Wind, what speed do you get out before you blow out

[PTS]

Do any of you use a mph on wind speed to decide whether you will climb or are you just nuts and climb through a hurricane. As I was half standing on a limb and half blowing in the wind this topic came to mind. When do you call it. On this job the trees should be removals not deadwood removals but none the less that is what they want. And I was not apt to climb with very much wind. On the other hand if the tree is healthy and there is work to be done I will give it a shot until the wind says get down. But I have never put a number on it.

Just a thought provoking thread

 

[daveyclimber]

I hate the wind , I have been tossed ,ripped off limbs,sea sick,cried,ect in 40-50mph gusts doing storm damage and utility trimming , Did I mention I hate the wind ?

 

[Redbull]

I hate the wind , I have been tossed ,ripped off limbs,sea sick,cried,ect in 40-50mph gusts doing storm damage and utility trimming , Did I mention I hate the wind ?

Haha! That was funny. When I first started climbing I was at the top of a 50' Walnut in a backyard, next to a retaining wall, over the customers house. This tree was nothing but stick. It was pretty windy that day and I was pretty darn nervous. I swear I squeezed water out of that tree that day.

 

[Redbull]

Oh yeah, I hate wind too. ( That and I wanted to get my 800th post )

 

[notahacker]

Colorado's Front Range can be windy at times. I have worked in sustained winds of 25mph with gusts up to 40mph. :bang:

I have experiences 50 mph gusts in the foothills. I was tied in and lanyarded in, but still held the tree for a wild ride. I got down, but part of me wanted to be able to say I have done that.

If my cash flow is low, and I realllllly need to work, then I will still work. If I am scheduled out with a cushion of cash flow, I'll reschedule.

But, I really working in wind. I get a sence of urgency and start to rush myself. I cut larger stuff, rig larger stuff, I get impatient with my groundies, etc... :bang:

Wind Blows.

 

[Lumberjack]

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=12139

A thread I authored 2 years ago, I shoulda held off on that tree till the wind was less.

I am proud to say I have came a ways since then .

 

[KentuckySawyer]

I haven't missed any work days because of wind. But we probably don't get the gusts that you get out there on the plains. The hills around here slow the wind down quite a bit. It does blast up and down the river though.

 

[rebelman]

I'm thinking we develop a system to measure the maximum gusts and sustained winds in the particular area. If say the winds routinely get thirty miles an hour, a twenty mile an hour morning shouldn't strain the tree that much. I've always figured a one mile an hour wind puts more wieght on a tree than a climber. Computers these days and wind measurement could keep track of such things. I have a degree in computer programming, but it's from 1984(one year before windows=useless piece of paper). Someone should develop a wind history program for arborists. Great post PTS.

 

[R Schra]

Love wind, i wait for wind to blow the treetops the right way.... Also i can trow the limbs further away sailing on the wind.... Just have to wait till it comes from the good direction. Once i was stuck in a skylift that turned like a vane between some branches and i couldnt get down for half an hour. The skylift couldnt turn its boom against the wind. I messured it and the windgusts were WAY beyond the safety margin the manual quoted Was very strange, form ground to about 50 feet it was like 8 meter/second and above that it came to 12 m/s and even the hard blows up to 18. I made this pic that day from 100feet.

 

[Tree Machine]

Beauty, Schra.

I don't care about wind anymore. It used to stop me and I'd hold on tight. Anymore I enjoy intense wind as I don't get to experience it that often.

I always figure, the tree has withstood a lot bigger winds than today. My 75 kg (165) isn't going to change much in the way of how the tree will behave.

 

[Dadatwins]

Wind not that bad especialy if it blows the right way and you can use to your advantage, learning to watch other trees and time the wind gust to finish the cuts. Now if you are talking about cold winter wind making your face and hands numb, and sawdust hitting your face feeling like rocks and needles that is no fun and I will wait for it to stop.

 

[DDM]

As per murphy's law the wind is always blowing the wrong way in my case.

 

[Eagle1]

Yea...not crazy about high winds and climbing. I eat enough saw dust for one thing.
I did a supper large Red Oak in 25-35 sustained. Was strange. That night in the shower when i was washing hair (eyes close) I almost fell and felt like puking. But, after a cold one I was "grounded"

 

[notahacker]

Anyone ever heard of sailors getting "sea legs?" I sometimes get the feeling like I am being moved off balance after working in a windy day. I can be in the shower that evening and feel the swaying. Maybe I need PPE on while showering? That way if I fall over, I won't crack my head over.

 

[SilentElk]

Never bother the measure how fast the wind is going. It can be 70 mph but if all I am trimming is some 15 ft crabapples then i dont care. I just play it by year and do what I feel good with.

 

[mike385]

I am not a climber, but I tried it and it isn't for me. But I am a faller and I will work for the most part through anything. I cut on a 40 acre clearcut and I was on a 40 degree slope and cut with a wind that would throw trees up hill. I usually try to start a job so that I can cut no matter what direction the wind blows. I have cut around some houses though, and I won't cut at all if the wind is over 10mph.

 

[Eagle1]

Maybe I need PPE on while showering? That way if I fall over, I won't crack my head over.

 

[Stumper]

I would rather work in a drizzling rain than in high or gusty winds. I usually avoid climbing if the winds are over 25mph-of course if I am already up the tree I may try to finish despite the wind if I feel like the situation is controllable. I have climbed in 60mph plus to address a hazard..... and I'm not certain I would do it again-more likely to say "Go visit a neighbor until the wind subsides, if your house gets crunched it can be repaired more easily than I can."

Ironically I also dislike dead calm-not only is it hot but it leaves me wondering when the first gust will hit and from which quarter. I like 5-8mph breezes that are out of the normal prevailing wind direction.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

I was told on a bucket truck course [yes we need a ticket for everything over here]that the average man starts to ''chitit'' at the wind speed of about 10-15 miles an hour

 

[PTS]

In a bucket it almost takes a hurricane to pull me back to the ground. Wind don't bother me.... Drives me nuts eating the saw dust but other than that I can work with it. Just take smaller pieces.