Hello all,

 I lost a job on a 6 story building because I am not set up for Shotcrete. They needed to stabilize the foundation of a existing building next to the new foundation. I have a 1993 32XL Swing and was told it was to large of a pump to use. This was by a competitor who does Shotcrete in our market??? By the way I hope to buy a line pump in the future (Better economy) and the Swing 305 seems to be a good choice for a entry pump. Any thoughts?

A few years ago I did a 20 yd shotcrete job with a 1997 1200 36X schwing,   It can be done, just drop a couple gears. Only drawback was the build up in the rock valve, That stuff gets very hard!!!!

it can be done safely but the build up is a tremendous it would be worth it to bring in a oiler or see if the contractor will provide you a guy toscrape down grate and sides. With a 32m Schwing and 600ft of system I have down shotcrete for PG & E in the Sierra Mountain water flumes....

I always try to go off the boom.  Usually just run a 5 to 4 then a 4 to 3 and a 3 to 2" reducers.  I then put on a 20 ft hose and a shotcrete nozzle.  You have to make sure that the rock is pre-soaked or it will suck up all your moisture.  I give it a bucket of slick pack and a 2 - 3 inch slump on the mud then pump on.  I have done this in everything from a 28 to a 43 putz and have run 100 ft of 2 inch hose off the boom of a 36  for shotcrete without problems.  I just stuck an extra bucket of slime after the reducers and only pluged once in the reducer. 

this job is structural in the basement of a building but on this i did go off the back of a 32 m putz truck  with 150' of line

Thanks for the help and advice. I'm a one guy show with a year and half exprience of pumping. Any training out there on Shotcrete? Where is a good place to look for a gun? New/used?

Bigger is better, atleast stroke/piston sizewise.
Less 'pauses' between strokes and much smoother on the hose man. Just go slow, 0.5-1.5 max on my my 16 cell putz.
Have done it with everything from 16 to 46, and the size of the boom doesn't matter.