Here is one this soil was so crappy that it took 45 min just to get the truck stable enough to pump there was a D9 on site to pull in the mixers I was pumping storm run outs close to 160m if I recall on both sides The pump when it finally was ready and secure was eating concrete like Fred Flintstone was eating a bronco burger....lol

Well this is a situation where I just would have said no. Let them get some steal plates to drive on and some crane pads for your outriggers.

You know. when there is no other option or litlle space I like to go far to help the customer but this is just plain lazzynes and cheapnes. They want you and the mixer to destroy your equipment because they want to safe some bucks. Then for me they can go fck them selfs.

dipstick i would love to say no to every akward site that i drive onto.tell everyone that rings up to book a pump that i need dead level ground, soil test certificates, 10 by 8 meters of space, enviro freindly wash out facilities, ample bags of cement to prime. add to that a banksman, site toilets, hot water and a canteen, a drying room on site perhaps and i'm sure the list could go on.

this is just my opinion,and i might be wrong but i believe if i was to do this i would probably find my machine parked in the yard most of the week and unfortunately the repayments still need to be made.

i carry heaps of extra timbers(dunnage) as well as plastic for washing out if necessary.i also shortrig on the off side if i need to and if the job requires me to walk down 3 floors, back the mixer on then walk back up, i do it. i don't do things i believe that are unsafe but i do try to solve problems when i get on tricky sites because i believe that is part of the job. if there weren't any akward pours then they probably wouldn't need concrete pumps.

i'm probably gonna wish that i didn't get involved in these discussions (i usually don't) so don't hold back you guys 

This is how I found my new pump on a show by the dealer l.o.l.

Yes telletuby. I agree with you. If you know how I normaly talk on this site you'd know. But just this situation is going to far I think because it is so totaly unnessasary. Specialy the fact that he has to drive in to the mud and risks to get his truck burried in the sand flat on his stomage. Ok. the dunnage we can fix ourselves but at least the can fix us some kind of road to drive on.

Somme r.m. drivers have troble enough driving on a steel plate road.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TxmBPyCTgM

haha. You are right there supperd. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTTri_nV0qQ

I like to do a lot for my customers. Maybe even to much. But if they don't even have the respect for me to give me something to drive on then I have to say sorry.

Come on down to south louisiana and run a pump. I get stuck on a daily basis. You guys do one job that takes alot of dunnage and write about it. I carry a freakin lumber yard on my pump and it is still not enough.

Muddy, that lumber yard is not enough because those are all thin peices of wood. But those 2 bys are good to spread weight but can snap easily. I know that bigger stuff takes up alot of room but try some 4x4s or 6x6s. I carry both, plus cartwheels from wire spools. Those cartwheels work great.

I will get pics up later , but every one of our pumps has 12 rough cut 4"x8"x40" timbers and we are in south louisiana and it sometimes still isnt enough, face it down here if it werent for the mud we wouldnt need concrete pumps, you do as much as you can without tearing equipment up , that my friend is when you know you have become a southern louisiana concrete pump operator, I wish we could get a road built , matts on every job, that just isnt feasible, there are jobs were you have to say no but if you can do it safely and without damage , that is why they call us.

Here's pictures of some soft soil conditions I entountered this spring.

This is the opposite of the working side

Here's my working side pad:

I love working on fill, NOT!!  Contractor tells me: "I compacted it with my Bobcat, my pickup doesn't leave a mark."

The fill came from the basement excavation and the little extra from creating the walk-out.  About 3' of fill.  The outrigger (right rear) that sunk, had stopped there during set-up before deploying the boom so it was pretty much at the maximum loading it would see, and I swung the boom away from it when unfolding.

The pictures were taken with the boom in pour position, pretty much directly over the super-sized 42x42 pad.

I always try to prepare my non-working side just as well as my working side. There are to many what It's that could cause the boom to go over that outrigger. Whether it be operator error or equipment malfunction. What if something suddenly goes wrong on the working side and you must quickly swing to the non-working side? What if you swing to the back of the pump to suck back the sponge and the outrigger on the non-working side becomes slightly loaded and can't sustain the load? Its better to take the extra time in the beginning. It could save alot of trouble!

Funnyboom, that's always a good idea, but using that logic short-rigging would be taboo as well. Do you ever exceed the speed limit? How about even to pass another vehicle. Ever tell a 'white lie'? You do what you gotta do, as long as it's not reckless. Therein lies the rub, it's a judgement call.

Hey pink panther i can't invest alot into dunnage because here in louisiana we tend to lose alot of it. most of the time you cant get it out of the ground. there is no telling how much lumber i have pushed all the way to china. those spool ends and cart wheels are nice but i would go thru so many of them. lol

Gotcha Muddy, one thing I used to do is to drill holes in the end of dunnage and put 6' ropes on it and leave the ends strung out. When I got done with the job, I could use the outrigger to pull it out or get a tractor if one is available. Just a thought.

Put some heavy plastic sheeting down, so that you don't have to break the strong suction that the mud creates.

There is a huge difference between shortrigging and not putting out enough dunnage pumpjockey. I only shortrig when it is absolutely necessary! People only fail to put down proper dunnage because they are too lazy or they are rushed or they can't find any, whichever reason it may be they are all bad excuses! There is never a good excuse for inadequate dunnage for soil conditions.

Hey pumpjockey

I rem seeing you lift those pads you had made you must have arms of steel by now...lol Have good day Thursday :o)

That 'spool end 'idea is a great one...im all over that one!!!

Some contractors learn it the hard way some don't take the risk

Some of the dunnage pictures surprise me

I see it too many times with dunnage that has voids between the lumber, like in the pics form Pour it out. Not picking on you but that is technically illegal and not to mention, UNSAFE. There are not allowed to be gaps like that. Especially with those 2x4s

we carry four of these ( three 48" 4X6's glued and lag bolted together) on all of our pumps 24-40M, as well as four 18X48 DICA mats. and use at least two of each under all fully loaded outriggers, Worksafe actually comes around to Job sites with tape measure and calculator in hand to inspect that proper dunnage is being used for the given ground conditions. And generally what they are looking for 1600 square inches of 4X6 or larger timber on a 32-40M pump... 2X4 and 2X6 is frowned upon... and using only 24X24 pads on all but the absolute ideal ground conditions will get one written up... generally I think it's probably a good thing for the industry.

Yes no gaps,  In the crane test, they call it bridgeing.

That looks familiar Todd? Oh yeah cuz I had to dig that freakin hole!!!

I borrowed the first 3 layers off the crane that was on site;-)

that looks good northwest but wat do you cary on your pump

some of these are done well but some of the others,well we see why these machines continue tipping over every couple of days.

Ok. Just to join the funn..

Vasa, not everybody has room on their pumps for 2 loader buckets or a lift of OSB. LOL

haha. I was just thinking this was a booring subject. Thanks vasa :-)