Contractors who choose to invest in their own boom pumps recognize that justifying the investment will require the right combination of features to fit their unique needs.
Given the chance to make the case for their newest premium boom pumps, manufacturers took their turns in the spotlight with a decided emphasis on those categories in which each claims to top the list.
The Biggest
Concord Pumps Inc., based in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, is touting its new 65-meter concrete boom pump as the world’s largest, with the capabilities necessary to handle big projects with short timeframes.
The key to the 65-meter boom’s performance is the combination of longer reach, a five-inch delivery line and greater pumping power—all of which prompts company president Isidoro Flores to exclaim, “This is an awesome machine.”
Concord sold the first 65-meter model to Forest Park, Georgia-based Pumpco, Inc., whose vice president, Jim Ainsworth, admitted some trepidation a few years back when it first began working with Concord, which is not one of the industry’s longest-tenured manufacturers. But Pumpco’s earlier satisfaction with two of Concord’s 60-meter booms led them to challenge Concord to create an even bigger one.
“Back in 2003 we had our concerns about committing so much to Concord,” Ainsworth says. “Concord was a relatively new company in the pump manufacturing industry. But after a couple of visits to the factory, Concord certainly appeared to be a good value. The two 60-meter Concords we purchased absolutely have proved their value to us. These machines have done nothing but help our reputation in the field. The operators love them and the customers love them.”
Flores touts his 65-meter pump as the only one in the big-boom category with a standard five-inch delivery line.
“When you combine the larger diameter pipe with the longer reach, that means you can get a large pour done quicker, and on a higher floor,” Flores says. “That translates into competitive advantage for the operator.”
In the case of Pumpco, Flores sees those advantages in very specific terms.
“Pumpco has the largest boom pump in the world now,” Flores says. “This is going to attract a lot of attention to their company. They’ll be able to grow the company with it, and command a higher price. With this machine you can simply reach a higher floor, or reach further across a warehouse pour, without the labor involved in laying hose down with a shorter boom.”
The Longest St. Paul, Minnesota-based Schwing America Inc. touts its S 41 SX as the longest boom on three axles weighing under 60,000 pounds—a distinction it considers critical because it allows operators to keep truck costs down while maintaining the maneuverability necessary to get in and out of tight residential jobsites.
Its horizontal reach is 120 feet, with a vertical reach of 132 feet and a 740-degree boom rotation.
The S 41 SX also features Schwing’s patented Super X outriggers, which have a curved design that telescopes out to achieve fast, compact setup.
Schwing spokesmen say manual boom controls at the side of the pump make it possible for the S 41 SX to finish the pour in all circumstances, while all-hydraulic actuation provides proportional control even if the remote box is disabled. The pump also comes with a minimum of hydraulic fittings, consolidated in a single location.
Finally, the S 41 SX has a standard vector control system that allows for two-way communication between the pump and the operator.
For larger contractors, Schwing unveiled its S 52 SX pump earlier this year. This five-section, 52-meter boom has a boom design known as the RZ5, which combines the roll-and-fold and Z boom styles. The S 52 SX puts the Z boom at the tip section and offers 270 degrees of rotation—all designed to achieve better reach than other booms.
Smooth, Safe Pumping
Duane Remus, REED’s Director of Technical Development, designed a hydraulic system for boom pumps that improves pumping safety. Remus’s closed-circuit “free flow” over-center hydraulic circuit virtually eliminates boom bounce. The hydraulic circuit’s “return” oil feeds the pump at considerable pressure. This eliminates routing the oil through the control block (brain) and shifting spools. There is a considerable dampening of pressure spikes, which translates to less boom bounce. In addition, the closed-loop system is significantly more fuel efficient than an “open-loop” hydraulic system.
Less Hose Movement
An Innovation Award winner at the 2007 BAUMA show in Munich this past April, Putzmeister’s new patent pending Steady End Hose is designed to minimize the effects of end hose movement, for safer and easier concrete placement.
“Most end hoses used on a boom pump react to uncontrolled pressure changes in the concrete with strong lateral deflections,” explains Ian Moore, Director of Customer Support at Putzmeister America, Inc. “This usually occurs when air is trapped or a blockage is cleared. The new hose significantly reduces these unpredictable and sometimes dangerous deflections, helping prevent the most frequent cause of injury associated with concrete pumps.”
