There are obviously many times when this cant or should not be done. I for one have ran my own hose quite often but only on jobs that allow me to do so. I have found that running your own hose improves your sense of whats going on at the other end of of your pump. For instance, its alot easier to push hose than pull it, Its much easier on the hose-man to have the hose "lift" rather than take a nose dive. Not only can you sense a plug before it even happens but you also know what NOT to do. I always man the hose whenever "pushing hose" is needed to keep someone from kinking it and getting injured. I never run the hose when there are other dangers to pay attention to or on tall walls. I have heard of this being manditory for some companys and not allowed at others. Whats your opinion???

That is the most ridiculous suggestion I ever heard

I agree with you on this one too. You know much better what the hose does and in case of a plug I can react immediately by letting the hose go and stepping away. If someone else drives the hose, the only thing you can do if you hear a problem is shout at the hoseman to warn him but mostley before he understands what's happening it's to late. Drive the hose to me is very safe and easy cause you know exactly where you're going and you hardly have to push it. I've got a lot of do-it-yourself people that build their own house. How can it be safer to let someone on the hose that has never seen a pump before then keep it in the hands of a pro who operates the pump everyday? 

Comes to it that competition got so hard in Belgium that if I don't drive my hose I will loose my biggest client and I could just as well sell my pump...

However if other things like for instance powerlines or rooftops need my attention I will ask someone else to take the hose.

The other thing about it is the appreciation you get: it's always nice when you arrive on the jobsite and contractors say "I'm glad it's you doing this pump job".

Bob, It was not a suggestion at all. I have seen and heard of other people doing this and wondered if it was acceptable? I have only done this in certain situations and would not suggest it to anyone. However I would suggest that every operator run a hose at some time (not their own) just to know what its like.  

I have never been an advocate of an operator physically running the hose.There are way to many distractions that take away from the operator doing his/her job 100%.The exception would be matt,and other thick pours where the hose is allowed to be free.

When I wrote "I agree with you" I meant I agree with Too Tall.

I' m sorry, but I don't share your point of view on this one Bob.

Of course, to operators that are new on the job I always say "don't do this before you're experienced enough  and feel comfortable with it".

If you want you can watch the short video on my site www.concretepumps.be where I'm driving the hose myself. Feel free to post you're comments on it. I'd like to know what I'm doing wrong?

A couple days ago "schwinger" replied that a few of his competitors mandated this! This is a rediculous suggestion and is what prompted this post.

what will happen if the hose kicks before you can stop pumping and it knocks you on your @&& you get hurt what happens to the pump full of concrete I dont think its a good idea and wont do it

From a line pumper. I run my hose on jobs, unless the contractor wants to. I have had guys knocked on their butts running my hose. A guy falling on top of rebar, kinking hose and not knowing where to lay hose behind them, or me doing it every day knowing the in's and out's of system pours? It would be nice to have extra help, but honestly how long would an extra guy just be standing around? The only real time I need a hand is moving system full. 250' of 2.5 or 3" takes 5 or six men anyway. Ya I am going to have 5 or 6 of my men on a job to help for 10 mins... who is doing that? Is it better to just run the remote and watch the pump and pour? Of course. Just not real world for me.

No operator should be on the hose operating at the same time,I will from time to time if I have a trainee or rookie get on the hose or lend a hand when its stretched out,never should you operate and guide the hose now I can pump on grade sometimes without being on the hose no problems with that

No pumpowner in Sweden that are a member of SFF (Swedish "acpa") allow the operator to take the hose....

The operator should has his attention on the pump , hose , electricalwire , you name it !

But We have others that do it in Sweden to sell a "service" the concrete-crew can have one man less...

Before radio remotes, we were tied to the pump via remote cord which wasn't very long and would get damaged very easily. This was good because back then, you had to have an ear tuned to the pump to listen for missed strokes, short strokes, hydraulic hoses bursting and switching valve problems such as broken roller pins, or you had to "help" the pump cycle by manually bumping a valve every now and then.

Pumps are a lot better now and don't require as much attention. Operators are free to wander around like a rock star on stage with a wireless microphone. The operator should not be pushing the hose, it is not a good idea from a safety standpoint to do so.

All operators, please resist the temptation to "show off" by running the hose while you are running the boom. What if you stumble and fall because you were concentrating too much on the hose end and not the dangers around you.

I cannot tell but I do not think he is wearing safety glasses,if I do get on  the hose I would definitely set an example by wearing proper ppe and showing teaching how it is done correctly us showing it done while operating shows they can do it with cellphones in there ear are whatever else they chose to do,not the example a professional pump company would want to be giving,put the remotes down get a comealong float trowel and become a finisher if thats what your gonna do and get on the finishers payroll, nothing wrong with helping in a safe manner but placing concrete is the placing crews job not the pump company, if pumpers are doing this to take the liability out of a hose man on the end,two men a operator and a hoseman should be dispatched and the contractor should be charged accordingly , just my opinion

Yes, don't run your own hose. Too much else to keep an eye on.
And it's not your job. Show of your skills the right way, run that boom like noone else.
But if it's a big pour I tend and like to run without a hoseman. Most of the time I do it as good and faster than with a man on the hose, if it's not a very good and experienced hoseman.
I remember once on a big bridge pour with one of those 'cheap' eastern-european crews (no offense),
the hoseman was literally jumping around like a drunk rabbit. I'm glad that pump had EBC.
No doubt any operator would do it better than him.

But safety first.

