How many of you do not get to work due to cold weather?

We are not working rest of the week because the high temps will be about 35 and lows in the teens with wind chill below zero. I have never dealt with this before.

The weather here has been like a yo-yo. Last week it got up to 8c & yesterday morning it was pushing minus 40. Tomorrow I go on my first job of the week & being a warm day there are 3! I wonder if the groundhog saw his shadow today or not? Ive had enough of winter in Alberta.

All weird here in BC west coast. It seems the harder it rains the more hrs I get. If it snows we work, only +1. Then today cool and sunny highs at 5c I sit. Weird.

Yeah a month ago we poured a 80m3 wall in a blizzard (-30 with wind) the next day -5 & no pump jobs. Then a couple weeks back we got about 2 feet or more in a matter of 3 days & the days following I was getting 9+ hrs a day. Weird winter indeed.

Ya I hear ya dave.  Been a crazy winter, I think we have a very sloppy spring to look forward too!

Denver's hi today -4,tonite -20 they say.Screw work,i'm staying inside.

Welcome to Central Texas Pink Panther.

At any sign of cold/freezing temps this place shuts down. If there is a hurricane coming up from the gulf be prepared for 5+ jobs a day to beat the rain. Since the area we are in doesn't get affected by hurricanes except heavy rain.

If you are looking for work this week Me and other operators will be replacing my roof tomorrow since the wind decided I needed a new at 4 o'clock this morning.

Even though you only live minutes from me, I am not too sure about replacing a roof in 20 degree weather but thanks for the offer. I am glad I got 15 hours in on Monday though. Maybe I can afford a sandwich this week.

In Sweden we have a limit to not pumping concrete if it´s colder than 68 F, because the heat in the concrete when it leaves the factory in the truck is not warm enough to clear off colder weather. There is very short timelimit to wait for the next concreteload, before the concrete freeze in the pipe. The coldest temperature i have pumped concrete in, was 78,8 F - it was nearly i didn´t finnished the work because the concrete starts to freeze in the pipe when i was waiting for the last concretetruck. After finnished pumping it was impossible to push the spungeball through the pipe because the concrete in there were frosen (15 minutes later). Tons of hot water and many hours to fixed that problem - not so funny workingday.

ALMIMA, I think your temperature conversions are WAY off.

Also, do you not insulate your boom pipe?

No, isn,t 68 F the same as 20 minusdegree celsius and 78,8 the same as 26 minusdegree?

That was what the degreetranslator on the internet told me.

Ready-mix plants in Canada use hot water to batch, and the sand stockpiles are heated with surplus steam from the boilers. Some plants will have a small drying drum to heat/dry the sand, instead of using steam, which adds additional water to the mix that must be accounted for. If there is a warm spell, then the hot water must be blended with cold to bring the batch temperature down, otherwise the concrete is unpredictable in it's set time and that is a nightmare scenario for a pumper, the finishers don't care for it either. Usually concrete will be between 18 and 22 degrees C when it arrives at site. If it's approaching 25C, it's DYNAMITE!!

Zero degrees C = 32 degrees F.

F = 9/5 C + 32

Oh,yes all the boompipe is insulated. But when it´s so cold it´s not enough - the metal in the pipe cool down the concrete in there when not pumping. After just 15 minutes not pumping, the concrete was frozen to ice. It´s not easy to finnish the work those days - and my fingers is like ice when operate the romotecontrol to the pump.

I've finished up pumping in -29C.  Sucking a ball is pointless at those temps, if you pump the hopper down and then air untill it spurts so that you've gotr room to suck what's left back with the ball, you've also pumped that cold air through the pipe, that freezes the grout and half the time, you won't get the ball back, it'll freeze in the pipe.  If you've got a heated water tank and the pump and water lines are not frozen, and you have enough water, it's best to waterwash and high-tail it for the shop.  It once took 40 minutes to fold the boom up.  You don't want to force the issue and blow a hydraulic line by revving the engine and creating too much pressure.

Here in Norway we just poor with minus 10/15 also. Snow/no snow.. Heat in the concrete and they cover everything with isolating mats. If nessesary they heat up under the deck.. Walls they sometimes build tents around and put gas ovens under.. 

They have to with so much winter. Can't stop building for 3 months. Sometimes I have 2 pair woul soks and alluminium foil in my shoes and still almost get frostbites!!!

