Concrete Equipment: Maintaining Concrete Mixers

Concrete Mixing and Hauling Equipment

Concrete equipment is a large investment for a company. This is why it is so important for business owners to properly maintain their investment. One of the most commonly used pieces of equipment in the concrete industry is the concrete mixer. When properly maintained, concrete mixers will operate efficiently for many years.

Proper maintenance begins with the operator’s knowledge of machine operation and capability of troubleshooting potential problems. However, the most important aspect of ensuring that any concrete equipment has a long life is routine maintenance.

Concrete Equipment Maintenance Essentials

Concrete mixers are fairly simple by design, but do have several moving parts that require attention; the first of which is the drum. Dried concrete left inside the drum of the mixer can be detrimental to the machine itself. Over time, dried concrete will coat the inside of the drum and reduce its capacity.

While this sounds like a simple issue to fix, it is very difficult to remove dried on concrete residue from the inside of the drum. In fact, the drum can be damaged if attempts are made to remove dried material using hammers or chisels. The best idea is to take measures to prevent this build up in the first place.

Concrete can be removed from the inside of the mixers drum by using a pressure washer or simple garden hose with a sprayer attachment. Simply spraying out the inside of the drum while it is rotating will do the job. Obviously, this is not going to work well if the concrete is allowed to dry, so it is important to do this before the concrete begins to dry after every time the concrete mixer is used.

Concrete Machinery Monitoring Systems

No matter how well you maintain your concrete equipment, problems are bound to occur. Even the most experienced operators may not recognize the potential issue until it is too late. Modern technology allows machinery owners to see what’s going on inside.

Condition monitoring dashboards are becoming increasingly popular in the concrete industry as well as other industries that routinely use industrial machinery. These systems use innovative software which can provide information such as machine condition, life, potential issues and even location.

This is extremely useful for companies who have a large fleet of machines as the system will alert a central office of the specific machine affected and specifics as to the potential problem.

Recover Concrete Equipment That Was Not Properly Maintained

It is always a better idea to routinely practice preventative maintenance measures, but when concrete machinery has not been maintained properly, what can an equipment owner do?

Sure, you could get the jackhammer out and begin chipping away at the dried on concrete. This is likely to damage the equipment. However, options are limited at this stage in the game.

A better option could be to look into a company offering chemical concrete removal and pressure washing services. This method can be pretty expensive which is why preventative maintenance and proper cleaning of concrete equipment is so important.

There are even companies that offer concrete chipping services used to remove dried concrete build up. They use smaller cutting tools to chip away at the hardened concrete until it is all removed. Although effective, this is also a much more expensive alternative to preventative maintenance.

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