Someone here asked to provide some photo's of what the interior of a boom looks like.

  Im providing these so you may be able to get a grasp on why there are weight limits specifically set for your concrete booms.And as you may be able to tell in these photo's just how thin your last section is,there is also alot of empty space inside your boom.

  They are designed to be able to flex and retain there memory ,similiar to a fishing rod .But even a fishing rod has its limits and as we all know that one big fish could snap our pole. The same goes for your concrete boom,if you make it go past its design limits.

  The following pictures are of a schwing 47m (last section) that the operator had an accident, I wont go into the why's of the accident , I will just allow you to formulate your own opinions on that. These photos are just for referance to give you all an idea of just what a concrete boom looks like before and after a boom section takes place.

What gauge steel is in these booms and what type Hot roll or cold roll, what welding rod 3/32 7018 Low High,I like your starting and finishing tabs, and you know all to well never get in a hurry, are you tying the back up strip into the weld or is it just to carry some heat plus having and area to set the new steel on. GOOD JOB 

Boom Inspector: Thanks for posting the pics of boom repairs, It had quite an impact on me when I first saw the internal structure my self, they look so massive and tough then when opened up one can begin to understand the engineering that goes into a boom. Light and tough but flexible actually quite impressive. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of response to the post talking about not overworking the booms. “Use Tragedy to raise awareness”, I am concerned that the customers are concerned to keep the job over standing up for the safety of the industry. I feel you will continue to have repair work in the future. This is a huge topic that has been quietly dismissed for the entire time of my career in Concrete Pumping and continues to be overlooked. Quite frankly I don’t know how to fix this one, old bad habits die slowly, but if those in the industry that understand the risks and reasons keep preaching we can only hope to have a population grow and safety increase. To those that respond and promote Thanks.

Holy cow BI,that's exactly what In was want'n.

And this folks is why it's ok to lift houses,used toyota's,power trowels,NOT!!

Booms are designed to flex under specified loads from the manufacturer,not in your mind.Thanks again for a great example.

It's actually slightly thicker than I expected. You can also hear how thin it is just by knocking on it..

Being the Boom is made out of say 16 ga steel what factor does the pipe and support arms have with the over all strength.And it looks as though you use stick rod for better penetration verses a Mig gun cause I see you grind most of your cover weld off so you must gap the pieces,and by using the backup strip that keeps it from melting threw.

I know that pump i was in it the other day and the man that had the "accident". He is still running it but it will be wore out once its done with the project it is on now.

You did a hell of a job by the way.

Thats really cool, thanks for the lowdown on the breakdown!!! I trully hope thats the only way I will ever see the inside of a boom!!!

thanks agian, man!!!

  Thanks for the comments gentlemen.

@ Biged,the guage is about 10 guage, in the area im working on its 3mm thick. We use the 7018 rod only on such things like pipe arms,never on the boom material itself. For boom material and outriggers we use 9018 for a root pass(to help elongation and only on certain applications) then cover the pass with tenacito 80 and or tenacito 100 (not the technical term) The tenacito rods are german specific rods that most manufactures use for high tensile strength materials such as used in making booms.

The back up strips you see inside the boom are used to get %100 penetration and is used specifically for Schwing booms, Putzmeister allows open root welding with out the use of a back up strip.

Also Ed , I use "stick" welding vs "mig" is due to all my work being in the field and with wind gusts I would loose my gas with a wirefeeder.And yes you are somewhat right in the penetration factor by using "stick" welding process.

@ Travelteck, all we can do is continue to educate the owners and operators of these machines,there will always be safety and repair work to be done in our industry . But that is what makes it so interesting for people like us ,right ?

@funnyboom,oops I thought i had made the pics non-discript. But you recognized that one didnt ya ? LOL The operator was a cool guy to be around . I was just happy i got his boom fixed and running again. And thanks for the kind words.

@ Crazycretor,your welcome

Lol I just know what that operator drives and it was in one of the pics. Along with a couple other things.

I worked for those idiots...they wanted me to pick up a 30ft 5 in trim pipe + 10 ft hose with a 52m Schwinger...needless to say I didn't work there for long...sorry the Ker gave it away

Is that that ramcrete 47m. That was a sweet pump

reposted to remove any idenifying marks,geez you guys are dang perceptive

Pumpman I believe we spoke a while ago about the project you were Working on.

Great Post

Thanks Seed , glad you enjoyed it :)

Very interesting. How far do you travel ? We don't have any boom inspectors down here.

sorry nzpump , I only travel with in the confines of the USA. But I can get you names and numbers of some very good inspectors/welders that are willing to travel outside the USA if your interested ?

we do have boom inspectors down here nzpump...if you have a kkk that is

Very nice weldingjob! I believe you have many years of experience.

thank you ALMIMA  , I have been welding professionally since 1987 after I graduated from welding tech school. welding is not  only a job to me but a passion.

NICE WORK !

I supposed that "Boom Inspector". There is no error or any scores in your finished work, very nice job! I suppose you have a higher weldinglicence because you are allowed to repair booms. Thats not a work for a 15 years guy who tune up his moped whith a hammer and a welder - or a work for me. I´m impressed of your work.

thanks again ALMIMA , I like most operators I have the privlage to work with take pride in our work. there is nothing more satisfying than having someone say "DAMN THAT LOOKS GOOD". again, thank you for the kind words 

@ Todd, Holy hot damn, I made a sticky  thanks pal