Using FEL to cart concrete

   / Using FEL to cart concrete #1  

Deaf

Silver Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2003
Messages
126
Location
NE Ohio
Tractor
Ford New Holland
Has anyone used their FEL to cart cement from the truck to the pour site. Pouring a new slab in the basement and wanted to use my 1215 FEL to cart cement to the shut we made. A concrete buggy wont work since the basement window is off the ground a bit. Thanks for the input?.
 
   / Using FEL to cart concrete #2  
Has anyone used their FEL to cart cement from the truck to the pour site. Pouring a new slab in the basement and wanted to use my 1215 FEL to cart cement to the shut we made. A concrete buggy wont work since the basement window is off the ground a bit. Thanks for the input?.

Sure. But remember that concrete can weigh as much as 150 lb/cf and
that could mean you have over 1000# in your loader. You must use good
ballast on your 3-pt.
 
   / Using FEL to cart concrete #3  
Think about how many cubic feet you are pouring and how many trips that will be.

You can do it, but it may be better to use the tractor to prepare a path for the concrete truck to get to where it can put the mud into your chute using the one it has on the truck. 20' can sometimes be done, and 12-15 is pretty routine.

How are you distributing it inside the basement?

I have always pumped into an existing basement just because it is fewer people required to do the work. The extra cost of the pump is offset by the lower labor cost for a smaller crew.
 
   / Using FEL to cart concrete #4  
your situation is compound IMO...you are faced with an enclosed pour which means that it is going to set up very slowly without an accelerator...

I agree 100% with the pump being the least labor intensive but a pump requires a relatively high slump mix to be able to pump it...

likewise, a high slump mix will slosh around in the bucket and will limit filling to capacity to prevent spillage...
 
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   / Using FEL to cart concrete
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Being the Cheap-o I am trying to save the $600 pump fee, There will be 4 of us working the job two finsihers(paid help) in the basement with my buddy moving the wheel barrel. I will run the tractor and fill the chute. The chute we made will acuminate the tractor bucket and splash if I pour slow and has enough sloop to run into basement, also going to line it with plastic to aid the flow. Large crack free driveway on one side and water lines, sewer pipes, gas lines for two house on the other side. We built the chute to work on both sides.

Not sure how many cubic foot of cement I can put in the bucket but I am guessing 5-7 with no splash issue so it might take a little while? Also worried about weight on the loader. I have a 4 foot box blade for counter weight.

Deaf
 
   / Using FEL to cart concrete #6  
Keep a water hose handy to hose down the bucket and tractor on a regular basis.:D
 
   / Using FEL to cart concrete #7  
You didn't mention how many yards of concrete. Ten yards at the FEL carrying capacity you mentioned would be in the ballpark of 50 trips (if my math is right). That may take a bit longer than you anticipate.

I have routinely carried concrete and even blacktop in the FEL, but for much smaller jobs where five or so trips might be required.

Standby time for the truck might be a consideration, you might see what their rate is for that. In these parts it is loosely based on the quantity delivered, any time over a per yard allotment is charged.

Been there, done that, have fun, and enjoy your new basement!!
Sherweld
 
   / Using FEL to cart concrete #8  
I agree with whats all been said here. Perhaps, at the end of the project, you might relize "oh crap, it would have been cheaper to use a pump type" . What if the tractor breaks down for no reason and the concrete is hardening up in the truck ? there is no insurance against those odds. using a pumper truck definately will put odds in your favor. If the pumper quits, then you can use your idea if you wanted to other wise , the concrete company is gonna eat the cost, not you.;)
 
   / Using FEL to cart concrete #9  
$600 is cheap for a pump truck. They're $900 by me. It's worth it man. Waaaayyyyy quicker and neater than you could ever dream of being with the tractor. Some things you just have to bite the bullet for.
 
   / Using FEL to cart concrete #10  
Has anyone used their FEL to cart cement from the truck to the pour site. Pouring a new slab in the basement and wanted to use my 1215 FEL to cart cement to the shut we made. A concrete buggy wont work since the basement window is off the ground a bit. Thanks for the input?.
===================

I am trying to picture this particular delivery method. We always liked to get our concrete floor in up front. We would get one course of block around the perimeter right off the footing to contain concrete and pour the floor. Excavation always included a ramp down to floor level suitable for a concrete truck to drive down to a point where his chute could hit a pair of 6 cu.Ft. Wheel barrows waiting on top of floor grade for the basement floor. The truck's chute could hit half the floor usually. Then we had our blocks delivered and boomed down in the bottom of the excavation for building up walls and we got to work and set scaffold right off the nice concrete floor.

But for what ever reason, it sounds as though you are doing it differently. And you are going to try stuffing 10 or more yards through a basement window. Our crew has done it both ways but it's not a very good working the way that you have to.

How does this chute work? I hope it's steel and not something nailed up out of 2 X10's cause it takes quite a high slope to slide concrete on wood. Make sure you wet the wood down it real good if it is. If the angle of the chute comes up very high how are you going to dump the FEL bucket full of concrete in the chute at the same time and still stay safely away from the basement wall with that heavy tractor with a FEL bucket filled with concrete sinking in dangerously and pushing inward on your existing basement wall. If your answer is to shovel than forget the tractor with the bucket because it will be much easier to fill 6 cu ft concrete contractor's wheel barrows filled with the truck chute and wheeled back to directly dump in the chute. Remember,at some point under your proposed plan the whole chute has to be disassembled so that last yard of concrete can be poured down there to finish that new floor up. How will you get the last yard down there at that point?

But you are asking for help not for me to keep casting doubt on your upcoming job. My advice is to have a good experienced crew to place and finish the concrete. Consider hiring that pumper and forget for this time using that FEL bucket to transport all that concrete. Two capable men handling two Wheeel barrows will be faster in the long run that the tractor. Thats the way I see it. I'm not really trying to chide you but to help you or I would not have taken all this time.

The best of luck with that floor. You can do it.

rimshot
 

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