Just take a look.

http://video.concretepumping.com/videos/1030/air-used-wrong

If you know what company this is please do not say it, they have to feel bad enough as it is.

Not by today's standards,but that's how it was done in the 60's-70's-80's.

I remember back in the day in Raleigh NC the company I was working for was doing one high rise and the competition was doing another one.  They started before we did but before long we were catching up to them - from the beginning we were set up to blow back into the ready mix truck - we knew how to do it and were successful each time with no mess

The other jobsite had to clean up concrete on the ground every day and finally the Supt demanded the other pump company devise a way to blow back into their concrete truck.  They came up with the idea to put the diversion valve on the first poured floor.  They ran the pipeline across the deck and down with a hose to reach into the drum.   You can probably guess what happened LOL they did not secure the pipeline to the deck.  Just like int he video the pipe rose and blasted concrete accross the street and took out a lot of windows in the next door office building as well as cars - luckily no one was hurt.   They learned Air is dangerous since it compresses. 

Notice I did not mention those companies Todd ! LOL

Yepp.. Just open the airvalve and all will go automaticly is what some guys think   Blowing back a ball with air is an art.. If you would do this right and use enough time/patience you can make the ball just roll out at the end.

I would never dare to blow a ball like that on a buildingsite with many workers who can get hurt, but when i do pumpjob out in the archepilago or in a wood......i let full air into the hose and the ball shoot out with a loud bang. I doesn´t matter how many times i have seen that explosion - me self and the concreteworkers laughs every time, the most funny part of linepumping.

Sad that i not so often have those pumpjobs where i in a safe way, can let full air when blowing a ball.

Safety allways comes first - after that comes the fun part. 

So does anyone remember David Bone and his accident ?

 Well I guess if you dont mind the mess our danger then go for it, but its not the way to do it. I am wondering if there from the states or a 3rd world country.

 Yes I remember. Now I know you worked for Bone and probably Obrien. What are you doing now.

so what happen Many????

what am I doing now? Not much really,drawing ss and my va disability.All to often what mind I have left thinks about all the real good people I left behind.

Todd,what I remember is a placing boom job in hotlanta and a blowdown going terribly wrong.I seem to remember the air not fully released when they popped a clamp topside.He recieved serious head injuries for life,he was a good operator and just got caught.Sometimes I joke about what we did years ago,the number of pumps/building increased to where it could no longer be overlooked.Stay safe

 A lot of people dont respect air and what it can do to you or someone else. Its just as dangerous as a plug in the boom if not more. If you dont know what your doing you should find someone to teach you first. Please be safe with air. Its as important as dunage. Another thing that has been bothering me is that everybody is so critical of there dunnage or pads, fine its important, but what I run across lately is major contractors bidding jobs so cheap' which means they have to cut corners in other areas like the mix designs. So your pumping and your having a hard time with the mix and you have a 4" tremmie on and it blows in a guys face because of the mix. It could be a bad deal. the more you learn about mix designs in your area can help. If you run into this problem be careful because you could hurt somebody or yourself, again be safe and good luck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR5absO-85w

another bad video.

one more bad video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoPwL6W7OKo

In the 2:nd video...what was the pumpoperator and the concreteworker thinking about??? Didn´t they see the house or the mixertruck? with the ball, it also come out concretesplash in 200 MPH. Even if noone gets hurt (in this case) - it´s very costly to clean off concretesplash from a house. I get angry when i see that behavior.

The mixertruck can be washed at the plant - but why point the hose to the mixertruck at all?