MY BOSS LOVES THE Z BOOM, ALL THE NEW TRUCKS HE IS BUYING ARE ALL Z BOOMS. I LEARNED ON A ROLL@FOLD THEN MOVED UP TO A [Z]. I`VE BEEN PUMPING IN A Z FOR A LONG TIME AND NOW HE`S TRYING TO GET US TO PUMP IN AN [A].HE`S TELLING ME IT`S BETTER ON THE PUMP,I SEE NO DIFFERANCE.I GUESS YOU CAN SAY I`M STUCK IN MY WAYS . WHAT DO YALL THINK.

This is a good point and it would be nice to hear from each manufacture as to their position on what is best for bounce and for stress wear on the boom. Putzmeister Germany has for a couple of years had some nice boom roll out animation on their site and Putz USA has just recently put some up. I would have to guess that what they have there would represent the best positions for the booms they make; here is the link to Germany; http://www.putzmeister.de/gb/produkte/bpauto/typen/default.aspThey have unfolding, folding and concreting animation; Sincerely,MarcusOperationsThe Operator Training CenterOperations@OperatorTrainingCenter.Com

All you Z guys flop your end hose all over?I run a Z and I cradle my end hose by going past verticle. But I do it very gently, and never do I flop it all over the place. If you set the truck up nearly level, this is very easy to do. If you do it slow and smooth enough one hanger will catch the hose and by moving the boom just a little further the hose will fall in the second hanger.

I do both. It just depends on the job. If I have to reach a part of the pour fully extended its easier to start out in the A frame (its not really an A, its more like a D). If you have to go from close to the pump to fully extended in a Z formation several times during a pour its gonna be a long day for the hose man. Another reason I switch back a forth is because of pipe wear. Now this is just my opinion I have no fact to back this up but it is what I think. I feel if you run in a Z you get more even wear on your pipe. You have a completly full pipe on 3 sections, wheras when in the "A" frame only section 1 gets full wear the rest is sliding along the bottom, unless you are pumping fast all the time and then this theory is useless. If you have a dry mix like 3" or less mine will do in a Z but it doesn't like it. Creates alot of pressure. As far as flopping your hose around, if I have the overhead room I extend 4 past vertical and flop the hose in the cradel. It don't hurt anything there is no concrete in the pipes. When I'm done with the job and pump my hopper down I always fold up into a Z and bring my hose back behind me and do what I need to do suck a ball ect. But when you are done bring your tip to the ground you can flop your hose up in the cradles from the ground so you don't have to raise 4 up in the air, saves time. The only hitch to doing it this way is you have to make sure all your concrete is out of your boom. The valley between 2 and 3 always seem to hold concrete and stops your ball from coming back. I really feel you need to run your boom in both postions to get good at it. There will be a time when you have to run in a Z and if you don't do it enough it will be rough for everybody.