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My uncle said to always check the wind with a flag, not just the gauge
When I first started on a tower crane job in Chicago, my uncle, who ran cranes for thirty years, told me something simple. He said to always tie a bright orange flag to the end of my load line, not just trust the wind gauge on the cab. I thought it was old school and ignored it, relying on the digital readout. Then, about six months ago, I was lifting a big glass panel on a gusty day. The gauge said 15 mph, but I saw the flag I finally decided to use whipping straight out. I held the lift. A minute later, a huge gust came through that would have swung that panel right into the steel frame. The gauge didn't catch that sudden spike at all. Now I'm a total convert to the flag method, but some of the younger guys on site think it's pointless with modern tech. Who's right here? Do you use both, or just pick one?
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paigewood1mo ago
Eh, how bad can a gust be?
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thompson.xena1mo ago
Totally agree with your uncle! Tech is great but it can't beat a simple, direct look at what's actually happening right now. I'd trust the flag every time.
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fiona_murray1d ago
Gotta push back on that one. Flags can fool you if the wind is swirling around buildings or trees, which happens all the time in cities. The digital stuff gives you actual numbers, which is way more useful when you're trying to figure out if you can safely work on a rooftop. I've watched flags point one way while the clouds move a totally different direction, so they're not always reliable.
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