Real challange to keep the pump going. Sometimes I put a huge awning over the whole truck and let the exausts heat up everything. But then I have to take it of and drive 3 minutes to the washing place... Gues what... Everything frozen!!!   FCKN H*L  

"Pumpjockey" you are right - it´s no meaning to use the ball att those cold temperatures. I don´t know if -15C is better than pump in the sunshine at +30C. The problem for a pumpoperator are the same when there is a gap between the concreteloads. 1,5 hour gap is a disaster whith the boom full of concrete - it´s just to clean the boompipe and start upp again when the concretetruck arrives. It´s a little problem at those temperatures to make the concrete stay alive in the hopper. When +30C it´s just to use water - but when -15C it,s more difficult because the concrete begins to freeze.   

To speak about heat - how do you pumpoperater do your work in f.ex Florida or arizona where there is a very warm climat (much warmer than where i live: Sweden). To use chemicals to keep the concrete alive in that heat has a limiteffect when there is a big gap between the concreteload. Or do you only pump at night when it´s cool temperature. I suppose if you pump at daytime, you always clean your pump whith a drillhammer  

My 'trick' for when there is real crisis with low temp and long waiting is to just keep pumping round in the hopper. Never stop. when its moving it will take very long before it will freeze. And the friction will produce some temperature aswell.   But ofcourse a good coordination with the factory is a must in these situations..

And we don't even have any insulation on the boom... After a while you'll stop worrying about it ;-)

If you don't have insulation on the boom and have no troubles, then you got great mud, a good placing crew, good concrete supply, and not very serious cold temperatures. I find that the insulation helps more against the wind carrying the heat away from the pipes more than anything. - 10C or so with no wind isn't much of an issue, but -15 (nearly zero F) with a 30 kph (20 mph) is cause for concern when you stop. It will freeze, and the icy grout will jam up in an elbow (not so much) or a reducer, or the drop hose - the rough frozen grout in the drop hose will catch it all up. I've had an air cuff freeze the hose shut once, it let loose with quite a force when I re-started.

And "Dipstick", you know how it is when you call the factory in these panicsituations........"No, we don´t have any truck to load - in about half an hour we have an incoming truck". They better conect the phone to a taperecorder to tell me that - always the same answer. I run my own pumpcompany and i own my pump, so i don´t have wide margin to accept a freezing boompipe. Sometimes it can be realy nerv-racking. But that´s a part of the job. 

Luckely we have very good factorys here. Real serious guys that will always give you an honest anwer of where the next truck is. They know the problems that can rize when is that cold. Specialy more inland from bergen (voss) are great guys. I once had a job there in -20c .. They kept me going all the time. Job was finnished and all the water was frozen. But they have a great place inside to wash the pump/hopper.. When I got there they were already waiting to open the door for me.. If its like that you can mannage in this wether. But if you have the dickheads in Holland where Supperdoffer has to work with you might get seriously screwed.. When you ask them when the next truck is comming its always on the way.. Sure... 

There is one concretedeliverer who allways use that frase you wrote: "When you ask them when the next truck is comming its always on the way.. Sure..." You have 2 concretefactorys from that company in Norway. In Sweden they are called "Färdig betong" and in the states they are called "The Thomas concretegroup". They are the biggest concretedelivery in Sweden and that´s why they can run over us small pumpcompanys. But for a few weeks ago i tell them to f....off because they don´t cooperate on the conditions agreed - they can do that, they are so big. Now i cooperate with Skanska-betong instead and they are a very good cooperatepartner. They allways call me and ask how the concrete is to pump, they realy care about me, all though my company is so small. And you know how big the company Skanska is.....Much bigger than "Veidekke"

Luckaly we don't have such arogant concrete factorys here.. I am so happy thats behind me. It is so much nicer to work with serious people :-) instead of sometimes wanting to kill the guys from the factory.

I rememer 1 job with HANSON where they were loading a 15m3 semi trailer and the factory broke down after about 12m3.. Instead of just sending that truck to me they let him wait for 2,5 hours untill they fixed the problem , loaded another 3m3 on top and sended it to me. 1 hour drive, 30 degrees c... And they didn't tell me. I was standing on a 12 story building with the 52 schwing.. No view on the hopper.. No elevator..And pumping and pumping.. Nothing came out.. The idiot driver didn't think about putting some water or anything in it.. After a while I made the trip down from the 12th floor and found out that my whole hopper was filled with sollid concrete.. I had the fibrator running which had only made things worse..

Ofcourse we sended the (by then) 5 hour old concrete away... I spend an hour chipping my hopper before we could continue.. That day I realy felt like driving up to the factory and just punching someone in the face!!! I was SO close to realy doing it!! My blood starts to boil when I think back about it.. And thats just one of many storys I had forgoten about but sometimes come floting to the surface again....

