As of lately I turn off my agitator when my pump switch goes off.Lets say a 100 yard pour takes 4 hours to complete and in reality you are only pumping for an hour and a half,so the agitator spins for 2.5 hours without you pumping a rock.Save your blades and quit spinning........sorry putz guys,a little harder for you.

I switch off the enigine when I don't pump.. Not only safe agitator but also diesel, engine and axl wear etc etc.. Aint I smart

are you not worried about setting up in your Hopper with out movement?

Why run the agitator when not pumping?

I also turn mine off 

it's important to keep your agitator on whenever there is concrete in the hopper.The whole purpose of agitating concrete is to slow down the chemical reaction process. As long as you keep disturbing the mix, it buys you more time to wait. Don't be taking naps on the job either. Ultimately, an operator, when possible should recirculate the concrete to stop the concrete from reacting in the boom pipe as well. Agitator paddles aren't so expensive.  I've seen alot of guys hard surface their paddles to get more life out of them. Maybe try that. cheers.

I worked with a guy who used to shut his engine down waiting foe balances, as well as shut hia agitator off while he wasn't pumping. He also decided to go foe a little cat nap, and what do ya know???? $10,000.00 later, ooh and a week of down time, he was sorry. cheers again. 

I try not to turn the engine off when I have concrete in the machine because what happens if your truck doesn't start again? I've had it happen before! When there is concrete in the machine, you are charging the customer right? When waiting for concrete, I turn my paddles off but also turn them on to re-agitate the concrete if waiting for longer periods of time

i think my agitator blades are the last thing i care about thats what they make ar steel an hard rod for

So what happens to line pumps without agitators?

If you ever had a line pump with out an agitator you would wish it had one. I had one and between every load I agitated with a shovel. Not much fun.

Switching off agitator but letting engine run is the worst case cenario for concrete to setle in the botom of the hopper. The vibrations of the engine will make the rock go down and water go up in the hopper.. I would eighter switch off everything or let everything go if you're afraid the engine won't start again..

if you hard face your agitator it'll last for years plus if you grease religiously your hardware will also last for years, not running the equipment designed to keep the concrete from sitting and setting up is not a wise decision

This topic is right up there with adding sugar recirculating then parking the pump over night then starting the next morning with a boom full

Just as Dipstick said above, I think my trailer pump manual says to turn the engine off if there is a longer break in concrete service. To prevent rock pack at the bottom of the hopper.

Not sure if its such a stupid topic.. seems like some guys do just the one thing they shouldn't do .. Imagine if you have a hoper full of self-compacting concrete and you stand for 20 min with engine on and blades off... Nice

Funny thing is these guys will probably continue doing it like that even after this topic. Concretepumpers can be very stubborn..

My trailer pump has no aggitator and works excellent. The hopper is shapped different like a funnel. Yes i shut the motor off when waiting. Any question or topic is never stupid it generates discussion. If you don't like it, keep your know it all comments to your self.

Finding this topic stupid is also an opinion  Just keep those wild ideas coming.. Maybe some day we stumble across something inovative and Todd will patent the idea and share the proffits with all of us LOL

For me the cart should be used at the 300 hr service,start to finish.Since most don't understand the true importance of cleaning the oil tank once a year,just do it.With the tank empty one can see the contamination thru the insp cover.Use the proper rags and for hevens sake don't forget any in the tank.It might prove usefull to do oil samples also,it could help spot potential failures.

Just Say'n