Opinions On Front Discharge Mixers

[BillyCement]

Our company is considering purchasing some front discharge trucks. We are located in a densely populated area just outside NYC. Traffic is heavy most of the time. Some of the jobs we go to are in cities where the streets are narrow with parallel parking on both sides. Often we are expected to get the truck into a driveway under those conditions. It can be done most of the time, but could it be done with a front discharge mixer? They appear to be quite a bit longer than our trucks. I'd like to hear from drivers who drive those trucks daily. If we were out in a rural area I think there'd be no problem, but we're in a crowded urban area. Traffic studies have predicted that the roads will become even more crowded over the next decade (gee, no kidding).

[bj3976]

Fronts are great, I would dread having to go back to a rear, but it does have some limitations. Due to the All-Wheel drive your turning radius is not as great, you can order these trucks with out the All-Wheel drive and I have been told it is similar to a regular truck steering. You do have to put a little more thought into your planning when trying to get into a tight drive way with a busy street. Another thing is now you have to back out into that busy traffic. As of right now my company has only the fronts on the road. Our plant is located on the MA, NH State line and we tend to get close to Boston more and more along with it surrounding cities, Boston is as old as NYC, and you know how those streets are not designed to handle any thing bigger than a compact car! Another thing to consider is the trucks height. The Oshkosh sits around 13'3 and could pose a problem from time to time. The fronts are about 10-14 inches higher that some of our old rears. I drive almost daily around Lawrence MA, It has some of the tightest alleys, driveways and streets along with 44,000 people cramed into 1.7 square miles. Between the people and all the cars it can be tricky at times, but we make the best of the situation. Some can be impossible at times but we get by. When it comes to muddy sites, tricky ramps or even bad weather you can't beat a front disharge mixer! As a driver I feel you can do so much more with these trucks, less getting in and out of the truck, = saved time!, along with better visibility of what you are pouring, 100% control over your chutes at all times. Less blind spots, More stable, Less driver injuries due to less climbing. You can here your customer better because your not yelling over your engine. I think if your company where to buy them your drivers wouldn't like them at first but when the got comfortable with them they will love it. They do take some getting used to, because they are heavier, larger, weight is in a different place, and you drive in the middle! Good luck

[oldsmith]

My company has a couple front discharge at one of the other plants. But no one would run them so they took the plates off of them and parked them. Then recently a bridge next to one of our plants outside of buffalo was given a weight restriction and almost all of that plants work was on the other side. The only other way to go added about 30 min to get to the other side. So they sent those trucks up there because of the extra axles. I haven't heard yet if any of the drivers have warmed up to the truck yet. Myself I don't think I would like one, yet I have never run one so who knows.

[gant]

I've never ran one, but our company tried one out and apparantely they didnt like it..I have a short straight truck with a 12 yard mixer on it and it great.. its short the front axle is set back a little so it turns on a dime.. the only thing that sucks is i get sent to all the tight spots because people always say "send the smallest truck ya got" we have one smaller than mine, but it only holds 8 yards

[Matt]

bj3976 said:

Fronts are great, I would dread having to go back to a rear, but it does have some limitations. Due to the All-Wheel drive your turning radius is not as great, you can order these trucks with out the All-Wheel drive and I have been told it is similar to a regular truck steering. You do have to put a little more thought into your planning when trying to get into a tight drive way with a busy street. Another thing is now you have to back out into that busy traffic. As of right now my company has only the fronts on the road. Our plant is located on the MA, NH State line and we tend to get close to Boston more and more along with it surrounding cities, Boston is as old as NYC, and you know how those streets are not designed to handle any thing bigger than a compact car! Another thing to consider is the trucks height. The Oshkosh sits around 13'3 and could pose a problem from time to time. The fronts are about 10-14 inches higher that some of our old rears. I drive almost daily around Lawrence MA, It has some of the tightest alleys, driveways and streets along with 44,000 people crammed into 1.7 square miles. Between the people and all the cars it can be tricky at times, but we make the best of the situation. Some can be impossible at times but we get by. When it comes to muddy sites, tricky ramps or even bad weather you can't beat a front discharge mixer! As a driver I feel you can do so much more with these trucks, less getting in and out of the truck, = saved time!, along with better visibility of what you are pouring, 100% control over your chutes at all times. Less blind spots, More stable, Less driver injuries due to less climbing. You can here your customer better because you’re not yelling over your engine. I think if your company where to buy them your drivers wouldn't like them at first but when the got comfortable with them they will love it. They do take some getting used to, because they are heavier, larger, weight is in a different place, and you drive in the middle! Good luck

