Lets share our tips and tricks for winterizing your pump. Many people have to store their pumps outside at night. Whats the trick to keeping your pumps in tip top running condition.

Aside from the frozen fingers, the worst thing about pumping in the coldass winter is the ice on the decks of your pump.

Slip and fall accidents are big problems. Along with the bumps and bruises from the falls are the strained muscles from the 'trying to keep from falling' contortions. Put some sand on your steps and decks.

just the basics: insulate your pipes, install hot water heater in your water tank.We have also been sraying a spray on truck box liner on all the areas you walk and stand,it has grit in it to give you some extra traction. But the biggest thing is -when in doubt recirculate

If you can hire someone to operate your pump and hop a flight to see Todd I here they are having a cold snap 75 is just to cold......lol Cheers Todd...lol

Southern California, as long as you dont mind fire storms and earth quakes its all good, oh and the free way shootings and traffic and bla bla bla.

I have a hydraulic water pump.  After I drain my water tank can I use the pump, without water in the tank, to blow out my line?  Or will this ruin my pump?

Use air to drain pump and hose and left all ballvalvs  halfopen if Yoy dont want them to crack... And if they should freez and they are halfopen the water you have in the tank will defrost them .

Or drill a little hole in the ballvalves shell so the water between the ballvalve and the shell drain it self...

You can buy ballvalves with a drainplug but it is cheeper to drill a little hole...

Heat the boompipe before start , put the endhose over the exhaustpipe , but have the groutport open or the hingedelbow so the exhaust goes through the boom , otherwise the exhaust only goes up through the endhose and turnaround of the pressure in the boom when it is no opening in the other end....

Mix your primer with warmwater...

Don't fill your tank with hot water, before your wife takes a shower in the morning.

-Blow out all your water lines after job and dont use your water until you clean out. -keep your clean out balls in the cab so they dont freeze hard. -Dont fill your water box until filling your hopper to prime. I've had my water box freeze driving to the job before. -keep your hopper vibrator on all the time. Helps keep the top layer of mub from freezing in the hopper. -dont sit for more than 10min without recirculating. **The good news-frozen mud is easier to pound out of a boom than set up mud. I'm already pumping in single didget temps!! You just cant wear gloves warm enough and still operate your box!

I installed a ball valve @ the water pump outlet and put a 1" Tee with a ball valve on the bottom, where the riser pipe meets the lateral pipe. After washout I dump a bit of windshield washer fluid into the hose, hook up the air to water adapter and blow it back to the pump, open ball valve at the bottom off the Tee, then close the outlet valve at the pump. I throw the hose nozzle and the balls in a bucket of anti-freeze.... good to go!

 b-alto

Best advice I ever heard.;~)

ON ICEY MORNINGS NEVER UNFOLD OVER PEOPLE!!! There's always sheets of ice that fall off the boom! Clear the area or you could be-head someone! 

...Also if you have a water pump that lacks pressure, now is the perfect opurtunity to "accidentally" let the lame water-pump freeze so you can go buy one with "proper pressure". 

I often am tied into alot of hose off the boom going into heated tents or buildings in the winter, sometimes when its really cold, and i have to wait to pump on mixer trucks backing up or crews , Ill leave the hose in the pour and turn the pump on just above a 1 on my putz dial, and a hopper full of mud will last quite a while, or if i think I need to cycle while waiting on crews samething and everyone thinks its just the boom draining. Ive primed with calcium chloride and water mixed , works good against flashfreezin

LAYER UP.  keep the body warm cause your finger and toes are always cold.  have a good outer shell,  dirty carharts i find are the best.  buy hot pack for your hand and dunlops so you can cover your feet with warm mud.

if an accellerator is added,  circulate for 30min - 45min MAX.  suck back, put drop hose on exust.  accelorator and hot water are a dangerous mix in insulated pipe!!!

steal a themomitor from a tester,  know what temp the mud is being delivered at.

BEST part of winter,  concrete freezes.  gone a winter without carrying water.  fill water box from the first two mixers.  suck back, dump, and drive to hot water.  cleans out like butter.

watch for ice everywhere!!! three point rule will save you from a bad fall.  insulate your pipes.  preheat your pipes.  slowly warm your pump kit.  if in dout, suck back.  re-priming is easy then a boom party.

