went to a boom party today guy says i cant get my ball back starts freaking out gotta get my cylinders cleaned out you know what happend next! all he had to do was drop the hopper fill with water and start strokin why is guys always wanna take the pipe off to clean it out that takes to long

when i cant get my ball back it is normally because i didnt blow enough air out through the hopper. so i would pump in forward and blow the hopper a few more times then try again or start to water wash. this guy kinda sounds like a rookie. how long has he been pumping?

10 yrs

And I've tried to teach him about waterwashing,he just doesn't get it!

ya know i have only been pumping for little over 4 years now but i have noticed that some guys just cant pump concrete. you either have it or you dont. ya know what i mean?

10 YEARS!?!?! and had a boom party cause he couldn't get his ball back??

I would hand him the 15/16th wrench give him the OLE salute and go on to the house!!

And you think you had it bad?

Senerio #1 -- Operator boomed over deck and started to pour,good for him right.3rd sec cylinder shaft hits deck,cylinder fails (yep,now big deal) blessings are no injuries.

Senerio #2 -- Same pump and operator within 10 days.Lost new boom rooter to tooter,including material cylinders.Boom pipe beat out,hopper jackhammered and entire weekend with a friends coring machine cleaning cylinders (my night shift).

Observation #3 -- Same operator about 45 days earlier hit power on hardwire (reel on tilt up steel).Again blessings as no injuries (my night shift again 3 days searching for power travel through pump).

Mind you now that this was a 52m and our labor intensive,Oh,the operator is back doing flatwork,a much safer occupation.

I will let you dwell on shoulda,coulda,woulda.

10 days, 10 mos.or 10 yrs of pumping............ 10 seconds of PANIC will get you every time !! I couldn't tell you All the things he "COULD" have done in one paragraph. But i can assure you if he had picked up his company issued phone and asked for assistance, with out a doubt he wouldn't have cost his company a fortune in pipe,labor etc. Remember this slogan......... "one day it may happen to YOU too" Don't try to be a Hero call for help as soon as a problem occurs.

Where I was raised that's called the "5 minute rule".

Thats right N2mud  CALL FOR HELP nobody is gonna think badly of you !! BUT you cause a boom party?!?! not so friendly!!!!

ROOTER to TOOTER!! thats great! can I use that??

Yepper,my pleasure.

This is just exactly like every screw-up that ever was screwed-up.

You always get two options.

which one should you choose?

DO YOU FIX THE BLAME ?

or

FIX THE PROBLEM ?

when i first started pumping i used to freek out when i got jammed reason is that no one in the company new anything about pumps me included shore learned fast after a couple of weeks i stoped throwing tools and hurting myself you all know things get worse when your mad so now 13 years later try to teach new operators the same almost better to let them learn on there own hard to change a bad temper

10 years isnt that long in concrete pumping,we all make mistakes,and some are just prone to panic,why didnt his ball come back would be my first question,was it hung,did the concrete separate on him, did it flash, why didnt he try to push water through it,maybe like someone said earlier he just cant handle the pressures of pumping concrete just because they can run a pump doesnt make them a operator I have worked with guys that had experience but they still werent true operators, operators have to stay cool calm and collected when things arent going our way,if you do chances are you can remedy the problem,if you cannot fix the problem panic will only get you or your coworkers hurt, the worst that can happen is a boom party and if you run a pump long enuff its gonna happen,so my advice is look at the guys history if hes not cut out for it tell him to start looking for another job give him the same you would expect from him a two week notice and you both will probably be better off in the long run

pudg

You are right. Some people just have no business running a pump; they never

"get it."

He's retiring in April

What's this running water through the pump if the ball doesn't come back? Are you talking about water washing I'm confused.

awesome n2mud, im into it sometimes heros fail and forgotten

Types: Yes it's essentially,waterwashing! A stuck ball is usually only stuck going one way,and if you're in a pinch and it won't pump out forward, ( usually rock pocket , broken liner,or leaky gasket) and you can dump the hopper where you sit,use water to push it out! NEVER USE AIR! Your pump is the strongest tool you have. So what if it seperates! When you get back to the yard ,A-frame the boom fill the hopper up again and pump it out again.Then suck back HARD. You may have to do this a couple of times to get the rock moving again,but it WILL move. I've come close to losing boom(flashset) and used this trick on the job to get it clean one section at a time! A parking lot mess is usually cheaper to clean the it is to re-pipe a pump! And plastic is a parking lots best friend!

just help the guy out and do your job.....that is what i would do

Bri: You can't help a guy who wont listen! It's like trying to teach a guy who say's " I know" to everything you say! The barrier is up! And getting "In There" is my job!

Was it a Raleigh guy or Charlotte?

It kills me when i see comments on here from people who have only been pumping for a few years and have only run booms and they have the b__lls to call somebody a rookie.I started out running a mayco 30HD and worked my way up to run high-rise pumps.I've pumped over 800ft with a 2in to over 2500ft with a BSA14000,have all the proof to back up what i say.28m to 61m Booms but that doesn't give me the right to call names,remember we were all ROOKIES at one point or another.Like Bri says just fix the problem and then find out why it happened.Most people like to talk but won't ever tell you about the problems they had that gave them there experience.I will tell you i've lost a few hoses in my time and i've locked up a few booms but never lost any pipe beause a 911 call to all operators will get you all the help you need.We're all in the same business and should be looking out for each other not down talking,AM I MY BROTHERS KEEPER, Hell Yes.

mudslinger, maybe try something different, "Share" with them your knowledge of what you've observed or had happen to you in the past, regarding the situation at hand. Telling or trying to teach someone normally won't work well. That pride or ego thing, almost always get's in the way. When "Sharing" keep in mind, most of us don't like to be told "HOW" or "WHAT" to do.

N2 mud: It does't work that way here! I'm a 35 yr operator that comes from Calif. A striped fish in a goldfish bowl,if you will.They (not as many now) think I'm trying to show them up! The good ol' boy attitude. When I first got here I was wondering why they had so many boompartys.Not only did they think the waterwashing idea was foolish,they told me 'IT COULDN"T BE DONE"! So when a 28 meter showed up in the yard with mud in the boom,and a stuck ball,I showed them it COULD be done! But most are still afraid to learn new ideas!,and some JUST won't! There's a rare few who want to learn,but very rare! I'm willing to teach anyone who want's to listen...

Mudslinger I have to admit I wasn't going to try it out there at Carolina but I do here in the Northwest. The main reason is they won't let you blow it out on the ground like I did down there. I usually prime out into a eco-pan and water wash back into a truck. I then clean out into the eco-pan so I was forced to learn. I will still suck a sponge for safety sake but, I do water wash and have even sucked water out of a garbage can. I believe if I went back to Coastal with those ideas, my "good ole boys" would probably look at me strange. Like I told you one time, "When you move to the South its not a different state, Its a different world".