Here’s another interesting video on some “basics” of concrete pumping we found and wanted to load to the Cole & Lambert blog. You should also check out our first “Basic” blog post on how to prep, clean, and operate a pump. This one, from the Perkins Builder Brothers, has some good footage of a Reed B50HP trailer pump and goes over some interesting details. The video doesnt quite specify they’re talking about a trailer pump, not a truck-mounted concrete pump, and that it actually operates at a concrete pressure of over 1300psi. A couple other caveats: the concrete is pulled into the material cylinders via suction, it doesn’t flow. The “pipe” is called a swing tube.
Other than that, it’s a good video. Check it out below along with the transcript:
Perkins Bros:
Today’s a big day on the job because we’re going to be pouring the last of our concrete piers and footers on this house. We’re going to be using a concrete pumper truck to do this. It’s an awesome machine. So we’re going to show you how it works and show it in action as we’re working today. Help us out by subscribing to our channel. And I want to say a special thanks to Allison Concrete Pumping and Southern Concrete Materials for always doing a great job.
So we’re getting some concrete put in some footers today. We’re going to use a pump truck, which is a machine that transports the concrete from the concrete trucks through these hoses, to our footers. So we’re going to transport this concrete a long ways through this hose and get it in these holes for our deck piers.
And this pumper has a remote control and it’s kind of like watching TV. You got volume, fast pump, pump, horn and stroke change. So just as simple as watching TV, you can drive this pumper truck. This thing’s under a lot of pressure, I assume. I don’t know how much pressure, you might know.
Operator:
2,500.
Perkins Bros:
2,500 pounds of pressure. And this clamp system will keep these pipes held together.
So right now we’re priming this pump with a slurry mix that’s super slippery like grease. And that will get the hose lubed up so when this concrete comes through it doesn’t stick. It will go through the hose easy.
It’s almost go time.
Concrete is messy. Got to clean it up every time so these trucks don’t look terrible.
Okay, now we’re going to air up this huge tank under pressure and hook up this line to blow it out, clean all the concrete out at the end. This is always fun.
So this is Nick. He’s 18, and he’s been doing concrete for how long?
Nick:
Just a couple of months now.
Perkins Bros:
He’s graduated high school and his dad has this pump machine right here. And he’s been so kind as to hire you on for the summer. That’s awesome. Well, I hope you enjoy it.
Nick:
Thanks.
Perkins Bros:
It’s going to be fun.
What does this machine cost? And we just found out.
Nick:
It costs $71,000.
Perkins Bros:
In what year?
Nick:
2014.
Perkins Bros:
So this machine in 2014, which was five years ago, cost $71,000.
Nick:
And they hold their value.
Perkins Bros:
And they hold their value. Now he’s got several of these. This is like the smallest, cheapest one, I would guess. It’s the oldest. So if you’re thinking about getting into this, you need $71,000. And he’ll sell this to you for 75,000.
Van was just tell me if you put a four inch hose on here and then run this thing wide open. It will pump 50 yards per hour, which is like five huge concrete trucks full in one hour down the line, which is crazy.
Okay, we’re going to lift up this grate. Oh my gosh, it’s super heavy. And look in here. And Nick has explained to me the basics of how this works. So there’s going to be concrete filling this hopper. And then you can see that this tube right here is connected to this outlet. So what happens is concrete will flow into this pipe here. Because it’s full it will flow in there and then this will actuate to over here. Then there’s a big hydraulic piston inside of there that will drive the concrete that has gone in this hole, into this tube and out the outlet. Then this thing will rotate back to where it is right now and do the same thing. Concrete will have flowed into the other hole. A giant piston will then push the concrete down the pipe and it will continue to just actuate back and forth and make a lot of noise. And pump concrete down this line.
Okay. We can see the back end of those pistons right here and the hydraulic lines connected to them. And this is the part that makes that pipe go back and forth. You can see there’s a cylinder piston on both sides that moves this back and forth and turns this back and forth. And this grate has a very important job that you’ll see in a minute. It keeps large chunks of concrete from getting down in here and clogging the pump and the pipes.
So, Nick’s guess is that this machine weighs 1500 pounds. I’m guessing like 5,500. So we’re going to ask the man, the legend, we’re going to ask Van Allison how much it actually weighs. If we can find him. He’s trying to avoid this whole thing. And the real answer is 7,500 pounds right here. Why he’s got the big truck.
And this is Madison from Southern Concrete Materials. Good to see you.
Madison:
Nice to meet you.
Perkins Bros:
Yeah, thanks for coming up today. Appreciate it.
Madison:
No problem.
Perkins Bros:
Madison, how long have you been working for Southern Concrete?
Madison:
I’ve been with Southern about two years now. Did central dispatch for about a year and a half. And I’ve been doing sales now for about three months or so. Anybody listening that’s in that area that needs concrete, please let us know. We’ll be more than happy to take care of you.
Perkins Bros:
Yeah, and I would recommend you guys have got us concrete to some of the scariest spots I’ve ever seen in my life.
Madison:
Oh yeah. We’ll go just about anywhere. We’ll go to some crazy places.
Perkins Bros:
Yep. Awesome.