How do you Southerners survive the heat?

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Deere John

ArboristSite Operative
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Location
Northern Ontario, Canada
Ok - I gotta ask. How do you southerners beat the heat and humidity and still get a day's hard work done? Day in and day out?

I walked 180 acres of hilly bush yesterday in 93 degree weather with 95% humidity. and I nearly sweat my nay-nays off. :eek: We only get 1 or so weeks of this weather a year, and it kind of makes me glad when its a more civil 70 degrees.

Start early, see-estas, lotsa lemonade?
 
I just can't do it anymore, but I can tell you what I did for almost 20 years in lawn maintenence and tree work.
1) Start early. Get as much done before noon as possible.
2) LOTS of water and gatorade. Sugary sodas just make it worse.
3) Don't eat heavy. Fruit is best, light lunch.
4) Be YOUNG! Old people can't handle Florida heat in the summer!
5) Find another line of work or move into management by 35 years of age. :D
 
heat is on!

Not that it's that hot in the U.K. but we have our moments! Me and my partner drink a minimum of 2 litres of water a day to keep heat stroke at bay. We try to avoid tea, which is drying. Otherwise we just sweat and get on with it - brutal!
 
:cool: well..it does make cutting down your tree..and only source of shade..a mixed feeling. When I lived in Maryland & Virginia I tried to avoid working the mid-afternoon..the Sun is still plenty bright after 4pm and the heat drops 20 degrees. Mad dogs, Englishmen, tree folks, and the mid-day Sun? :) I've enjoyed a thunderstorm shower many a time to cool off.
 
heat reply

John. . . . John . . . John,

That is so funny you mentioned surviving the heat! We were all telling "It was so hot one day . . . " stories today for about 30 mins. Here in Middle GA the humidity is out of control.

Treeclimber probably said it best . . . avoid mid day. We are starting at sunrise (6:35) which means we are at the job no later than 7:00 AM. Needless to say we get many looks at people walking out to get the newspaper. Many, many looks.

Just the other day I looked down the street of quiet neighborhood in an historic district and said to myself "sorry folks but it's time for us to start" as I warmed up the Vermeer chipper.

I hate to start so early for the sake of the residents but it really is the only way we can survive the heat.

There is a noise ordinance until 7 am (which we adhere to) but is it ethical to start so early? Let me know.
 
Noise in the morning

We Brits have a no noise law until 7am also, which we adhere to. But i'm not sure about ethicality. Sometimes ethicality is me getting paid for a full day, and not getting sunburn/heatstroke. We all know how the public understands our work (laugh).
 
One of the beni's of working on a golf course is that I start at 5-5:30 am ':blob2:' and punch out around 2 or 3. But then I'll sometimes go work for one arquantance or another. With 300 acres I can leave the work on the lotlines for later in the day.:blob2: :blob2:
 
I finally got smart and ordered the A/C on the last bucket truck I bought. Now I can sneak in there every so often to "make a phone call" or "check the paperwork". We also drink a LOT of water. About a gallon a day per person. We start early (6:30), take frequent short breaks, and just keep plugging away like a machine. I also spend a lot of time saying things to myself like, only four more months of this and it will be cool again. Honestly, sometimes I don't know how we do it. I know every summer I say this is it, next year will be different. If only I could find one or two people to take over my job.
 
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I have to give you guys credit - I can tell you lots about working in a 35 degree below zero Canadian winter day, and be comfy, but that heat and humidity is tough on a body.
 
Deere John,

I agree that heat is tougher to deal with than cold. Here are some ideas: Try to stay out of the direct sun by wearing a hat and long sleeves as much as possible. Trade in your leather gloves for rubber palmed cotton gloves like Best Skinny-Dip. Lose weight - I vary almost ten pounds between summer and winter. Exercise - I jog 30-45 minutes everyday. Aerobic workouts really help me deal with the heat. Start drinking EARLY in the day before you get thirsty and continue drinking all day long. Start work as early as you can.
 
Water

Drink lots and lots of water. Three of us on a crew today drank FIVE gallons of water. Plus sodas and gatorade.
 
Five gallons of water in ...

Next question - how do you guys get any work done when 5 gallons of water is consumed in a day?:D That must add up to alot of trips to the "john".
 
Has anyone tried the XHALE Performance T's from WEARGUARD? They work better than cotton I think.But,at about 10oclock am. any shirt you wear here in Tallahasse is finished.
 
Here is one my wife developed for surviving the heat. She has been working in the trees with me for 22 years. Over the past 3 years she has had problems with the heat, and had to slow up.
(She's getting a little old, but still a darn good woman)
Anyhow, she takes ice out of the cooler and fills her helment, then plops it back on her head.

I thought she was nuts until one day last year it was 100f with 90% humidity. We were cutting up a maple stump in the direct sun. I put a hand full of ice in my helment and put it back on. In a few minutes it really did cool me down. I wear a bandana to keep the sweat out of my eyes, and it also helps to keep the water from dripping on you. It sounds silly but it does work.
 
yeah wear light colors and drink lots of water. don't try to show off and try to out work everyone else cause you will just make your self sick. from working on the farm you learn how to pace your self to keep from getting beat by the heat but we also start at 5:30 in the morning.
 
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