Advice on getting into pumping

Brand new to the website and still trying to figure it out exactly, so bear with me..

 

Quick rundown about me:

- Currently finishing my senior year (high school) and going on to college in the fall or spring for commercial aviation (helicopters). I'm about 25 / 30 miles south of Denver, CO.

- I don't have any (zip, nada, zero) experience working concrete, unless you count watching sidewalks and driveways being poured - don't think most people count that.

- Been running equipment my whole life (agricultural / light construction), and messing around with trucks the last two / three years as a shop assistant at an offroad engineering company. I can easily say operating equipment is one of my biggest passions and interests in life; I've always been comfortable in all sorts of machines and love racking up those hours.

- Was offered a job with John Deere last summer to do mechanical work, but turned it down in favor of breaking equipment out in the field

 

My question:

- I'm hoping to find out what's the best way to get on a pump truck or even hired by a pumping company with my experience would be - in your guys' opinion. 

- I'd love to be a pump operator helper/ apprentice if at all possible; I don't even know if a position like that exists in the pumping world, it seems like operators usually work alone (at least to an outsider).

- I've thought about trying to get in touch with local pump companys to see if there's anyway for me to get out into the field with a truck - couldn't hurt right? 

 

Even though I don't have any experience in concrete, I'm almost certain I have the competence and confidence to get the job done safely and efficiently if given the opportunity - I'm just looking for a chance.

What's the best way to get that chance?

 

scooter95, my advice would to ypu would be, "Just dont do it, unless it is what you want to do for a looooong time." I have been in this field for 18 years and have seen a lot of young people get stuck in this field. You definitely seem like you have the determination and drive to be a pump operator, just apply at some local pump companies and. show the. drive to them. Just make sure you have a backup plan to get out of the field if you decide its not for you. Good luck!

You seem to have the "positive" attitude it takes to do this but a MAJOR plus to this biz is concrete experience. You must know the mixes, slumps, and when to know if a mix is pumpable or not. A trailer pump would be the best to start out on where your not taking on all at once. You have to know slumps and mixes!!!! Your sitting on a time bomb whenever you put mud in the hopper. Listening, watching for plugs and reacting to them! If you ever see a plug come free before the pressure is off, you'll think twice! I'm not trying to scare you but it's not as simple as just driving a truck. It takes a lot of time and training and hands on experience to get this but can be done.

Good luck to you and feel free to ask questions

You first need to pick college or concrete pumping. You won't be able to do both. Hours are long and random. This is a 24/7 business and its hard enough to have a home life let alone be a student. Trust me I've tried. I take an online class from time to time but only when it's the slower season. My advice goto school first then try pumping. The business sucks you in and if its the only thing you know your stuck!

That's right could be a two hour job or 24 hours. never make plans. luckily for me my girlfriend grew up in a concrete family.

Thanks for all the replies! I really appreciate anything you guys can throw my way.

 

I'm definitely heading to college within the next year to follow my dream of flying helicopters, but I'd like to learn some concrete skills and hopefully get some pumping experience if possible.

 

My thought was I'd try and find a part time position that I could work weekends until I graduate in the spring and then work the summer until I head up to North Dakota for college.

 

I'm not sure if I could make a career out of concrete (have never done it ~ yet), but I'm no stranger to hard work; had to be at work six days a week by 5 am and then didn't head home for at least ten hours, sometimes 12 or 16 hour days as well.

 

I have a general interest in pumping (seems really cool to me), so I figured I'd try it out and maybe get into it down the road. The nice thing about flying helo's is that you only work about half the year or a few consecitive months and then you can go do whatever you want; I'd have enough capital / barrowing power to purchase a second hand truck and sling mud if I wanted to - hopefully.

 

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Ok i am a new member here but i have been following the site for a long time. Big fan! Alright my father has been pumping concrete for over 30 years in florida and worked for all the big companys here and i have wanted to get into pumping since i could walk. i have been riding with him since i was 10. But now that i am old enough to get my cdl i have been riding along almost ever day for the last year and every job i am on i learn something new ! Right now i am to the point where all he has to do is drive the pump to the job. And its taken a year to get to this point but i still like it when he is right there. Most of the people i know that run boom pumps where trained by there father or close friend .if it is something you really want to do find someone that has alot of experience running a pump and make him or her a deal to ride along for a few weeks they will alway take free help and usly the company wont mind. If your still interested after that time then you will more then likly do it for the rest of you life. Concrete gets in your blood and its a love/hate relationship.but if you like random hours and long day then you will love pumping concrete. I know i do and lots of the people here will agree with me. Just keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut lol and you will be just fine.whatever you decide to do good luck with it. I will be running my own pump just as soon as i can save the money to get my cdl. And just for the people that might want to know my fathers name is capt. Frank lux he has worked for Clearwater concrete/pumpco/cross and c&c. 

