....Sucking a bucket - Sucking a barrel - or Tennesse puddle sucker? Whatever you wanna call it, It Works! It takes a fraction of the water required to "water-wash" and if something goes wrong during the process (like a dead remote battery) you're not left with a rocked-off boom! There are operators that do this every day, I am one of them...

Pump the hopper down and let the boom drain completley...

Swing over to your barrel of water (40 gallons or so) and lower the whip into it about an inch or two from the bottom...

  Then pump-on in full reverse...  Until it wont suck anymore water, or the barrel is empty...

Dont forget to ding your deck pipe for good measure...

You'll end up with less material in the hopper and alot more water in your tank...

Notice how clean and clear the transition and S-tube is!!!

And no I did'nt wash anything out before I took the above picture. This is all thats in there when you open it! A handfull of sand!

And if you really, really need to you can move the pump or go to another job and start with what's in the hopper! Even without a primer-port because the water and slurry is in the valve and the juggs. 

TooTall-

That's not what I had in my mind when I read 'backwarshing'.  Shoot, I figgerd you's talkin about when I stoled my brother Ezekial's 'Old Crow-N-Coke' at Christmas breakfast and the dog barked and scared Nels - one of our goats - which made me laugh while I was drinking his drink and everything in my mouth came back into his glass!  That's whut  he called it ---back-warshing.

I like that washout stuff, though.  I'll try 'er out Munday.  I'll bet the Brown Mound of Sound can pull 'er back!

TT

That is not what I first thought you meant about backwash,twisted minds.

T.T.

Many thought you were talking about washing your dog........ right Many?

Jedidiah had the closest guess. Hey Jed. dont forget to put the "brown-mounds" hopper screw in reeverse bafore ya start to suck'n!

TT,

I've done this often, even with as little as 40 liter of water but I always put the ball afterwards. You pump the hopper empty, then you pump backwards till you can hear the concrete is back in the hopper, you suck up the water then lift the boom a little to let the water and washed out stones fall down, then put the boom back in the water till it's gone, lift the boom and put the ball. Don't forget to let the washed out stones fall back or you will have problems sometimes to get the ball back. If the ball get's jammed in the hose don't try to pump forwards or you'll have a hose whipping with a big risk of an accident. If the ball doesn't go in easily, don't try to push it in but give it some air or take it away to let washed out stones fall out. If the ball gets stuck in the hose you make sure there is no more pressure on the line and open a clamp, preferrabbly first on the tip section between two brackets so in case there is still pressure you won't have the hose whipping.

I only do this after my last job. Otherwise I just take the ball back. If I have to drive to the next job and I can't empty the hopper, I just take the ball out. I would'nt recommand taking back water and drive on to the next jobsite cause the concrete will be segregated and you will have a big chance rock jamming the boom or not being able to shift the S-valve.  

Bob,your right.Wished I was that dog,woof.