Do I need a tilting mast or a fixed mast? How many service technicians you have and what type of equipment you possess.One only service technician should be enough to change an old windsock on a mast for a new one.
SMALL windsocks: masts for Ø 30cm at the windsock opening, about 160cm in length, and Ø 40cm at the opening and 230cm long, normally come with a mast of 4m long, sometimes divided into two mast-section of 2m. In a fixed mast system, to separate the two meters long masts is a difficult affair, when they stand for a long time. You need a lot of force, if at all, they separate. Otherwise, you need a long ladder, at least three meters in height, because a 4m mast has an additional height for the swivel contraption on top. This is a frame or framework, which allows the windsock to rotate for 360° in all directions (left and right) without hitting a stop. A 4m mast plus the height of the windsock opening plus some additional height for fixing the frame to the top of the mast will result in 4.5m all in all, sometimes more. To work at ease, a service technician will remove the old windsock and fix the new one with clips or a cord. A ladder on a bridge or a tall building with even slightly gusting winds are not a good idea. You need a second service technician to hold the ladder in place. Out goes the idea to have only one service technician. A tilting mast system is a better idea, where you have only one bolt to remove, tilt the entire windsock mast to the ground and change the windsock at bottom level without any wind interference.
LARGE windsocks: they go from Ø 50cm to Ø 100 cm at the opening, with a length from 260cm to 450cm. The masts come in heights of at least 7.4m (for airfields), plus the swivel frame (1m higher at the overall height for big windsock systems, plus some add-on for sticking the framework to the top of the mast). For solid metal masts as in a fixed system, you need a forklift with a platform, front-loader, articulating boom lifter or some such device. More cumbersome to get out on a bridge or a tall building, easier to do on an airport or an airfield, probably not feasible on a mountain/desert pipeline or on a drilling platform, or on a helipad on top of a building. You have to decide, from the equipment side, whether you require a fixed system or a tilting one. But, for the tilting windsock, you’ll need only one service technician. Same as before: remove one bolt and bring the windsock to the ground for easy changing.
Tilting systems are normally more expensive than fixed ones. However, if you have lots of technicians, sending a second one to change the windsock is not a problem as to salary and social security. For developed high-cost countries, spending a bit more on the tilting system will save you on the salary side.
Also: how often do you have to change a windsock? Most operators know exactly when to change – depending on the quality of the windsock from the manufacturer, wind insistence, lots of direct sunshine, chemical products around refineries and chemical plants. Is it often? A good guide is a change after 24 months. A low wind insistence, less sunshine and no chemicals, less than 24 months is a poor result. Maybe you need to change the fabric of the windsock or the manufacturer altogether. In high wind insistence, a sturdier fabric can be used, but not “sturdy” enough to stop the wind from soft-to-high winds without showing any sign of change in the windsocks. Bad colour resistance could mean that the white and red windsocks have a red colour problem: maybe they are just “painted” on, and not intrinsic in the fabric.
As an operator, you should get a good 24 months result (with ups and downs). That will influence your changing windsock results over about 10 years. It will determine your operating costs with some accuracy.
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