What is it??

[Tom King]

In the process of cleaning out a building here that I had never gotten all the way into the back of, to  make room to store more stuff, I ran across two of these things.  I have no idea what they're for.  I've never needed to inject trees before.

Just curious, and if anyone has any need for them, you're welcome to them.  They're fairly heavy though, so shipping wouldn't be cheap.  I'm halfway between where I85 and I95 cross the Virginia/North Carolina border.

Otherwise, they're going on the scrap metal pile.  I couldn't find any with Google.  They're most likely something over 42 years old.



 

[bluthum]

I haven't seen one of those since the '60's. I bet it's even older than that by the way the address is printed, Atlanta 24, Georgia.

[Walnut Beast]

I hope it gets a new home. I would hate to see the vintage tool go to the scrap yard. Wall hanger or logging museum maybe

[beenthere]

One thing the tree injector was used for was injecting poison to kill the unwanted trees. 

[Tom King]

Okay, I'll hang them up high on a wall in there.  If anyone has a good place for one, let me know.

I cleared out a 12'x12' corner that I had never seen the walls or floor in.  The single useful thing I found was a Baldor grinder on a pedestal not bolted to the floor!!  It runs smoothly like they're supposed to.

[Ljohnsaw]

No Zip Code so pre 1963.

[Ron Scott]

A lot of TSI was done with them during the 1960's and 70's.

[Southside]

How did they work?

[beenthere]

The pick looks like one that the liquid to be injected is poured into the tube through the cap at the top. Then the knife edge end is jabbed into the tree under the bark. There is a spring at the end and the tube acts like a plunger that injects some of the liquid along that knife edge and under the bark. Believe several jabs on a tree depending on the diameter of the stem. 
TREE INJECTOR TREATMENT - YouTube

Don't know how effective it was but there was also an axe-like tool that was similar in the way it was used. Maybe some had a tube connected to a back-pack tank.

Hypo-Hatchet Tree Injector  |  Forestry Suppliers, Inc.

[Peter Drouin]

I wonder what that does to a saw blade when you hit it. And will that work to kill the fungus in a Hemlock to get rid of the shake?

[beenthere]

No metal left in the tree that is killed by these injections. Suspect they do dry out over time, and makes sawing or chipping require more energy.

[Ianab]

Mostly be for weed species, stab em and leave them to rot in place? Basically hack n squirt in one tool. 

[SwampDonkey]

The type I used where loaded with 22 calibre cartridges, which held glyphosate. We experimented on aspen. They were ineffective. Basically as I predicted, the cambium sealed off the cartridge. The end had a scraper to remove the bark, but the cambium plugged it anyway. Can't expect much flow when the cartridge effectively cuts flow off. Be way more effective drilling a hole at 45 into the tree and injecting into the hole. :D

[SwampDonkey]

To get rid of hemlock shake, you'd have to be rid of the sap suckers. If there is fungus involved, it's using a wound to enter it, probably caused by sapsuckers. Fungus is a decay organism.

And the adelgid on the needles is an aphid insect.

[Peter Drouin]

I forget the name of the fungus. But I though it came from the ground. 
More shake in the but log and less as I go up the tree.

[Don P]

Soil borne bacteria, I think it is one of the clostridium genus...
Looking it up to make sure using "genus" there was correct and got this;

Clostridium is a genus of anaerobic, Gram-positive bacteria. Species of Clostridium inhabit soils and the intestinal tract of animals, including humans. This genus includes several significant human pathogens, including the causative agents of botulism and tetanus. Wikipedia

It's a big, mostly bad, family. Don't go messin with the C's  :D

[Tom King]

It took a Man to carry and use these things all day.  Empty, they weigh about 12 pounds (mostly a steel pipe), and it takes a pretty good jab to activate the spring.  They look like they may hold something over a gallon of solution on top of that. These look like they may have been used on one job.

[Tom King]

Not only are these things still used, but there are several companies that make them.  They do have a different type of delivery system though.  A new Forestry catalog just came and they're in there.

Ez-Ject Lance, Arbor Systems | Forestry Distributing North America's Forest Products Leader

[Ron Scott]

Yes, they were bulky to use and needed a bit of storage room. Our crews preferred the hypo-hatchet to them.

[Texas Ranger]

Used those for a few years, then went too Hypo Hatchets. Got better productivity. Crew liked them a LOT better.

[SwampDonkey]

From what I have read on western hemlocks, and they suggested same in eastern hemlock, it's anaerobic bacteria and not a fungus. It causes a condition in the heart wood called 'sinker heartwood' where moisture content is much higher than in the sapwood. It is mostly in old growth hemlock, infrequent in younger hemlock. I never saw where they identified the bacteria by species, they said there are several species involved. It infects the bordered pits (doughnut shaped structure) of the wood cells in the conducting tissues that allow water to move from cell to cell. Bacterial enzymes weaken bonds between cells. The bacteria helps form incrustation of extractives on the bordered pits, which basically causes uneven drying and not the method of drying or kilning procedure.

[source] https://www.fpl.fs.usda.gov/documnts/pdf1975/ward75a.pdf