A specially-designed reinforced fabric helps the hose reduce the movement. In the event of a blockage, the hose dampens lateral deflections and excess vibrations.
Another Long Reach
Aldergrove, British Columbia-based Alliance Concrete claims it has the longest boom reach on three axles—the JXAR42-4.16, whose 41.5 meter vertical reach translates to 136 feet. “This is 42 meters that are on a single steer tandem drive,” says Mike Enns, national sales manager for Alliance Concrete Pumps. “It’s designed to help reduce costs, and that extra steer axle is ($30,000). It’s a lighter-weight boom, which allows it to be road legal on three axles in most states and provinces, and as house foundations get bigger, it’s a lot of reach on a smaller footprint.”
The JXAR42-4.16 debuted at World of Concrete in January 2007, and Enns reports early sales have been strong—buoyed by the reduced weight made possible by the single steer as opposed to a twin steer, as well as the steel used on the delivery lines. Alliance also says the JXAR42-4.16 achieves decreased maintenance costs.
With an outrigger footprint of a 40-meter pump, the JXAR42-4.16 touts its ability to put operators closer to the job, while maintaining stability through the use of a 4.4-inch or 4.6-inch twin wall delivery line, which reduces the weight of the boom.
The JXAR 42-4.16 also has an outrigger foot-print of a 40 meter pump, increasing operators’ flexibility to get even closer to the job, adding additional reach. And, its stability is not compromised due to the fact that a 4.4-inch or 4.6-inch twin wall delivery line is used, which reduces the weight of the boom.
The Lightest
Yorkville, Wisconsin-based CIFA USA is claiming the fit-and-trim mantle for the current crop of new products. It calls its K52 Plus the lightest 52-meter boom pump in the industry and the only one with a 6-section articulation.
With a gross weight under 100,000 pounds, the K52 Plus has a six-section boom and can be mounted on a five-axle truck.
CIFA USA says that through the combination of the RZ boom configuration and the six sections, the K52 Plus provides flexibility and maneuverability and reduces the amount of time and the number of difficult maneuvers an operator must perform in order to reach a concrete slab, while the six-section boom configuration allows the operator to work with flexibility on a standard flat jobsite and to achieve a higher reach.
The K52 Plus features an HPG-IF pumping unit with closed circuit and reversal flow that allows high pressures of up to 1,185 psi and output of 235 per cubic yard per hour, delivered through a standard nine-inch S-Valve.
The K52 Plus also supports CIFA USA’s patented K-tronic system, which provides stability control and data logger for maintenance, thus supporting the operator during the use of the pump by recording all machine operating parameters and by scheduling and prioritizing maintenance activities.
The pump is designed to be set up quickly and safely in small and restricted job sites. The pipeline has been designed with a five-inch twin wall pipe, without short radius elbows, designed to ensure a long-life for the delivery system. It also has an independent auxiliary hydraulic power engine for vital function movement in the event the main power unit is interrupted.
The Long Ranger
Enid, Oklahoma-based Pumpstar recently unveiled its new 50-meter boom pump, which is designed to provide unusually long range without the excessive weight that typically comes as part of the long-range package.
“It’s giving a chance to some of these concrete contractors to be able to have a long-reaching boom with the lighter package, especially now that it’s getting stricter as far as the regulations in some states not allowing you to exceed certain weight and forcing the manufacturers to have a lot more axles,” says Soubhi Naddaf, president of Pumpstar. “If you can come up with a design in a package that weighs less and still gives you more reach, it means you’re going to have fewer axles and indirectly less weight, and be able to move a truck in all the states, including those that have higher restrictions. Otherwise, you’d have to have a special permit or add axles—or have an escort vehicle, which can only go certain hours.”
Naddaf says the new 50-meter boom is designed to make it possible for foundation contractors to overcome logistical complications that would ordinarily make it impossible for them to own a larger boom pump.
The Smooth Operator
Hugo, Minnesota-based Sermac America Inc., calls its line of boom pumps “the smoothest-operating booms in the business.”
Sermac’s new 5RZ48, 5RZ50 and 5RZ53 include features such as five-inch pipes to the tip, standard Steibel gearboxes and Rexroth hydraulics and an S-valve designed to provide good outputs and small load loss.
Issued: September 5, 2007
Page: p18-23
Copyright: 2007 R.W. Nielsen Company