Kinda sounds like we have a similar situation. Although I grew up a finisher and still am I wanted to go to college and pump too. I spent the last 6 years in night class and online to get my B.A. in const. mngt. I bought my first line pump using my student loan money for down payment not even knowing a thing about operating. Everyone in our company thought i was crazy. The first two years beat the living crap out of me and almost gave up several times. Now i am glad that i stuck through it and feel comfortable everyday. My pump is now paying for my student loans and I am looking into buying a new one. All I have to say is be prepared for what your taking on mentally and physically and become best friends with your local pumpers.

I'm not sure how it is in the states but up here in Canada it seems like pump operator are hard to come by, always training people with no experience and sending them out when they're really not prepared. Like myself I had some experience in concrete none with a pump got trained for a week by my brother and once I got my class 3a was sent out on my own. There were a lot of sketchy moments that I managed to get through, never hurt anyone which I easily could of. I learned really fast being sent out prematurely, I've seen this happen many times with companies here. What got me through those times is something that can't be taught which is a good attitude and hard work ethic which it seems like you have. I honestly didn't like pumping for someone else but now adding a third pump to my company I love it and have been learning way more than I ever would have anywhere else.

Its true.. It catches you and suddenly, when its to late, you can't imagine yourself ever doing anything else.. Helicopter is much beter idea.

I don't agree on that you have to know a lot about concrete.. Slumbs etc is very easy to learn in practice.. The fact that you can fix trucks is a MUCH bigger pluss. I would defenately prefer a guy that know how to fix the pump before one that knows a bit about concrete but delivers the truck to a garage to get the mirror changed out.  

Being a ''mecanic'' is also a good thing for getting a bit higher up in concretepumping..

Buddy listen to all of what they are telling you I starting a pumping company at 57 years old withing one line pump and just sold it for less than it was worth just to get rid of and as soon as I get these guys trained, I will be glad. From now on everytime I see a concrete pump I will turn around a go another way. It is very hard work, I'm 6 ft 6ins tall and weight about 340 lbs and it was tough on me I am 65 now, my advice to you stay away from this business,  Look into union building trades I retired from the IBEW Local 595 in Dublin Calif at this time a JW wireman is making 45..00 dollars and hour plus bennies all of the trades have great schooling  and it basicly free.

Back to concrete pumping its tough to make aliving.

 

Big Ed, Retired

Yea pumpnfinnish. But I mean is something you have to learn in practice.. You can't always just look on the paper and tell if a load is pumpable.. You have to get an eye for it.

On the other hand I find it scary to see how some newbees go out alone not knowing anything about the tecnical part of the truck.. What if he's 2 hours away from the shop.. He stands waiting for concrete for a long time.. Than the next truck finaly comes and the pump doesn't work. Maybe just a bad conection in an emergency stop or something simpel like that.. By the time the mecanic has reached him it might be to late. And than a 2hour drive back to the shop to start on a lovely boom party..

Just saying its a big pluss to know how to get a machine going again.. JMO

Whatever they pay s i'm sure its not enough

You know seriously there have been days that I thought.. Maybe I should go back to school and learn me something a bit more easy job.. Like Helicopter pilot or something

Well a little bit of an update...

 

I figured I didn't have much of anything to lose, so I started gathering contact information for the pumping companies in the Denver area (only about four big ones and a few small ones) and figured I'd get in touch with them. There's only two or three companies that are close enough for me to kind of easily access, otherwise the rest of them are on the far north-side of town - way too far of a drive.

 

Ironically, the closest one to me (about 16 mi. / 25 min.) is actually looking for pump operators; I decided to call them up and talked on the phone with the head pump operator / foreman and explained my situation to him. Ended up going down, actually up, to their shop to drop off some contact information the same afternoon and happened to talk with the owner since the foreman was on the phone. So I explained the situation to him and to be honest, it seemed like he actually cared and wanted to at least get me out there on a ride along.

 

The owner ended up telling me how he started running a truck when he was 18 and eventually bought his own truck and built his business to what it is now. The foreman showed me around their shop and let me crawl around on one of their 36m Schwing's / explained the basics to me. I thought it was funny when the foreman said "we only have seven trucks," since I can't imagine a company having dozens of trucks, but they run all Schwings - three 36's, three 39's, and a single 47.

 

Long story short, it felt like the owner genuinely wanted to help me out since he had once been in my shoes, but with DOT / insurance regulations, he doesn't have any work for me since the trucks are usually one-man shows and I'm too young for a Class B CDL. 

Still happy I got to see a truck up close and now they have my name if they ever need something.

 

Starting to think flying helicopters might be easier than pumping concrete haven't crashed one yet!

 

 

 

knowing concrete, mechanics, all this comes in on the training stage, yeah both are helpful, i started out at 19 and had no idea on concrete, 24 years later here I am, I, just like the original guy that posted had been on equipment, tractors, backhoes my whole life , so driving came naturally , operating came naturally , and concrete was common sense , something this young man seems to have , so learning is a must , we all have to learn , we didn't come into this profession knowing all bout concrete , we were taught .

Now my advice young man would be to fly helicopters, being a part time pump company may not be a very realistic idea , unless you get in with a company or companies that will send you there overflow work, whatever you decide to do, good luck , and if its being a pilot, keep that thing flying, and if it's pumping well keep all fours on the ground and mud coming out the end and best of luck to you.