I am looking for some advice please. the company i work for has now gone into tarmac jobs, as of Monday i will be in a tarmac wagon but i have never done it before. we already do the RCC job so i know about tipping into pavers. Its more the loading and preparing the body before its loaded so it doesn’t stick and how to clean the back off after I’ve tipped. Also The truck came with a white spray thing but i have no idea what its for or what to fill it with ? i would be very grateful for any help with this.
The spray bottle should be filled with the agent supplied usually by the quarry ( it should be near the plant). Give the body a light spray but don’t get caught, you shouldn’t do it. You will have to run the lorry body under a water spray before going under the hopper. Make sure you clear the back out while it is still hot. Use a scraper and the spray to clear the door. Hope this helps. And make sure to tell the maccers you are new to it and they will help you. Just don’t roll off the machine
John.b:
The spray bottle should be filled with the agent supplied usually by the quarry ( it should be near the plant). Give the body a light spray but don’t get caught, you shouldn’t do it.
Instead of teaching them the wrong way to do it, how about teaching them the proper way first?
There’s probably a good reason why they don’t want you to do it before loading and I’m guessing that might be the reason they end up having to re-tarmac stuff within months of doing it when it prematurely fails. If the same spray you’re on about is the one you said to use on the door then the reason they won’t want you using it before you load is because it acts as a release agent and breaks down the tarmac’s bonding ability.
When I did tar work we had to put some sand in the tipper before loading. When in the quarry you need your flashing lights on and hazards as well as a hard hat and hi viz. They can be a bit ■■■■ over those things. We used diesel to keep the tipper bed clean, but dont tell.
You ask the batching plant what to line the buck with. Some ask you to put water in and the really sticky loads (sma) you will need to shovel a load of dust into the back.
They will have a heap of dust and you grab a shovel and spread about 12 shovel fulls of dust over the bed of the buck.
Some loads such as course base will require nothing and always comes out clean.
They will also have a drum of cleaning agent. You take a spray bottle and fill it up from there. You use this spray AFTER you have tipped your load around the back of the body using a scraper at the same time. Do this straight after tipping whilst its still warm.
Sometimes the gang dont want all of the load, in this case its handy to know a freindly farmer who will give you a drink for it. If not take it back to batching plant and they will have a waste tipping area.
DO NOT LEAVE IT TO GO COLD IN THE BACK OF THE BUCK. You will not be popular with your boss.
Will you be on a 8 wheeler or a walking floor?
The 8 wheeler is an easy job. Just watch out very carefully when you raise the body for any wires or structures.
Regarding the prep, before loading “black” (as the plants like to call any asphalt product). Remeber that if your employer provides you with T99 (the legal and Tarmac only option) one spray bottle of 5 litres for the whole body is just about right, and definitely you wanna get the T99 everywhere, including the tailgate and headboard (the part of the inner body just behind the cab. If you don’t, you will discover why I wrote this, when you load “10mm top” for more than a 2,5 hrs drive on a cold winter’s day.
If your releasing agent will be diesel, remember to never let anyone know of that, including your closest family members, as the paving gang may refuse your load and the batching plant most definitely will charge your employer for all of their costs with the refused load. Also from my time with Tarmac in the south east they do periodic spot checks on trucks waiting for a load, and they go through everything. Including your spray bottle and any containers you may have in your tool box. If caught with diesel a ban was inevitable. I found that water, ash, dust, sand, etc, anytbing but T99 or diesel, are pretty much saving costs for releasing agent. It works ok on tougher products with more stones than bitumen. But when you are doing a high quality paving job as motorway or major A road, the high quality asphalt with more bitumen and small stones with stick to the body like super glue. Thats when you will have all sorts of fun with a shovel chisel and hammer after a tip or back at the plant. So make it easy for yourself and use plenty of T99, and nothing else (the legal way) or a god but reserved and concealed spray of diesel (the dodgy way), again not forgetting the tailgate and headboard.
Do not use diesel, oil, petrol or any other agents that break down oil or bitumen as it will damage the mix which you are being loaded with. We would normally be told by the quarry/plant what to use, which would usually be a scattering of sand or light soapy water (they even get iffy about soapy water too). Just make sure your tipper body is spotless inside and that the hinges and door surrounds are squeaky clean too. Most tippers have rear mud flaps which lift to make sure they don’t get caught in the paver rollers too, don’t forget to clip them up if you need to. Make sure you get rid of the whole load into the paver before leaving and then clean off the back door and bar before leaving the site. Paver drivers are usually very helpful because the last thing they need is a new driver causing them issues. The paver driver is king, don’t ever forget that!
…and if you’re on red,or green tarmac…make sure your body is spotlessly clean! do they still do green? many years ago Redland used to make yellow tarmac
When you have served your weeks ban for using a litre of red diesel on a 8 wheeler body. Watch in wonder as the first gang you deliver to freely sprays 100 litres of diesel on the machine inc the wheels, every tool the gang use, their boots and the track air bucket.
Decide you are living in an alternate universe. Return to quarry find the P.O.S that banned you and tell him to stick his ‘exciting business opportunity’ up his arse and go and find a proper job.
‘The paver driver is king’. Not quite,the foreman is In charge, aka the screw man . He’s the one responsible for the levels and many other things.
Overall the supervisor is in charge look for the black hat.
If he’s got any brains, he lets the foreman run the job.
Top tip : If you have access to used engine oil, mix 50/50 with diesel best release agent I ever used.