Its funny how the Kris leers is so keen on running his own hose. Take a second to look at his pic not even a hard hat or safety glasses, are those rubber boots even steel toe?? for pump operator to think its ok to run his own hose is bad enough already, but without even a hard hat on makes that just plain STUPID. what happens when an elbow or clamps decides to break that day?? leave the hose to the crew and stick to pumping!!

i'm with pudq on this one. pay for a hoseman. it's certainly cheaper to employ a guy for his wage as opposed to paying an extre "hose-man" fee. something like that would probably cost $50 an hour.i don't touch that hose. if a contractor doesn't want to give me one, he better have plenty amigos to rake the piles down to grade. i don't know about anyone else, but last i heard we need two hands to operate the box. besides, if you get jacked up by the pump, who takes over for you?

Im my opinion,,  We dont run our own hoses do to the fact if you were to fall or injure yourself, who will finish the pour?I have ran the hose when training other operators other than that, NoSir  not us, and when it comes to a green hose man,, a little kind instruction might help the situation

 Running your own hose is like taking your eye off the ball. At some moment in time you will get hit. I don't know what the ACPA say's but, I'm sure it would condone such activity.  You could get away with this if you ran a telebelt,but it is still an unsafe practice. Like not wearing a seatbelt it's all good till somthing  goes wrong,then how do you explain it to your boss or better yet  INSURANCE .No mattrer how you look at it we as  experienced (SEASONED) Operator are in charge  of  mentoring new operators iI wouldn't feel right promoting such activity.

Pigpen3

The ACPA says "Don't do Drugs"

You would have to be on drugs to run your own hose.

And when you're done with that you can finish it for the cheap lazy ass contractor too!  YEE HAA!

I stay on the " Smart" end of the pump.

to me there is nothing more safe the operating and being on the line. you know exactly what the machine is doing then and there. i spend 60% of my time doing both.

and when it comes to a green hose man,, a little kind instruction might help the situation,  so very true PourItOut.

In my opinion,  the only time an operator should be touching a whip is to connect, kink, disconnect.

now that being said,  when im with one of our placing crew doing line,  i ll always grab my hook.   doin rezy work back home,  the operator was expected to pull line, but we were told to never be on a whip.

Well... Let me rid myself of any lines I may use to trip you up or make excuses and take this like a Man. From now on, I will think thrice before I reach for my own hose again! Thanks for pointing out all the potential dangers, I got exactly what I asked for...

     Pump-off! I gotta go find a Hose-man!

Too all of you who are so upset with pump operators driving their own hose I've got some questions to ask:

I've seen lots of pictures with operators standing on the pump and the placing crew being 30 meter or more away from them. Do you believe that that's safer?

If you do so, do you mean safer for the operator or are you thinking also about the placing crew?

If I, as an operator, make a mistake, is it better that someone else has got to take the consequences?

If I drive the hose myself I can use a 125 mm hose, otherwise they will tell me to use the smaller sizes of hose. I know that most pumping related accidents are due to releasing block ups. Knowing that I've never had a block up in a 125 mm hose and lots of block ups in smaller sized hose, then what do you consider more safe?

Of course, it takes a little more effort and concentration and my clothes are covered with concrete at the end of the day, but to me it's worth while because I know it is safer to drive your own hose if you know what your doing and have the discipline not to do it in circumstances where it's better not to.

I do agree on the fact that it should not be seen by the contractor as an opportunity to send less people to the jobsite and I never ask of someone else to do it if there convinced it's safer not to drive their own hose, especially not if they are new on the job. I want to improve safety in pumping, the last thing I would like to happen is that someone is doing dangerous stuff because of me. 

Think about it,

If it is dangerous to be your hose man then we have identified the problem.

If it is not dangerous, just do your job, and if you ARE doing your job it should not be dangerous. ;~)

You might be right Bob, and I might be totally wrong.

For all those of you who think it's totally wrong to drive your own hose, please forget all the crap I've posted, or even better, always keep it in mind and point it out to others not to do the same thing.

Thanks to you all to make pumping safer and the world a better place to live in.

Kris Leers

You may well be light years ahead of me. I am somewhat simpleminded in that it takes 100% concentration for me to operate. To me, running the boom is a very small part of what is going on. I know a lot of kids that can run the boom.

If you can do everything that there is to do as an operator and still divert your attention to running the hose.. I salute you.

Yes, there are easy days, but the risks are still there with you. And like some of the other folks have pointed out; what happens if you are splattered by a crete blob right in the eye? I doubt if there are two people on the job as qualified as you are.

Think about the instruction you get on the airplane........ when the oxygen mask drops, who do you put the mask on first? You, right? If you don't take care of you, you can't take care of anyone else.

Step back, stay safe, do your job and have a good safe pour.

If I was on the finishing crew I would feel better knowing that you were safe and ready to react to a situation.

And remember, No good deed goes un-punished. ;~)

Thanks for the advise Bob, I'll keep it in mind.

you should never never never do anything else while operating,talking on the cell,operating your hose,listening to your i-pod, we should all know this if we are professionals,I cant even believe this is a question,what are yall thinking,I am one that truly believes you stay close to your pump while pumping not the hose your job is at the pump, your outriggers,foreign objects in the hopper,hyd oil leaks, none of this is done at the end of the hose,you want to make your hose safer keep an eye on what goes in the hopper make sure you dont suck air that 'll make it safer for all

I don't say you have to take your own hose, but if your standing on your pump and watching the hopper and the hydraulic leaks and the hose man is standing on a wall you have to fill at a distance of 50 meter or your boom is over a building and your putting concrete behind the building, then how can you possibly see what's going on? This to me is a very dangerous suggestion. You should be watching what's going on at the end hose. If you need to stay on the pump, then why did manufacturers come up with radio controlls?????