I Sawed In The Rain Today, Oh Boy

pnyberg · August 22, 2010, 09:51:13 PM

A while back I started a thread asking for advice on how to set up my schedule so that if I get a day that washes out due to rain, it doesn't screw up my schedule for customers months down the line. I got some good advice, and a lot of suggestions to buy some decent rain gear. (Not that the suggestions to buy some decent rain gear was bad advice.)

Losing a day due to rain was more my customer's choice than mine. But, I did buy a good rain suit. Today I got to try it out, as the customer was more than willing to work all day in pretty constant rain. Man did that suck. It's not the working in the rain part that's bad, it's the secondary effects. Mostly it's that the sawdust just sticks to everything. Making up a legible bill at the end of the day was not easy, since I couldn't figure out a way to not drip heavily on whatever I was writing.

I'm warm and dry now though, so it all seems worth while.

--Peter

paul case · August 22, 2010, 10:00:07 PM

could you send some of that rain over this way? we could use it.

this spring i had 2 trailer floor orders come in and they were both in a hurry. there wasnt any logs in the lot to make it from.and it was raining . i cut down 6 tres in the pouring down rain post oak. no rain gear. my pants got permenantly stained brown from the sawdust. got a few to the mill and it quit raining. sawed the next day and not a drop of rain while i was in the saw shed. pc

Magicman · August 22, 2010, 10:53:37 PM

Not only do I not make schedules, I don't saw in the rain either. During busy times, I'll firm up a saw date when I get within a week or so. Customers have a way of skidding up more logs and sometimes jobs that should take a couple of days, may take a couple of weeks. When a customer decides that he wants to take a few more trees down, I'll just wait a few days or whatever. I'll call the next guy and let him know. When I finally get to him, I'm his until I finish sawing everything that he has. If he also drags up a few more logs, then that's just the way it is.

Rain is for ducks.

Brucer · August 23, 2010, 01:12:47 AM

Quote from: pnyberg on August 22, 2010, 09:51:13 PM
It's not the working in the rain part that's bad, it's the secondary effects. Mostly it's that the sawdust just sticks to everything. Making up a legible bill at the end of the day was not easy, since I couldn't figure out a way to not drip heavily on whatever I was writing.

I'm warm and dry now though, so it all seems worth while.

Sawing in the rain ...

Wet sawdust sticks to everything. Take your gloves off and it sticks to your hands -- then gets inside your gloves when you put them back on. Rain soaks your gloves, of course. If they're cheap unlined gloves, the tannins wash out and start to burn your skin. If they're lined gloves, they don't burn your hands but they take twice as long to dry out. Wet sawdust builds up on your mill and keeps the cants from sitting level (snow is worse). Wet metal is slippery as heck -- the logs don't roll onto your mill, they slide on. Standing on a wet mill is risky -- too much metal to hit when you slip and fall. Got a good rainsuit? Wait until you wear it during a warm downpour -- you'll be wetter from sweat than if you left the suit off. Ditto with boots. Somehow rain seems to gravitate up your sleeves so even with a good rain suit, your shirt sleeves get wet and cold and clammy. You can usually tolerate a morning sawing in the rain, but don't take a break -- getting back to the job when you're wet and cold is downright miserable.

Going inside at the end of a rainy day feels really, really good; almost makes you look forward to sawing in the rain again -- not.

weisyboy · August 23, 2010, 05:57:33 AM

me 2

it was raining here today to.

just get ya self a driza bone and a good hat.

i only book about 2 weeks in advance in case of mechanical failure.

Meadows Miller · August 23, 2010, 07:19:05 AM

Gday

I hate working in the the rain but it has to be done you just have to do what you gotta do ;) and its not much help having the bloody flu this week aswell and its also raining down here too Carl and ill second the dryza bone and a good wide brimed hat to stop the water going down your back ;) ;D 8)

its throwing a spanner in the works for getting 5 semi loads of mountain ash outa the bush aswell for me too this week :( :

Regards Chris

bandmiller2 · August 23, 2010, 07:29:55 AM

For a portable job of any size get one of those large rectangular metal tube tents with plastic roof to keep the sun and rain off you.You could even put your advertising on the roof. Frank C.

Chuck White · August 23, 2010, 08:00:12 AM

Day before yesterday, I finished a saw-job in the rain.

