A Tree Guard Zipper is Safer and Quicker
By Marcia Miquelon, Outreach Specialist
UW Madison Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project
“It’s a fantastic tool,” states Kirk Cekada of the Rusty
Oak Nursery in Valley City, Ohio. “You set the guards in as you’re
walking to the tree and you slip them on just about as fast at you can
walk.”
The tree guard zipper is a hand tool which allows for quick and easy
installation and removal of the corrugated plastic tree guards often used
to protect young trees from deer and other types of trunk damage. In a
field trial by the Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project, the tree
guard zipper was 37 percent faster at installing the guards and 27 percent
faster at removing them than installing and removing by hand.
The tree guard zipper’s design spreads the edges of the corrugated
plastic guard more efficiently than worker’s hands. The tool is
a triangular piece of cast aluminum with a handle at the narrow end and
channels on the side to hold the tool in place until you have installed
the guard around the tree.
Using a zipper is easier on your body than installing and removing tree
guards by hand. It reduces stooping and poor posture by over 50over 50
percent during installation and by 24 percent during removal. Also, the
tree guard zipper keeps your wrists in a neutral position.
A zipper does the work and handles the pressure while you install the
guard. Therefore, you don’t strain your hands, wrists and forearms
from the force needed to spread the guard around the tree. You also greatly
reduce your risk of getting your fingers wedged and cut between the guard
and tree.
With its smooth edges and wide opening, the zipper prevents the tree
from being scratched by the rough edges of the plastic guards. Scratches
can result in scarring and reduced product quality.
The cost of the tree guard zipper ranges from $40-$50. The tool pays
for itself quickly because it saves hours in labor and minimizes worker
injuries.
The Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project is funded by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute of Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH), to find and promote the adoption of more efficient,
safer tools by nursery growers. For more information, please see http://bse.wisc.edu/hfhp
or contact Marcia Miquelon at (608) 262-1054.
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