What are the different ways that everybody primes before they pump? I am just curious to hear your different ways and methods.

Do you really want to start this topic again, I would think by now everybody is happy with the way they been priming.

Slik Pak if I can A frame the boom and waste it.  If its a line pump I like a bag of Portland and 2 buckets of mortar sand soupy.  If its downhill to the pour put a ball ahead of the grout. I envy you guys that get small round rocks in your mud. We get limestone thats from 1" down and first fin is always coarse seems like. Super P and Slik Pak dont usually work for me. Just water is better. OK Many

Hey there,just being a smarty pants,when in doubt

different pumps different crete different set ups all require different prime methods.i have found water gets you thru scwhing booms pretty easy.

just spray water in to your cylinders as its stroking and cross your fingers.

 So much depends on Where & What you're priming? A lot of places have the sort of materials that can and will prime with water just fine. Now if we happins to be down yonder in the land of manuf.sand with angular shards of stone for agg... You damn well better have a priming agent of some sort cuz water's barely gonna make past the turret! 

 I was learned oldskool when a sac of portland showed up on the fender of the 1st load on every job. In most cases I prime with water like the rest... when all the conditions allow. Anything outta the ordinary like havin to prime flat out or a questionable mix and I'm finding ANYthing I can get my hands on that'll mix like pancake batter or the likes. Plain ole swamp mud works good too! It surprizes me every time I've used it,  along with everyone else onsite that wondered what the hell I was gonna do with a bucket O dirt!

   ....Then on the other hand I've also primed a few bOne dry too! Twice because my hopper was kindly topped off by over eager mixerCans before I could put any water ahead of it. Once cuz I had NO water & no choice, then one more time justa see if I could get away with it again.

 I believe it has just as much to do with technique as it does the product your priming with. The guys that go for the 'W.F.O. prime' (wide.feakin.open) then turn it down or off, if & when it comes out the end.... lets just say those fellers get pretty good at swappin & patchin pipe & elbows on the job! I like to prime around 1600rpms/60percent volume or less then pump off juuust before it hits the 1st elbow on tip section. That way if it gags it dont blow something appart.

 The 1st time I lost a prime and never got mud out the end was also my last! Since then I've primed out through beer can boom pipe, ductape patches, even a couple that were never even blown out properly from the day before... which brings me back to the original point I've been getting to. Every good prime starts with a proper blow out the job prior to. 

 Oh Yeah, then there's the few cursed individuals that no matter what or how hard they try, they still end up having to beat on something to start every pour. These poor fellas shoulda just been mixer drivers  :)    

WATER.

thanks for the different ways