Hahaha, Dipstick - i know the scen. It´s so frustraiting when it happends. Some people should not work in this business. One time the factory forgott to put in all cement in the load, and the mix-driver didn´t notice the problem when he pour the "concrete" in my hopper because he was sending SMS to his girlfriend, and i where standing high up in a building so i couldn´t see it....and i start pumping......it was only rock,gravel, water and way too little cement in the load. Most of my 120 meters 3"-hose get stocked. And of course did all the factorystaff deny their guilt. Just another day at the work....

A mate said it in a nice way one time.. The only thing you have to do to be able to runn a concretefactory is to grow up....

Dipstick , you are welcome some weekend to mix a load . I give you the key to the factory and when I have set My pump have you the load ready ? You are you little more mature than the people on the RM-plant.... ALMIMA are you self-taught or some of Timos apprentices ? How many years of experience in Concretepumping have you ? How long have you have SKANSKA as your supplier of concrete ? And what "magic" mud have you invented ? Yes I work for AB FÄRDIG BETONG (TCG) and you are free to think what you want about FB ! Do You know what FB think about ALMMIMA ? I don't know , I'm in Gothenburg.....

It was actualy kind of a joke.. and I wasn't actualy talking about all the RM plants.. I believe in schandinavia its a hell of a lot better than what I was used to in Holland. And then again they where not all bad.. I know everyone has its profesion.. Do you always poor with Fårdig Betong? Maybe they do a good job but I can asure you I've worked with some factorys where you would believe there is a 7 year old child running the whole thing..

A memory comes up from a factory in Rotterdam. I believe they were caled Rijnmond centrale or something.. I had never poored in rotterdam before... I had the feeling I had come to another planet.. My god so bad job they did. And they actualy believed they were quite something. I can asure you I will never alow my wife and kids to go in to that building we were working on that day!!

I'am employee at FB , but I pump for SKANSKA , Betongindustri (Heidelberg) , SWEROCK , SYDSTEN We pump for most customers . But the company I have named have own pumps so if they have full and I have nothing I pump for the company who calls .

Sorry "Vasa" that i hurt your feelings, it wasn´t my point. My "magic"-mud is that on my proposal via FB invented an 8-16concrete that is possible to pump in 200 meters 2"-hose. I´ve pumped it to a costum (factual the former tennisplayer Björn Borg) 230 meters. He won´t let in a machine on his property. The other "magic"-mud was an underwatermud - also possible to pump long distance in 2"-hose. And, no i,m not in cooperate with Timo - he is my rival. I,m on my own in my own company. I´ve bin a pumpoperator for about 10 year - before that, i drove a concrete-truck. I don´t know so much about FB-Göteborg - i´m doing most of my pumpjob in Stockholm and FB isn´t so popular in this region, i suppose they are more popular at the swedish westcoast. So i have my own costumers and do some extrajob for Skanska.   

Almima you didn't hurt My feelings at all . It's only the rules of the game . But why so far with rubberhose ? Make some 2" or 2,5" steelpipe and use rubber as bends and in height difference and as end hose . I dont know how long time you have had Skanska to deliver your mud ? The "honeymoone" use to have an end and all RM-plants use to be the same in the end... We have RM-plants that are much better then others (hope none of those guys read this) some are verry bad , for us Pumpers... It is the same with our competitors , some make good mud and some bad , much depends of what kind of ballast they got , chrushed or natur . Maybee Skanska Vikan in Gothenburg make crappy mud compare to Stockholm , then You can call us ! ;-)

Vasa, i´ve done extrajob to Skanska for about 4 year and in Stockholm they do realy easypumped mud - even though they use cruched rock in their mud. And yes i know that it´s much easier to pump through steelpipe than rubberhose - it´s a vey big different. Why i used 230 meters rubberhose at that job, was bacause it was only a 5 m3-jobb and i was curious to see if it´s possible to pump a mud at that long distance in a 2"-hose. And it work - there were a margin to at least 50 meters rubberhose more. I don´t know if it´s a record to pump mud trough 230 m 2" rubberhose, but i can tell you - i was impressed my self, that it work so well. My pesonal record to pump mud in 1,5"-hose mixed with 1,5"-steelpipe, is 145 meters - and there were no margin to one meter more. 3 m3 took 2 hours to pump, and the pump were screaming every pistonstroke, like a crying baby. It didn´t feel so good to press the pump that hard. But the job were finished.