[glow=red,2,300]I AGREE 100%![/glow] All I would like to add to the above quote is this....The bigger question is how much more your CUSTOMERS will like a front discharge as oppose to a rear. I would venture to say that a contractor could do flatwork with half the amount of laborers using a front as he could a rear. You can lay the mud out almost perfectly with a front! Less piles of mud for the laborers to knock down and nobody needed to move the cute. Get the hydraulic flip chutes, and most of the time nobody will even have to hang a chute. Machined curb work and poured walls are definitely easier as well. Heck, all work is going to be easier unless you’re dumping your load in one big pile. It’s the cost and maintenance a front requires that scare most companies away. My company runs 6 axle Advance/Terex mixers. They don't run in all wheel drive unless you choose to. The tag axles are steerable, and don't need to be raised when turning. The automatic transmissions make driving easier and can save a driver a knee replacement over a lifetime....just ask UPS ;D . A good driver can take a front discharge anywhere a rear can go, aside from a very small difference in height restricted areas.

[cfconcrete]

We run all fronts up here in the Albany area, Advance & Oshkosh. It's been at least 15 years since anyone up here ran with rears. I think that you can get into some tight spots with them, but you just have to take it easy, and make some wide swings. They are a heck of alot longer then the rears, but I think they ride better, you sit in the center, hydraulic chutes, you drive in, point and pour. We have rear cameras on most of the new ones, and the tag axles on mine are steerable, AND......Automatic transmission! I don't think a contractor would know what to do if we pulled up in an old Crane Carrier rear dumper to be honest with you.
just make sure they don't order second hand hand me downs like cf does up here..................
Drive safe!

[BillyCement]

Thanks everybody. That's a lot of useful info from all of you. Especially the part about the added height. We have a lot of 11 and 12 foot overpasses around here and that would make a big difference.

[Mort]

We've got the only four front discharges in the north-of-Seattle area, and I run one when the guys are on vacation. We rarely run into height restrictions, but then again, there aren't any 11 foot overpasses around here. The turning radius is alright on one of them, but that tag axle makes it the same length whether its up or down, which is a drawback.

But when contractors realize they don't have to have a guy running the chute, they love them. Plus, the chute sits a bit higher than a conventional (and there is 4 more feet of chute).

Personally I like driving them better, but a lot of guys don't.

[bj3976]

Don't be scared off by the height, here in New England we have many low bridge roads and other things. You learn to go around find little detours, and such. My biggest problem is low hanging cable & telephone lines due to the hopper catching just the right way. I can't even count count how many of those I have cought. (1 just today alone). Since we stopped using rears I have noticed that almost all our customers have become dependent on the fronts. They get kind of lazy and the flat work guys expect the driver to lay it out perfect for them. We will only use rears when there are no more spares or we are training. On those days the contractors do nothing but complain or we have to call and find out if it's OK to send a rear. Alot of time the guys in rears sit around because we cant send them any where other than to a pump, and we don't see those to often. So if you do get some don't let them get spoiled! Another great thing is if you know a crew real well half the time they will just point to a "T" or a corner and say blow it in while they empty another truck. I have the trust of alot of guys and they just let me do my thing. Fronts are the best on footings, if I can see grade I will pour backing up and lay it all. Fronts are the best thing going ;D

[lkconcrete]

I love ours appossed to our old rear dis that died...lol I don't have to get out of the truck now and can see what's goin on from the cab, so no more over fills. Granted our truck never leaves the lot as we are all precast.

I would say the fronts require more cleaning since the cab is under the dirty end.