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WEED TWISTER
Weed Control In Your Hands!

Reduce your use of costly herbicides with this smart and safe Ailanthus weed killer-control helper and alternative in selective lawn and garden areas.  Avoid chemical overkill with safe organic weed removal tool!

Weed Twister - Now Stronger, Longer!

WEED TWISTER Strong and Deft Weed Deterrence - Muscles Optional- Chemicals Obsolete
 Pricing - Discounts

Ergonica WEED TWISTER vs. Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus Altissima)

Which Weed Twister Model is Best for You?

Need a Tree Weed Twister?  See this Powerful Sapling and Woody Plant Puller in Action!

Save Time and Effort with the Turbo Weed Twister!

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Ever try to remove a 5-foot Ailanthus Altissima tree with an ordinary weed puller or popper?  With roots as long as 12-24 inches, very few tools can get deep and dirty to this depth like the Ergonica Weed Twister.  Whatever you do, don't let the Tree of Heaven roots get into your foundation, hardscape or sidewalks!  Also, never use a weed wacker or other tools to cut off the top part of the stem above the ground. If you do, we have found by tests that this will result in a thicket of 5-6 new sprouts per each chopped off stem popping up the very next season. And the roots will be bunched up into a deeper and thicker mass! Note:  For deep roots, the 42-inch or the 60-inch T-Handle Weed Twisters with the 8-inch T-Handle Extension Kit (for 2-handed twisting) are recommended as well as the Turbo Weed TwisterWhy not both? A lot of small and large tree weeds can be most efficiently removed by using your Turbo Weed Twister to whip out the smaller suckers and having the T-Handle Weed Twister at hand just in case your drill can't cut the mustard for larger weeds or tough soil.  With the Weed Auger Twister T-Handle Adaptor Accessory you can transform your drill-powered tool into a T-Handle tool and have it both ways. You can also quickly clear the soil of any root remnants with the Turbo Weed Twister.  This is the way to go if you need to quickly remove a lot of tree weeds of various sizes.  See the videos below to get a better picture of how these tools actually work.

Turbo Weed Twister

Root Assassin

See video clips of how to quickly remove Tree of Heaven suckers and other tree weeds with the Turbo Weed Twister.  Let your drill do the twisting!  Note that the Turbo Weed Twister is also used to seek and destroy any remaining roots after the initial plant removal.  This is especially important for root suckers such as Ailanthus Altissima. The PullerBear is another heavy duty weed puller to consider, especially for larger trees, although it costs about twice as much as the Turbo Weed Twister and is made in Canada. The Root Talon and Root Jack are also heavy duty root pullers in this class. As shown in the video above, a very versatile tool is the Root Assassin , a combo shovel and saw for cutting and pulling roots and limbs, as well. See examples of T-Handle Weed Twisters shown below that also do the job. More options include various demolition or tactical tools such as Pry Bars like
Halligan Crossover
that can be ordered at various sizes from our partners. Click on pry bar types above to see samples. Attaching a suitable Pipe Clamp to your pry bar near the bottom end can help to use your foot to push it deep into the soil and also grab the soil surface for more leverage. You can also attach a Crossover Clamp or pipe with clamps like the one shown above for even more leverage. Use your imagination. The benefit of clamps vs. welding is that the clamps can be adjusted to different positions whereas welded parts are fixed. Some Weed Twister users who also use the PullerBear have reported that the Weed Twister is useful in loosening the soil so that the PullerBear does not break off just the top of the tree. So the Weed Twister can also be regarded as a PullerBear Helper! This is great, but please be warned that: Using your Weed Twister as a pry bar is not recommended due to excessive stress applied in ways the tool is not designed to withstand. It's best to use the T-Handle Weed Twister or Turbo (Drill Powered) Twister to loosen the soil by twisting around the excessively large tree root, not prying beneath it. The Pry Bars, mentioned above, can also be helpful as PullerBear Helpers and can withstand more angular stress than the Weed Twister. With the right pry bar and pipe clamp, you may not need either the PullerBear or the Weed Twister. If you're facing a mini-forest of Ailanthus altissima, you know it's time to explore your options, including heavy machinery like a Tree Stump Grinder, for example. These and more weeder options, including shovel-saw hybrids and farm jacks are explored and compared in detail on the Ergonica Weeder Features page.

See more Weed Twister Videos!

The trick is to catch these invasive Tree of Heaven weeds (Ailanthus Altissima) before they grow beyond 4-5 feet in height.  It only takes a few months before they spring up to this level.  Measure the plant by the length of the 48-inch Industrial Weed Twister

Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven   Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven   Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven

The 48-inch Weed Twister is powerful medicine against Ailanthus as shown in these photos. Once centered over the main tap root, 2-3 rotations of the WEED TWISTER sapling puller will extract the major portion of the primary root system.  If portions of the roots remain in the soil, they will most likely germinate by the next season.

Ailanthus Altissima Tree Puller - Small Tree Twister

Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven   Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven   Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven

No harsh chemicals are needed to control the spread of the invasive Tree of Heaven weed and other large woody plants with roots as wide as 1.5 inches in diameter.  It only takes a minute or two to remove each tree, roots intact.  The 48-inch WEED TWISTER model is ideally suited for this job.

Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven  Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven

Ailanthus roots often curve in various directions under ground, which may require several penetrations with the WEED TWISTER to find the main root system.  At the far right photo this tool successfully extracted a long root that was largely prostrate.

Sent to Hades with this Tree of Heaven Removal Tool!

Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven  Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven  Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven

Tree of Heaven weeds often grow in clusters and will create a thicket of trees, or an ailanthus forest,  if left unattended.  Several such thickets are near this property and spread their seeds each year.  It only takes a few minutes to extract a half dozen such trees with this tool. 

Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven  Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven  Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven

Ideally, the ground should be soaked with water at least an hour before attempting to screw the WEED TWISTER deep into the ground.  In this case, even in dry soil, the tool was successful  in removing a Tree of Heaven with a height of about two feet.

Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven  Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven  Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven

It's always a good feeling to see a good length of roots wrapped in the WEED TWISTER coils.  If it looks like only a portion of the roots were removed, it's a good idea to fish around with the tool for additional strands of roots, which may wind in a number of unexpected directions.

Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven  Weed Twister vs. Tree of Heaven

Cutting alone is usually counter-productive because ailanthus responds by producing large numbers of stump sprouts and root suckers...

 

 

 

 

 

 

What types of weed removal tools do you need?

Identify Noxious Weeds in your state or region with photos and features...

How to Control Tree of Heaven Invasion?

Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Work Group

Tree-of-heaven, also known as ailanthus, Chinese sumac, and stinking shumac, is a rapidly growing, deciduous tree in the mostly tropical quassia family (Simaroubaceae). Mature trees can reach 80 feet or more in height.  Young seedlings may be pulled or dug up, preferably when soil is moist. Care must be taken to remove the entire plant including all roots and fragments, as these will almost certainly regrow. Root suckers appear similar to seedlings, but would be connected to a pre-existing lateral root, and would be nearly impossible to remove effectively.  Cutting alone is usually counter-productive because ailanthus responds by producing large numbers of stump sprouts and root suckers.  The most effective method of ailanthus control seems to be through the use of herbicides, which may be applied as a foliar (to the leaves), basal bark, cut stump, or hack and squirt treatment.

Virginia's Big Stink: Controlling Ailanthus by Dylan Jenkins - Virginia Tech Department of Forestry

Physical Control - Physical control methods include cutting, removal of roots, burning, and mowing. Cutting alone will not kill ailanthus. In fact, the tree will vigorously resprout from the roots and stumps and will result in many more stems than were initially cut. Digging roots is practical only for very small patches of ailanthus, as all traces of root must be removed. Similar to cutting, burning and mowing kills only the above ground stem of ailanthus, and trees will resprout from the roots. Because root removal is extremely labor intensive, and burning and mowing are non-selective, i.e., both ailanthus and desirable species are killed, cutting is usually the preferred method of physical control. However, cutting is only effective when coupled with chemical control.

Virginia Tech Department of Entomology: Biological Control of the Tree of Heaven

Because of the increasing encroachment of the weed combined with the difficulty in controlling it with cultural and herbicide-based tactics alone, biological control is an option that should be considered. If biological control agents can be found that reduce the reproduction and spread of the weed, it will be an important contribution toward the retention of native open-grown flora.

Columbia University Invasion Biology Introduced Species Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)

The tree of heaven grows swiftly to become a large tree, growing four feet per year and blocking the light for native species beneath it. In addition, its leaves are toxic to over 40 native species of plants, and it is unpalatable to herbivores. Ailanthus can overwinter in northern climates, and is resistant to both frost and drought, giving it a clear competitive edge over native species.  Because of these attributes, A. altissima has been dubbed the "tree of hell" by Pennsylvania state botanists.  The entire area colonized by the tree of heaven must be treated over a long period of time for effective eradication. Young seedlings must be dug up, root suckers must be destroyed by removal or herbicide; cutting alone is ineffective as this action stimulates the stump to send out new suckers and sprouts. Careful application of plant poison to the bark in late winter is often effective on trees less than six inches in diameter; specific herbicides are listed on the National Park Service website.

Tree of Heaven Identification and Control Documents and Tools at Ergonica.net Shopping Catalog

When you're ready to buy your next weed pulling tool ask yourself:

  1. Can it pull out weeds with roots as deep as 6 to 12 inches or greater?
  2. Can it twist out networked grasses, vines and prostrate stems?
  3. Can it also work like a precise hoe against new seedlings and grasses?
  4. Is it a good match against all my most troublesome weeds?
  5. Can it help to reduce my dependence on herbicides?
  6. Is it strong but light weight and easy to carry around?
  7. Does it have a long handle, as long as 36-60 inches?
  8. Can I use my drill to replace manual twisting on some models?
  9. Can my drill-powered tool also be used manually?

If the answer to ALL these questions is YES, Buy It!
See a Big Collection of Unique Garden Weeding Tools by Ergonica!

Are you a Weeding Tool Expert?

The patented WEED TWISTER will save your day!

Pricing, Models and Discount Offers!

The dandelion's worst enemy!

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Musings of Dr. Yucca: Let your garden thrive! A safe and sane delight.

The direct link to this page is www.weedtwister.com/weed_twister_vs_tree_of_heaven.htm

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