Choosing The Right Mount For Your Concrete Pump
Posted on: 30 March 2016
Anybody who's spent any time working with concrete will tell you that transporting liquid concrete is even harder than transporting the solidified stuff. Liquid concrete is heavy, abrasive and thoroughly immobile if allowed to solidify, so getting your concrete to the site as quickly, easily and cheaply as possible is of paramount concern for any concreting job or project.
This is where concrete pumps come in -- these durable, powerful machines are capable of pumping remarkably large quantities of liquid concrete quickly and efficiently over large distances, enabling you to get your concrete laid as quickly as possible. However, these pumps aren't exactly featherweights, and how your concrete pump is mounted and transported can make the difference between a quick job and a total disaster. Fortunately, whether you're an industrial firm looking to move thousands of tons of concrete, or a home owner looking to hire a pump for the weekend to lay down a patio, you can find the right concrete pump mount for your needs.
Trailer mounted pumps
These pumps generally inhabit the smaller end of the pump market. Consisting of a powerful pump mounted on a light trailer, trailer mounted pumps are generally towable by an ordinarily pickup and are equipped with long, flexible delivery hoses to allow precision concrete delivery.
Trailer mounted pumps are ideally suited to small residential or commercial jobs, as they are very easily transported and do not take up much space while in operation. The use of flexible hoses instead of rigid booms allows for work in tight, enclosed spaces, and if you are working in a space small enough to impinge air circulation, you can choose a trailer mounted pump with an electric motor, eliminating dangerous diesel fumes. However, trailer mounted pumps generally have very limited capacities and generally aren't up to larger concreting tasks. They also have limited pumping power, and a more powerful pump may be required if you're working at heights.
Truck mounted pumps
The next step up in pumping power, truck mounted pumps are generally mounted on larger pickups or light trucks and have greater pumping power than their trailer mounted cousins. The key advantage of a truck mounted pump is its versatility; a truck with a mounted pump can pull up to a site and start pumping concrete within minutes, and the larger wheelbase allows concrete to be delivered by both flexible hoses and rigid booms. This also allows for less human oversight when operating the machine, as a properly trained worker can operate both the truck and the pump. Truck mounted pumps are, however, significantly larger and more unwieldy than trailer pumps, making them difficult to place effectively on small or cluttered job sites.
Mixer truck pumps
These machines combine a concrete pump with a rotating concrete hopper all mounted on a heavy truck, allowing a single unit to transport, mix and pump concrete. An excellent choice when speed is of the essence, these trucks can pull up, deliver their concrete and (if necessary) be refilled extremely quickly. However, these are specialised units, and their very limited capacities means they're only really suitable for smaller concreting jobs. Many mixer trucks are also incompatible with delivery hoses, and rely on a mounted boom or simple sluice to deliver concrete, making them unsuitable for precision jobs.
For more information and options, talk with concrete companies in your area, such as Hunter Concrete Pump Hire.
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