There is how inept we are when it comes to cold. When it gets close to freezing it is our company policy to park our equipment with the radiators away from the wind. I have explained to them several times wind chill has no affect on non living objects. They just won't hear it....
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How cold before you don't work?
- Thread starter digger242j
- Start date
Thats pretty funny. Well if your equipment could speak I am sure it would say thank you.
Colorado Digger
Senior Member
how cold??
if we can't get the tractors to start we usaully spend the day getting them to start. then let em run till the next day. it really might get to -20f here at the worst. if we are busy then we work. if not, we sit in the shop and burn wood and organize.
regards, cd
if we can't get the tractors to start we usaully spend the day getting them to start. then let em run till the next day. it really might get to -20f here at the worst. if we are busy then we work. if not, we sit in the shop and burn wood and organize.
regards, cd
I usually let the quality of the product (work) dictate. If I must use a fill material, and said fill requires moisture to meet specified compaction, this obviously can be hard to achieve when the temps get below zero. Even if below freezing one must take measures to reduce or eliminate the required water, and delivery apparatice, from freezing. The next consideration is how long it will take to get things up and running. If it takes too long than you reach the point of diminishing returns. Deadlines will have a major impact on how far one will go to push through. CD points out a good strategy. I have never had to impliment this one, I know of others who have, but if I had to the type of work we could perform would be limited. If performing subgrade prep one could possibly change the specified material, if permitted, to a screened rock if it is still dry.
I'm working in Northern British Columbia right now, and we don't tend to shut down for cold temperatures very often. That being said, our manuals usually state not to run diesel powered equipment below -35*C or -40*C due to how hard it is on everything. If it's that cold it's a heck of a time getting hydrolic oil to heat up (unless you're working your equipment hard), lines tend to crack and seals go. Not to mention, the heater in the cab struggles to keep the operator warm enough. If it get's THAT cold, we keep our equipment idle all night, even with no night shift or else we'd be coaxing all the equip the next morning with ether. During the day we turn our auto-idlers off and keep our throttles turned up in the exci's. The REALLY big diggers at the mines here have generator powered heaters that keep everything warm enough to start at any time. Around here we tend to work with a lot of rock, so material doesn't really dictate too much what we do at low temps. That being said, we don't usually build main roads because if you've ever seen one built in winter with temps this low... it's usually a disaster come spring time. Frost a few meters deep is aweful when it melts.
MunkyMayhem
Member
Funny here most of the Unions dictate indirectly what our working temps are. But I have to admit other times it is a pain on the small jobs and you are expected to get compaction. You know the machines at packing as best they can the cold material but it won
't be good in two months when it warms up.
't be good in two months when it warms up.
kenwortht800
Member
I don't like running the equipment when it gets passed -40 if it's -38 and colder I send my guys home