I don't know how you guys down South do it.

[jerrycmorrow]

lotta good advice up to this point. to summarize:
plan your work - work in the shade and/or where you can catch a breeze whenever possible. hydrate before you go out, gotta get those body cells full before starting. maintain a constant flow of liquid. take frequent breaks, don't wait until you need to fuel up. if there's running water nearby, jump in to cool your body off. pay attention - if you start stumbling or catch yourself doing stupid things or quit sweating or start breathing real heavy - STOP and cool down.
you can work in the heat but you just gotta KYHOYA (keep your head outta your azz).

 

[esshup]

Thanks for the tips guys! I hear you on the gatorade. If I drink only the sugar stuff I'll put on weight even tho I'm sweating most of it out.

Started at 5:00 Central time today and got the road cut up by 10:30. I jumped in the tractor to move the big stuff and he cleaned up the small sticks that were left. The roads are covered by railroad gravel - the big stuff. We were done by noon. Tomorrow is supposed to be 103/104 and we're staying home. He's off next week for Camp Atabury (sp?) National Guard training, so I'll be going it alone. Temps are supposed to be in the 80's by then. The landowner texted me today when I told him that we got the road cleared and said we were crazy, he didn't expect us to get anything done 'till next week. (absentee landowner)

I was careful, and was still suprised when a tipped over tree that was 12" dia stood back up with 20' of trunk left.......

Looking in the woods, there is more down than we first thought. As long as it's on the ground it's not a worry, but anything leaning/hanging has to come down. It's been so hot that some trees have all their leaves shriveled up and dry already. I think I'll be dragging out some Oak this winter, it's a shame to leave it rot.

It's been a while since I worked in these conditions and I forgot how much I drip when it's hot and soggy out!!

The bright side of all this is that it really improves the deer holding properties on this parcel of land. The woods was pretty open under the canopy. :msp_biggrin:

The biggest blessing is that due to the drought that we are in, the skeeters are absent. The deer flies get to be a pest at times, but next week I'll be wearing my tanglefoot coated hard hat.

 

[zogger]

Just got back from blocking up those medium, beefy oaks I felled yesterday. Got fifty even big rounds from the main trunks, from 12-24" diameter, all cut to 16". It is 100F and 31% humility (word used deliberately) and I admit I am whipped. I'll throw the branches worth keeping on top of the rounds when I bring the trailer over to get them.

 

[Steve2910]

Been working out in ALL of the weather for 20 years. The only thing that bothers me about the heat & humidity is having to break my stride every few minutes to wipe the sweat off of my face & glasses. I keep 3 or 4 head rags & as many T shirts in the truck, just keep rotating the soaked ones onto the truck hood & putting back on the driest ones. And No, I don't wash them every night, they'd be FUNKY again by noon, so what's the difference?? I go to bed fresh as a daisy, wake up that way, but am skunked by lunchtime. Thank God for my White-Trash above-ground pool!

 

[avalancher]

Ya get used to it. I suppose if I was "down south" long enough I would get used to the heat and humidity.
I think I would prefer not to. One thing to bear in mind... I can dress for the cold. is the reverse true :wink2:

Guess thats what I hate the most about cold weather, a guy has to wear all those clothes.Me, I cant even stand to wear sleeves.My uniform of the day is shorts, sleeveless t shirt, and boots if working in the brush. When bucking or working in high brush, I wear chaps over my shorts. I have gotten a few looks when appearing in public wearing chaps and boots along with shorts, but I stay protected and cool at the same time.

I flat out cant work if I dont have a good sweat going on. The first ten minutes of splitting in hot weather is the worst until a good sweat breaks out, kinda acts like lube for the body. Once that tshirt is soaked, the wood really starts flying. Generally I will work until the shirt is soaked to the point that it is dripping off the bottom hem, then it gets chunked out flat on the truck hood to dry out while I swap out a dry one. But there again, hard to work until that shirt is at least damp. aint nothing unusual at all for me to go through a dozen t shirts in an afternoon.
When Im done for the day, I dunk all those t shirts in a five gallon bucket of soap, then rinse em out in a fresh bucket and hang em up in the shop to dry and the next morning stick em back in the truck if I am working that day.
I cant imagine sweating up a storm in winter clothes, would just seem wrong!

 

[forestryworks]

Another thing to remember is that it is sun exposure that heats up your body, followed by the combination of high air temperature (heat) and humidity.

I see a lot of guys here wear tank tops all summer long while working out in the sun. Especially the young guys on the highway crews and landscaping crews. If only they'd listen to the older guys about wearing long sleeved summer weight shirts and a wide brimmed hat, they'd be a whole lot cooler, less exhausted, and less dehydrated at the end of the day.

In the summer direct exposure to the sun's rays can increase your heat stress index (commonly referred to as the "heat index") by 14 degrees. Your body will have to work harder to keep itself cool, and as it works harder, it heats up more. More dehydration and more heat exhaustion follows.

While doing manual labor in the heat, the guy in the wide brimmed hat and long sleeves and pants will always be cooler than the dude in the shorts and tank top. There's no arguing with that. And those who do, well, they just have a little too much sun on the brain

And then there's skin cancer...

I cant imagine sweating up a storm in winter clothes, would just seem wrong!

And dangerous.

 

[Gamedic]

I have been starting about 5:45 in the morning and not stopping for lunch. I try to quit by 1:30 or 2:00 and go home. Then I go back out around 6:30 and work till dark. Drink twice the amount of water or gatorade you think you need. I had heat exhaustion last year. I am much more careful now.

 

[GeeVee]

I've put in two days in a row now down at the ranch, burned a couple of punky trees, cut three tanks of fuel into rounds, I don't mind the heat so much. I sweat plenty, and drink Ice Cold beers.

I don't have to get the wood ready, really. I just like to get after it with my chainsaws and Pedro does all the heavy lifting.

I only did a little today. Had to empty the dump trailer to get a load of pallets, and dinked around "planning" on loading the pallets with rounds.

 

[esshup]

The evenings here are out of the question. Still in the upper 90's at 6-7 p.m. Tomorrow is supposed to be the last day of triple digit heat for at least 10 days. For instance, at 6:00 p.m. it's 98°F out with 44% humidity for a "feels like" 108°F reading. It was 80°F at 4:00 a.m. when I left the house today, 97°F by 9:30 a.m.

I really DO appreciate all the tips and hints guys. Thanks.