Dry concrete in Redi-mix truck

That folwable fill keeps me on the road going back and forth to the fly ash that is 120 miles away. Now we are doing shock crete. We have had to branch out to keep busy lately.

 

3 yards is not normal. We would always ask the site supervisor where we could clean the drum. But that was in the Navy and mostly overseas so we didn't have the laws and regulations you have today. But I still don't see where a driver could get stuck with that much mud on without a place to dump it.

I do know you need a Confined Space Entry Permit. It's meets the requirement due to the lack of clean air with the fine silica particles you're going to kickup while using a jackhammer. You're also exposed to loud noise. This is an OSHA requirement but nevertheless it still is required. It's your employer's responsibility to get the permit and provide the extra person required but if you go in without letting anyone know it all comes back on you. Check it out by searching "Cleaning A Concrete Drum".

 

old thread

but I could not resist my soapbox stand.

It is not a cement truck but a concrete truck. Ready mixed trucks can be used as cement haulers in applications like bulk Portland cement powder to the oil field or soil stabilization projects (maybe then a cement truck).

It's sort of standard joke line in the ready mixed concrete industry when a fellow tells you I drove a "cement" truck for years and we answer sorry you don't have the experience we are only hiring for a concrete truck driver.

When that self proclaimed highly experienced finisher calls in for mud (concrete) prices and tells the dispatcher he is pouring a "cement" driveway we know it's time to add 25% to the standard quoted price. We have an amateur on the project and the chances of him screwing up the finish and blaming it on the concrete supplier are very good!

 

When I was working concrete dispatch a few years ago, and guys would call in to order 5 yards of SEEment....I really wanted to send the powder wagon out there with a hose and say "have at it!"

And very true about the blaming the supplier. Holy cow has that had its troubles. When someone hires a crackpot, fly-by-night contractor who bids your driveway at $1000 less than everyone else, that should raise a flag. And by no means a green one. Then, when the driveway looks terrible, unlevel, lost the stamp time interval, and neighbors start commenting, typical answer is "oh yeah, thats [concrete companies mud]."

 

Don't ya just love going to the do it yourselfers or the crackpots? I know I sure hate it because you're there forever, constantly adding water to it, and it turns out like crap and they try to blame the mud. That's why you always write the times down on the delivery paper and have them sign on the line that says there responsible and that its a perishable product.

 

The best way to avoid this, as soon after you get loaded climb up on the truck and spray down your hopper, and inside the drum screw to remove lose material, then climb down and spray the front of the vehicle down, removing the dust that powders your truck from loading, then as soon as your finished with the pour climb back up and spray down your drum screw, hopper, shutes and boot, climb back down and spray your shutes down making sure you get inside the grooves where the shoots connect make sure you wear thick rubber gloves to rub down the inside of the shutes to remove any stuck material, and spray down the front of your truck again, usually when you see a truck with a coat of concrete all over it its from the dust collecting during loading and collecting moisture and drying, there shouldn't be any excuses for a truck looking like that except laziness !!!!!

 

Oh I forgot at he end of the day, pull the truck under the loader and ask for water to do a wash out, run your mixer at full charge until you feel that your drum is clean and then discharge, then spray your truck down like you would do after every pour !!!!

 

Having worked at a cement mill for a carrier, the build-up around the dome lids from gaskets leaking in the rain was stuck fast, layer by layer, uncilthe dome dogs couldn't be opened. Cleaning that build up off was a real chore as we were sent out inthe lot w/ hammer, chisel and tools to adjust the dogs & try to stop the leak.

Drivers used to pocket fender washers and place them under the dogs to tighten the lids. Some lids looked like stack of poker chips from all the washers.

Now I understand why I used to see mixers running rocks on friday afternoons when I workled next door to a redi mix plant.