Only had two 8ft White Pine, 14inch logs left on the landing.

We sat in the truck about 10 minutes and the rain stopped (slowed down), so we got out and made 2x6 & 2x4 out of them and shut down. ;D

Took the blower and cleaned the mill as best I could, hooked the mill to the truck, tallyed the lumber pile and left.

I hate getting stuck on a saw-job in the rain.

Magicman · August 23, 2010, 09:29:33 AM

If it rains too much and you are on the back 40, you may need help getting you and the mill out. I made the tire tracks on the right going in that morning in 4X4. No way could I pull the mill out

I needed a tow.

Bodger · August 23, 2010, 02:29:31 PM

They don't even make you work in the rain on the chain gang!

Brucer · August 24, 2010, 01:46:45 AM

Quote from: Bodger on August 23, 2010, 02:29:31 PM
They don't even make you work in the rain on the chain gang!

Yeah, but my boss is a DanG site meaner than any Captain on the chain gang >:(.

Wait a minute, I'm self-employed ???.

paul case · August 24, 2010, 08:19:40 AM

Quote from: Brucer on August 24, 2010, 01:46:45 AM
Quote from: Bodger on August 23, 2010, 02:29:31 PM
They don't even make you work in the rain on the chain gang!

Yeah, but my boss is a DanG site meaner than any Captain on the chain gang >:(.

Wait a minute, I'm self-employed ???.

mine too.pc

Chuck White · August 24, 2010, 08:54:43 AM

I think that other than getting soaked by the rain, the biggest concern would be safety!

Around the sawmill everything is slippery when wet.

A nasty fall could happen very easily.

Sometimes we just don't realize how many times we climb up on our mills to check this or that.

pnyberg · August 24, 2010, 09:23:30 AM

I did climb up on the mill at one point to turn a stubborn log by hand. Once I was up there, I thought about what I was doing for a second, climbed back down, and figured out how to turn it while standing on the ground.

I took this picture on Monday morning just before spending about 40 minutes hosing wet sawdust off the mill, and then another half hour cleaning the cab of my truck.

--Peter

Brucer · August 25, 2010, 01:30:21 AM

Quote from: pnyberg on August 24, 2010, 09:23:30 AM
... and then another half hour cleaning the cab of my truck.

Right ... forgot to mention that part.

Also, hang the wet gloves above the stove to dry. You end up with stiff dry gloves coated in dry sawdust. Sawdust then falls all over the house as you carry the gloves outside. Ditto with the rain gear.

maple flats · August 26, 2010, 08:05:28 AM

Quote from: paul case on August 22, 2010, 10:00:07 PM
could you send some of that rain over this way? we could use it.

I'd like to have sent our rain on 8/22/10 to you. We had 8" and everything got soaked. Would have rather stopped at 1".

paul case · August 26, 2010, 08:32:44 AM

we still havent gotten any rain. we are kind of at the top of the hill. very shallow stony soils and they dry out quickly. out temperatures have moderated some but we are very dry. the last good chance we had just split up and went north and south of us.

but here in my neck of the woods, we could be in the middle of a flood and only be 10 days away from a drought. pc

sigidi · August 27, 2010, 07:40:37 AM

When I have a day booked, I'm like Wells Fargo...

I figure only difference rain makes to a days milling is personal comfort, yeah a bit more sawdust sticks to the mill, but she gets a tub when I get home so that is cool. I have no trouble booking jobs in advance as nothing goes wrong with the mill - the truck may be a different story, but if I wasn't married, the mill would be inside every night!!! ;D ;)

sandhills · August 27, 2010, 02:59:20 PM

pc, I know just what you're talking about. Live on the edge of the sandhills here and like you said, flooding one day and drought the next. We had record rain fall early this summer, between the end of may and the end of june we got over 30 inches, now we can't buy a good rain. Just like you said it comes knockin then splits right around, oh well guess we're gonna get what we get :(

terrifictimbersllc · August 30, 2010, 03:05:37 PM

I try to avoid rain at all costs, in planning a sawing day at any distance from home. I carry gear and have sawed in the rain just to finish up or make do with the situation. But I get tired and also can't control what happens with the customer or helpers. Slipping when moving logs, or around the mill, or carrying lumber etc etc seems very dangerous to me and giving potential that I could be held at fault for permitting an unsafe situation should something happen.