Hey guys,

What is it like in your area? Do you do mainly commercial or residential jobs/ What is the weather typically like? I think it would be interesting for those that have time to give us an idea of what pumping is like in your geographical area.

Russ

we pump everything... Paving, house slabs occassionally, streets, dorms, bridge deck and overpasses. all with a 32m= lots of moving.

in my area we do both commercial and residential, but we do more residential,slabs, floors,ceilings,walls,driveways,etc. over here the entire house is made of concrete. we used 24,28 and 32 meters.

Use to do alot of bridge decks and parking garages ,has been levy armoring and pumping stations,50 % residential these days with some heavy industrial ,as in sub-footings for vessels in the 500,000 lb. mark,metal decks with line,and my favorite,800 to 1000 sq.ft.stamped and colored concrete patios and such.Weather,nice in the winter,almost inhabitable in the summer..............

hey,

 i am from central fl. We pump alot of house slbs and footers. But we also do commercial work. alot of tilt up jobs. the company i work for has pumps from 28 m up to 52 m

Ryan,

What part of florida do you work in. Are ground conditions stab le their or do you encounter alot of ground water just below the surface making it difficult to set up etc?

Biesly

You must run a large boom. Sounds like you do mainly commercial work. That can be very draining, but some good hours!

Crazy Pumper what is "your area". I always find it interesting the different types of structural building processes in different parts of the US and abroad depending on weather conditions.

Maine, USA. We are getting our first significant snowfall tonight, 9-14". The industry is slow this time of year, it is off season if you will. This month has been cold!! Too cold for concrete! It is about 50/50 between residential and commercial. No matter where you are isn't it FEAST OR FAMINE!

NICE TOPIC!!

Seed,

You are 100% right about that. Usually the summer is feast here. Man I can't even imagine the amount of snow that places like upstate New York has received. I lived on the east coast when I was a kid. I remeber the snow but I can't remeber 9-14" WOW. All I can say is hope it melts fast and you guys get back to work soon.

Russ

I guess the reason I posted this thread is I am having a bout of the grass is always greener. What little winter we are getting here has slowed things way down. I sometimes forget the feast or famine rule in this business. We as a whole are a small community of hard working people. The concrete pumping industry overall is a small percentage of highly skilled and dedicated trademan. So Its interesting to find out that it is pretty much the same all across this country and abroad. This is such a fantastic website, and so many different topics are discussed openly and freely as it relates to the business. I tend to be more of a people person and enjoy getting to meet and know a little bit about the other folks that do what I do. Remeber guys what we do is hard, it takes a long time to become a good operator, it only takes a short time to be a good person and a hard worker. keep this post going --lets hear about what you guys do from day to day.

Russ

All the pumpers I know are slow right now. The residential market might not come back in the spring? It has happened before! It is any ones guess. A guy in business told me one time, " IF YOU DON'T STEEL THE COMPANIES MONEY DURING THE GOOD TIMES, YOU WILL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO GET THROUGH THE BAD TIMES ! 

Mostly residential, 30-100 yard range.  High Sierra's, so I carry a lot of dunnage and cribbage.  Often times on the side of a hill.  Lot of trees in the way.  The work is seasonal.  Mostly off from Jan-March.  If you do pump in the winter, its usually frozen, cold and/or snow on the ground.  Its great being off and spending time with the family and drawing unemployment ins.  If i'm not pumping I do it all.  Run Transfer, Batch, run mixer, and light maintenance.  50-60 hours per week. 

Der,

Sounds like a great place to live, and work. I ove fishing for trout. I am not sure I could deal with not wroking for several months. Seems like bills would eat you alive. Maybe California unemployment is much better then in Texas. Are home prices outrageous there.

Russ

Maine's Unemployment is $313 max benny's, What a joke!

California is $450 a week. Housing market is totally out of control.