"Zipper" Puts Protective Tubes Around Young Trees

"Zipper" Puts Protective Tubes Around Young Trees FARM HOME Miscellaneous 30-1-40 Glenn Rehmert wanted to use pieces of plastic corrugated drain tile to protect his young nursery trees from deer but handling the rigid tile was hard on his hands. "And sometimes putting the tubes on did more damage to the tree than what the deer would do," says his son Dan. That's why Glenn created the Tree Guard Zipper. It's a 1 1/2-lb. triangular piece of aluminum alloy with a handle that gently slides the 3 or 4-in. dia. corrugated tubes onto tree trunks. To use the tool, just insert its narrow end into the slit at the bottom of the tube. The wide end spreads the tube apart, making it easier to slide the tube around the tree trunk. It removes the tree guard just as easily. Marcia Miquelon, University of Wisconsin-Madison, outreach specialist for the Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits project says her group is promoting the Tree Guard Zipper through a grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety. "The whole idea is that if a tool saves time and improves profits, nursery managers will be more likely to invest in safer tools," she says. MacKenzie Nursery Supply sells The Tree Zipper for $38.25 plus S&H. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, MacKenzie Nursery Supply Inc., 3891 Shepard Rd., P.O. Box 322, Perry, Ohio 44081 (ph 800 777-5030; www.mnsinc.cc).

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