Volumetric concrete

Is there a thread on this HEF or HTF dedicated to volumetric mixer trucks and operating a business with them? Someone point me in the right direction or let’s post comments here. Thanks,,,,,,,TIO

I remember quite a few short threads on here where they have been mentioned.... and some of the guys on here thinking about getting them... randy88, pete379,etc...

We use them a lot but haven't bought one.. thought about it though.

The company around here seems to make decent money with them, what specific did you want to know?

Same here thinking about getting one as a career change. Just looking for as much info on equipment and operations as possible. This HEF is usually a great place to find info....TIO

One thing I remember on a few jobs where we needed just a small amount of crete was more and more certain jobs are required to meet a certain spec, so you can't hand mix or use volumetric mixers.... and when you only need less than a half a yard at most it really screws things...

had a job with a single thrust block on a 6" ductile line.... inspector said" nope... gotta have a slip from the local readymix plant!' and we didn't have anything else nearby to pour... I mean that's insane....

So in the future (around here at least)your main customers will probably be small homeowner projects without permits/inspections...

I was thinking “spec” concrete might be an issue. I get to do a ride along with an out of my area volumetric concrete company (5 trucks) next week. I’ll be sure to ask that question. Although I do know for a fact they poor “fast set” concrete on interstate freeway projects so some engineers are excepting it. TIO

I did a project years ago that involved one of those rigs. The owner was pouring the slots on I90 when they milled the slabs even and then put locking bars between the slabs to hold them together. I seem to remember another company with one doing the same on I5 between Mt. Vernon and Bellingham. There was another company down toward Graham that built their own trucks and mixers. That gentleman had all the work he could handle at the time. This was back in the 2005 time frame.

yeah, I know who you're talking about JohnC, we used to use him a lot... he actually bought three new rigs from back east somewhere about 7 years ago but those are usually in need of some tlc anymore.

Can you guys PM this guys name or a website link so I can research and or call him??TIO

I think this is his web site.

http://www.cascademobilemix.com

Good Luck

I don't know much about the business but this company started up in my area not to long ago and seems to be doing well, I see their truck(s) running all over the Birmingham area.

https://www.owensonsite.com

One can only assume their is some money in the operation as these guys have new KW's and mixers. I'd like to hear more from someone who is in the business

Thanks guys this is all really helpful. I too would like to hear from someone actually in the business....TIO

That is a good lookin KW on there website....TIO

I’m on Long Island NY and a handful of masonary yards have volumetric mixers. The price structure is usually like this 250 mobilization charge includes 1st yard, 2,3,4 yard are 125 per yard and then 100 every yard after that. We have some many redi-mix companies around here that it’s easier and cheaper to to get a short load delivered if you need 2-3 yards for a small project

I like this pricing structure it’s easy and simple. I talked to a company about a hundred miles from me and they used a price structure similar to this and they said what happens is people say when your in the area or they get cornered at one job site and the another contractor shows up wanting a bit of mud but doesn’t want to pay the move charge. I hope you understand what I’m trying to say here. Anyways I developed a spreadsheet for 3 different “zones” which each represent a 15 mile radius from my plants. These are graduated from .5 yard at about the $250 up to anything over 7 yards is $120-ish. Basically it’s the mobe charge divided by the number of yards delivered. But if a customer wants 2 yards next door they pay the same amount for those first 2 yards as his neighbor. I will share my pricing charts when they get converted from spreadsheets to PDFs.

So now I will share my progress in starting things up. I purchased 2 new 270 bbl tilt up portable silos. A low hour truck with a Pro All body on it, waiting for delivery. A well used cat 928g wheel loader to load aggregate and sand. Next week I will get a 40 foot container to put my 500 gallon water resivior tank in, and bulk admix tanks in. I ordered pumps to pump from the tank to the truck. I installed a new meter base for 100 amp power and started digging some trench to run water and conduit to the container. I have a lot of pieces to put together over the next couple of weeks.....TIO

A shout out here to Eric at Montana Tank Works. He is a very good knowledgeable salesman that I would recommend to everyone looking for a silo or whatever else they make. He was extremely patient with all of my dumb questions! I think there product is top notch too From what I have compared on paper since I have never purchased or operated anything like this before...TIO

Sounds like you are well on your way TIO!

Was it difficult sourcing cement?

I didn't give the volumetric business much thought until I started seeing the company in my area all over the metro area.

Looking at it from a contractors standpoint if I need to pour 4 inverts in 4 48" storm manholes, I can pay $250 to have the concrete delivered or mix on site or pay a 3 man crew to mix from bags or pay $400 for a short load of mud from the redi-mix plant.

It will take a 3 man crew 1/2 day to mix bag concrete and pour 4 inverts or order a yard, pour it out and finish in an hour. Money saved on my part. I think I'm going to give our local company a call.

How does the truck meter in the admixes? Do they use graduated vials or Badger type meters? I know that there are some really good powdered prepackaged admixes on the market now, even super-p and mid-range water reducer.

Cm1995, the cement was easy enough to source. I have at least 3 manufacturers within 100 miles of me. I have yet to get any delivered because my silos are not erected but I got my account set up and product quoted delivered. They say they can have it delivered in a couple days after ordering. Since I will get a load only once or twice per month this type of scheduling is easy. Cement powder is expensive and then to pay a truck to haul it 200 mile round trip is expensive also.

Repower guy, the admixes are liquid in a volumetric truck. They are injected at the bottom of the mix auger using transfer pumps and controlled with inline flow meters. Many companies manufacture admixes specifically for volumetric trucks. The timing of reaction is completely different in a volumetric truck than it is in a barrel truck.........TCO

Ahh, I gotcha, I was thinking of the style I’ve seen in pictures with a yard or so drum that is fed from a agg hopper with a small conveyor line.
The admixtures don’t have much time to mix in an auger. You probably won’t need a retarder but maybe an accelerator and a air entrainor. I’d like to see one in action some day.

I will have air entrainer and water reducer separately to start with. They do combine them into one admix but I will run them separate. I’m not sure exactly how many admix systems I have on my truck but I think I have 3 tanks separated into 2 systems. It can have up to 5 admix systems if I recall the specs correctly......TCO