kill it, chemically.

[Magicman]

Whack it off low and spray the "stump" with your herbicide.

[MattJ]

I have done what magicman said many times with vines up over 4" in diameter.  Cut it with a handsaw as I didn't want the chainsaw to send mist my way, and then I carry around a small bucket of concentrated 40% roundup with an old paint brush.  Cut it and paint it.  Works for me in the fall including on sweetgum.  Might not work in the middle of winter when no sap is moving.

[ely]

the higher percentage of glyphosate on a cut stump seems to work well anytime for me... mix some garlon4 with diesel for a basal treatment of the intact stems for a quicker easier route...I use 20 oz in a two gallon pump up sprayer... be sure to use the mixture up and rinse the sprayer or the diesel will eat the seals in the pump.
and by higher percentage on the glyphosate I mean 50 / 50 of the 41% chemical.

[sandhills]

I've used Grazon successfully before but in the spring, the power company came to our old place this summer and took trees out along the powerlines they were using Garlon 4 Plus I believe on stumps.  They also sprayed a few standing erc and wanted me to let them know how it worked, one was over 6' and it fried it, the smaller ones were gone in a couple days.

[StimW]

For anyone who doesn't know, NEVER BURN IT!!
What effects you from Poison Ivy is the oil in the plant. When burned the oil becomes vapor and can be inhaled. It could be deadly!

[WV Sawmiller]

   I keep a hatchet in the basket of my 4 wheeler and cut them off low. I also use it to cut everything that looks like a cocklebur.

   Goats work fine on the green vines.

[florida]

Poison ivy is real easy to kill. Usually just cutting it off does the trick but sometimes using a Brush Killer from HD or a hardware store might be needed. I usually chop in the vine  in half right above the ground and let nature take its course. It rots quickly so in two years or so it's all gone. Wipe your blade off with gas or any solvent to make sure you don't get it on a week later.

[Brad_bb]

Thanks everyone!

[DanG]

I've had good luck with a product called Brush-B-Gone.  I think it's from Ortho. It is readily available from any of the big box stores, including Walmart.  It works good as a stump killer too.

[beenthere]

X2 on that product, like DanG it is good.

[Claybraker]

Basal spray with Garlon 4 works anytime of the year, as long as the bark or whatever that hairy covering on poison ivy vines is called. With the right equipment, you won't have to get any closer than about 6'.

I cut one once, and a chunk of wood got caught under my watch band. It was bad.

[mesquite buckeye]

Just cut it with your chainsaw with the outgoing side of the bar and almost all the spray will go away from you. If you want to reduce  poison ivy in your woods you need to reduce the seed production. Most of that happens along fencerows and high in the trees. If you keep the ivy from getting into the brightly lit part of the canopy, very little seed production occurs. If you can keep it low and weak the deer will help a lot with reducing it. Keeping seed production low reduces new colony formation. Tordon does a fine job on killing vines but don't spill it against the tree. I have hurt them that way.

[Howdy]

Somehow I have always used "natural" methods...

I wander through the woods enjoying the beauty of nature, exploring each leaf and twig seeking oneness with nature.  Then I spend a week or two suffering from the allergic reaction hoping not to need to spend another week in the hospital like the last time, I send someone else to find the Poison Oak or Ivy.  Seldom fails unless I don't listen to the wife and take another walk. 

[mesquite buckeye]

Ivarest is great stuff for getting rid of it after you are itching. It works by decoupling the active itch maker from your skin. Best thing I have tried outside of not getting into the poison ivy in the first place.

[PASS_AUF]

Garlon 4 is some real good stuff but if there's only a handful of vines that need to be treated I'd buy Tordon. A quart bottle of Tordon is about 15.00 by me, lots cheaper than Garlon 4. I've heard laundry detergent works well on fresh exposure and is something everyone's got laying around. I can't say I've ever tried that trick, I don't think I'm allergic to ivy, I've never had it before.

[Al_Smith]

A good sharp axe will cut it slick as grease on a door knob . Plus there are no chips .

I have skin as tough as rhino hide and the stuff doesn't bother me for some reason .However my wife ,RIP could not even handle clothing that came in contact with it .As such I disrobed in the garage if I came in contact with it and washed my clothes in a second washing machine she never came in contact with .Ya gotta do what ya gotta do at times.

[Chuck White]

There's quite a bit of P.I. in this area and it don't seem to bother me either, and I know I've come in contact with it!

[slider]

The stuff is dormant for up to 4 years so be careful if you saw logs with it on them.It is worse after it dries.