Sycamore dust

Dave Shepard

Dave Shepard

Square peg, round world.
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
Messages
6,652
Location
Alford, MA
We were cleaning up around the home base today and we had to take out a sycamore stump that had sprouted into a rather nice giant mess about 12 feet tall. I fired up the saw and went into it swinging and slashing and came right back out coughing, hacking and choking.:lol: Anyone else ever get choked out cutting this stuff? I've felled sycamore before, as well as milled and planed it. I have been mildly irritated by the dry dust before, but this time I thought it might kill me.:O I had read that the dust from platanus species was an irritant, but never experienced it before.
 
Saturday I had to go upand clear two small sycamore limbs from a street light. By the time I got to the second limb I was sneezing and coughing and spitting up phlegm. Seems like this is the right time of year for them. Certain times of year I can cut them with no issues.
 
I always wear a dust mask when working on them. This was copied from here. The guy I bought the truck from would hose down the brush before chipping it.

While sycamores make magnificent, fast-growing shade trees, a couple down-sides warrant note. The large leaves make for autumn raking work. Also, the fuzzy brown stellate (star-like) hairs on the young leaves and stems can be irritating to the skin and eyes, especially in late spring when this pubescence is shed from the leaves.
 
Eyes and nose run pretty bad usually in summer when cutting them.
doesn't seem to bother much in winter.
 
I wont climb them if the leaves are still on. Tell folks to call back end of November
 
Anthracnose. Seems seasonal because it is caused by damp/water.
Curling leaves with a dusting of whhite powder. Causes premature leaf drop in the spring, but their is usually a 2nd. leaf flush.

Can hasten 'witches broom'.

Micro injection of phospo-jet is more effective than topical spraying but only a propholactic (sp) so has to be done each year.

Recommend tulip tree instead unless you live in a nice climate for the sycamore
 
that is one tree I absolutly hate to prune or remove. We installed sprayers on our chippers for just that reason and dead walnut dust.
 
Saw a branch busted on a plane tree down the street today, pole saw and pruners.

Even staying upwind, by the time I got back to the car, 30 min. I was hacking...brutal stuff.

Guess it was on my clothes.
 
Never forget a new climber i had hired , he said he wasent allergic to anything.So on a hot july day we put him in a sycamore.He got down and his lips were like Angalina Jolie, he looked in a mirror in near panaic.
Hahaha, we had a great laugh.
 
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