BOZEMAN — I’m at Johnson Metal Works (JWM) in Bozeman, to see how they handle work and safety on extremely cold days like Tuesday.
"There’s nothing that really slows us down. That’s sort of the unfortunate truth of construction work in Montana—there's a high demand and nothing really slows us down, weather wise," says John Feuerstein, manager at JWM.
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John and Lyle Hendrickson both work for Johnson Metal Works, focusing on a range of projects from structural to architectural metal fabrication.
"Most of the time if we’re calling off work it’s because it’s super windy and there’s a lot of dust in the air, or lightning," says Hendrickson.
But they say cold temps and snow still pose a variety of issues for metal working, whether it’s out in the field or in the shop.
Feuerstein says, "A lot of the guys will be getting on the job site and you’re shoveling for an hour or two. Then you preheat for a while, everything takes longer. It's a lot harder on equipment."
Hendrickson says one of the biggest challenges for metal working in the cold is preheating metal to get the right temperatures for welding.
"Otherwise, you won’t get correct fusion pretty much. And then you get different kinds of cracking going on. And pretty much it won’t be a structurally sound weld if you’re not up to temperature," says Feuerstein.
He says they’re responsible for dressing for the weather—and those who don’t figure out how to, fast. With gear like:
"Mostly bibs, leather gloves—if you’ve got a heated jacket that’s the way to go. Warm clothes, especially if they get wet, the smart guys bring extra socks and gloves," says Hendrickson.
But, Feuerstein says, sometimes the cold weather isn’t all bad.
"It keeps the guys moving, to stay warm. Instead of standing around in 90-degree weather trying to find shade, they’ll have to keep moving. So, it can really work to our benefit sometimes," he says.
