The EZJect Lance is a red metal tube just over 5 feet long. The bottom end features gripping teeth and a spring loaded injection assembly. You prepare the EZJect lance for use by loading it with premade plugs of herbicides encased in brass capsules. (It can accept up to 400 capsules at a time.) The lance is operated by first putting the gripping teeth against the trunk of the offending tree. Then with a fast thrust of your arms, you push! Your pushing force is focused into the brass capsule, which is driven into the tree trunk.

The EZJect has some things that make it very nice. It is very safe for the operator. You would have to be very creative to hurt yourself with an EZJect lance. (Have you ever heard of the Darwin Award?) It is convenient---with a drill & fill or frilling application of herbicide you need to switch tools back and forth between your drill or blade and the herbicide applicator. With the EZJect, it is all in one nice package.

I get the impression that this device is very useful in tropical areas. This might be because trees in such areas do not always have a thick, corky bark, and the lance is more effective in such cases. It is a very popular tool with the Hawaiian weed eradication programs.

Of course, the system has some negative sides. The EZJect is hard to use in densely overgrown or tangled areas because it keeps getting snagged on branches. (A smaller, 4-foot version is available.) The lance is not cheap and the herbicide capsules help run up the bill (see the prices below).

The EZJect lance has been in production for several years, and there is no indication that it will stop being made. If you buy one, you should be able to get new capsules or replacement parts in the future.

We have one more observation about the lance. Its operating instructions explicitly note how you should carefully place the lance's gripping teeth against the plant. However, whenever I have seen people use the lance they invariably develop a technique of thrusting (not throwing!) it at the tree like a spear. This is probably dangerous, and we certainly do not recommend you use it this way. But the lance probably will be used this way, and we do not know how well the user or the lance will withstand such abuse. (The name, EZJect "lance" is an unfortunate choice if the manufacturers would like to discourage this kind of use.)

A treated tree

Sample Prices as of 1/2000 (Ask the manufacturer for more information):
EZJect lance: $425
Glyphosate Capsules: $425/4800 (a.k.a. Roundup/Rodeo)
Imazapyr Capsules: $588/4800 (a.k.a. Arsenal)
Triclopyr Capsules: $425/4800 (a.k.a. Garlon)

Discount prices apply if you buy the capsules in larger quantities. You usually cannot buy less than one case of 4800 capsules at a time.

Contact information:
Odom Processing Engineering Consulting, Inc. (OPEC)
800 Odom Industries Road
Waynesboro, MS 39367 USA
(601)735-2680
-or-
(888)395-6732

--Barry Rice, TNC/GIST, May 2000