3-point concrete placer?

[MossRoad]

The first concrete job I tackled by myself was foundation walls for a garage. I rented a mini-tracked excavator, dug the trenches, set the footing forms and laid in the rebar. I had two people lined up to help me on pour day. We were going to wheelbarrow the concrete in by hand. Well, day arrives, concrete truck shows up, two helpers are no-shows and I'm standing there by myself with a truckload of concrete waiting to pour 112' of foot wide by 8" deep footing. Driver pours the first load into the wheelbarrow, I pick it up, get about 5' away and the handle snaps in half on the brand new wheelbarrow. $%&&%$%!!!!

Fortunately, the concrete driver realized I was an idiot and felt bad for me. He drove his truck THROUGH the piles of sand that came out of the trenches to get close enough to the footings to pour directly into them. I managed to get things leveled out and drop in the keyway in the footing by myself. I thanked that guy profusely for saving my $$$ as he would have had to dump the concrete. They can't take it back and use it later.

Anyhow, what I learned was:

A. Even if you read everything you possibly can and watch as many episodes of This Old House, Home Time, Holmes on Homes, etc... you will miss something very important.

B. To learn how to do concrete, let someone else teach you.

C. Start with small concrete jobs and move on to larger ones as your skills progress.

D. Concrete is HEAVY! (and permanent). :laughing:

E. Leave enough room for the concrete truck to get to the work. It didn't occur to me at the time that the dirt I dug out of the trenches would be in my way.

The things you learn by doing them wrong!!! :confused3:

 

[redman135]

I drive a concrete truck (6 wheeler) ie FULL SIZE , people say plenty of room,Yeah right, little car size room. In a straight line reverse I need 12" width minimum,(10' mirror to mirror), you always need to manuvere. I need a lot more for corners,20' plus, The nose will swing out a lot further than people think. And trim the bloody branches. Trucks are taller than most people think,and leaving my paint on your trees means I won't go that extra bit further. Trees also smash mirrors (very irrate driver),and we have to explain our carelessness.
Is the ground hard enough to carry a fully loaded truck (24 ton)? Towing us out is expensive.
Talk to a concrete crew as to what they need to make their job easier, ie water to wash gear ,wash area, (illegal to discharge concrete wash water directly into storm water drains, or water ways, blocks drains and kills fish)
Having worked with a concrete gang ,concrete is HEAVY and what few people understand is "the clock is ticking",the concrete is going "off" ready or not,AND getting the finish right is a learned skill.Noo preasure,yeah right.
Lastly at your level of inexperience I strongly recommend you pay for experts. When you get it wrong a driveway is something everyone can see, oops.
Start much smaller where finish is not so important, ie a garden mowing strip, small concrete area of about 1 or 2 square metres to learn on, and mistakes are not so visible.
I suggest you start by learning the earthworks,then learning concrete . There is a lot more going on than meets the eye.

 

[/pine]

I can't swear to this but I heard that "Murphy"...(the one that wrote the law)...did concrete work on the side...!

 

[Ed of all trades]

The only thing I can add is the concrete clock demands that you do things not only before it sets up but at the proper time. You can't finish it before it is ready or after its ready and my have to know how to read the clock. Trust me and all the others who know, on a job that big, hire a crew.

 

[ishiboo]

Thanks guys, all great advice. A friend of mine is a landscaper who has done a ton of concrete work including decorative, so I have help... just trying to make it easier on us

 

[jel1988]

I have placed and finished thousands of yards of concrete over the years, it take alot of experience to get it right. Contrary to common terminology you place concrete only very specialized mixes actually pour. Concrete can be thought of like epoxy once you add the catalyst (water) the hydrating process has begun and nothing can change that fact. You have a certain amount of time to get the truck to site, discharge the concrete into the forms, screed the concrete and float and trowel it. At different temperatures and humidity this reaction speeds up or slows down, certain admixtures can modify this reaction. In your area you should add aer ( helps concrete deal with expansion and contraction associated with freeze thaw cycles) the concrete can be retarded ( the set delayed ). So even if you and your buddy are working a different day the mix can vary signicantly. Concrete will crack, you can't stop it only try and contol it. If your driveway is 20' wide I would work in 20' long sections ( I would cut it into 10' * 10' squares a few days later) this would be a manageable size for a 2 man crew. The most important job is the base. The further north you live the deeper you must prepare the ground. Here in SC they place the concrete right on the native sand, where I live (north of lake Huron ) minimum driveway preparation is 12" of gravel. If I were you I'd prepare the ground (1 foot wide than the driveway on both sides) and call the pros, they get it right everytime.
PS Here in coastal SC they only charge about $4 sq/ft for flatwork.