Hard to pump if your prime mover is ailing!

Take some time to service the truck air system, there is a thought now adays that air dryers take care of everything - wrong! You should be renewing the desicant cartridge every year in the dryer, although in realistic terms 2 years would most likely keep sludge out of the rest of the system. Air compressors pass small amounts of oil which naturally diminish the silicate dryer core from being able to absorb the water out of the heated compressed air heading towards critical pump components like the transfer case air shift cylinder, etc.

HEY BOB, Alliance "speciallizes" in service, and has a pretty large team to look after customer needs efficiently and with minimal down time.

As far as equipment diagnosis, especially for the truck portion of the equation (which for me is a 30 year commitment to the industry as a ticketed individual) I will offer "Free Advise" to anyone who wishes to call or drop by.

In fact, drop by for a coffee and tour of our excellent and large production/ service facility in the Fraser Valley.

Lorne

plug in block heater-your heater will warm up faster!

not a winter time tip but if you blow out your vents with air and use the shop vac at the same time itll blow all the dust out of your vents

LW

THAT IS GREAT! THANKS.

May I put that information on my 'free stuff' post??

The good neighbor policy to your customers and potential customers is refreshing. ;~)

Bob, post away by all means. The offer is genuine. I abhor malfunctioning equipment.

Lorne @ Alliance

Here in the mountains of Colorado we have alreadyy put pipe insullation on our boom pipe, also have mounted block heaters to all of our accumulator bottles. on start up after you build air put your PTO in on a low side gear to lube up your gear oil at the same time turn on your aggitator and outrigger function to loop the oil, make sure the oil cooler is off!After 10 minutes or so select your operating gear and function test all functions on your pump. If you have access to hot water fill your water box up with hot water it will help your operating tempature climb faster. Last year we switched out hydraulic oil to a 32 wieght 5/20 multi grade, it is thinner in cold temps and thickens in warm temps. It is rather spendy but the time over a couple years you will save that money in labor in warming up machines.

I run with 32 oil too , even in the summertime .

We dont have so hot weather in the summertime in Sweden and the few day we have it , the oilcooler manage to keep the oil in the right temp....

Winter?????

...And dont forget to grow a beard!

Winter is just fun, and I live in Norway. And here the temperatur is almost never above 0 degree celsius in the winter, is that 30 F? Don't ever let the trucks wash or spray any water where you need to back the pump out of the site. Ice isn't fun when you need to wash out quick.

Aloha fellas. do as i do an make a break for the So. pacific as soon as you can see yer breth!

+15°C / 59°F
This is as warm as it gets in Norway, so we'll start here.
People in Spain wear winter-coats and gloves.
The Norvegians are out in the sun, getting a tan.

+10°C / 50°F
The French are trying in vain to start their central heating.
The Norvegians plant flowers in their gardens.

+5°C / 41°F
Italian cars won't start.
The Norvegians are cruising in cabriolets.

0°C / 32°F
Distilled water freezes.
The water in the Oslo Fjord gets a little thicker.

-5°C / 23°F
People in California almost freeze to death.
The Norvegians have their final barbecue before winter.

-10°C / 14°F
The Brits start the heat in their houses.
The Norvegians start using long sleeves.

-20°C / -4°F
The Aussies flee from Mallorca.
The Norvegians end their Midsummer celebrations. Autumn is here!

-30°C / -22°F
People in Greece die from the cold and disappear from the face of the earth.
The Norvegians start drying their laundry indoors.

-40°C / -40°F
Paris start cracking in the cold.
The Norvegians stand in line at the hotdog stands.

-50°C / -58°F
Polar bears start evacuating the North Pole.
The Norvegian army postpones their winter survival training awaiting real winter weather.

-70°C / -94°F
The false Santa moves south.
The Norvegian army goes out on winter survival training.

-183°C / -297.4°F
Microbes in food don't survive.
The Norvegian cows complain that the farmers' hands are cold.

-273°C / -459.4°F
ALL atom-based movent halts.
The Norvegians start saying "Faen, it's cold outside today."

Well, almost true. It does get hotter here.