My little buddy thinks it works pretty good also

The rest of us think the same thing. Is this the first time you ever sucked a sponge?

Just kidding

Use a large sponge ball, there remains too much concrete in the pipeline

You must have a good sponge. I use two with water in between.

But that is one Cool Dog.

Thank you he's awesome. yea i use a 8X8 square sponge works grb

Thanks for the pics and you are correct, sucking a sponge or “pig’ back through the pipe is the preferred way to clean a pipe line system. It proves the most reliable for all the variations of mud and skill levels. It is the only method outlined in a Putzmeister manual due to the reliability factor.

Of course even that can be screwed up by using a worn out or wrong size sponge, even leaking clamps and sucking back to fast will cause issues.

This is not to say it is the only way to clean out, and operators around the world have been quite creative in the variations.

The end result must be a clean system safely done leading to a successful prime the next pour.

P.S What is the name of your partner?   

I use the cube sponge too. LOL

creativity can be a good thing but nothing beats good old common sense and experience

I am still a big fan of just sucking a sponge.. And then when I come to the shop I fill my hopper with water, Put the endhose over the side of the truck (not possible with all pumps) and runn the load of water through the pipes.

A lot of grey shit and always some rocks comes out.. And the other big advantage is that your elbow rubbers last about 5 times longer..

that sure sounds like a waste of water everyday to throw away 100 gallons. And extra time on the clock that is not needed. Just suck it back right the first time and there are no rocks left behind. Slow and steady is the key.

You'll save the time and money with not having to change your rubbers. It takes me 5 min to do the water thing. But hey.. We all have our own ways. A water wash cost loads of water to. The water comes cheap here.

I've also noticed the concrete here in Norway is different. If the crete is to wet it leaves a hell of a lot of sh't behind.  

I mostly water wash but on occassion do suck back a sponge to keep in practice. I like to put a rag over the ball so it fits tighter, that and there is less clean up of the ball when you are done.

I have my guys run a sponge and water back through the lines everyday at the shop. Good for seals and nice and very clean pipe! I think the time and water spent is ok versus time and cost of pluging on prime.

Thats what I mean ZO ;-) And if I look at the amount of water that is used for washing all our pumi's and concretetrucks then my 400L is just a dropp in a bucket..

I checked it yesterday but I use no more than 5 min for doing it. In the mean while I fill up my water tank an so on so you hardly loose any time.

Well, there is no reason to plug on a prime if you know how to suck a sponge the right way. I understand that you say it will save the gaskets. But take that 5 minutes everyday being charged to the company plus the cost of water. How much cheaper is that than buying 4 or 5 swivel gaskets and the time to change them quarterly if they happen to wear out that soon. I do not see your logic. I feel in the long run, that your way is costing more money. As far as clean pipes..... they do not have to be so clean that you can eat off of them. But the tiny bit of residue will never plug a pump if sponge is sucked back properly.

Well.. If you runn a z boom and half the jobs is with about 40+ meters line... 2,5''  it sure does make a difference.

Since I pump the water every day I see how much sh't still comes out of the pipes. Sometimes its almost nothing (mostly with stiffer concrete) and sometimes its realy quite much (specialy with very wet concrete) I think you would be surprised. 

It shows how many don't even know what stays behind since most think its the hardes to clean you pipes when the concrete is stiff. But its the wet crete thats the problem.. It runs past the ball much easyer.  

But lets agree that we all have our own believe of cleaning our pipes. I'm sure I would survive if my boss would tell me tommorrow to stop doing the water thing. I could mannage without but I like it better. Specialy with all the line jobs with such thin hoses.

I actually do operate a Z boom. A 40 meter putz. The line makes no difference because you wash that out separately. You are correct about to mud being too wet and leaving too much residue behind. But I just do not see how it is cost effective. But if it works for you then that is great. We are in a serious drought here and save as much water as possible.

Drought??? I live in BERGEN Norway.. One of the places on earth with the most rain. We get the water from lakes up in the mounten and those are always full..

There is a well known joke here. A man from sweden comes to bergen. And its raining so much.. He asks a young boy: Is it always raining here in Bergen? The boy says: I don't know sir. I'm only 12...

Hahaha, the man from Sweden was probably me..... Yes, it´s known in Sweden that Bergen allways have rainy weather - and alot of snow in the winterseason combined whith dangerous steeply hills. Not so nice to drive a heavy vehicle in your area at winterseason. Some trailertruck-drivers i know have told me what a nightmare it is. 

hehe. Thats because they are so freaking lazy to not put snowchains on even not in a snowstorm. I've seen d'ckhead trailerdrivers put on chains AFTER they crashed in the side of the road because they are afraid the police will give them a ticket for not using them.

But your right. It can be quite hazardes in the winter..

.....And the police will give tickets if there is no snowchains on the drivingwheels. I suppose you know very well how to put on snowchains to the pump, whith a headlight and frozen fingers early in the morning. I´m not so jealous to drive on thoose road you drive on, at the winterseason.