Following a request from brit pete, I have condensed advice from a longer topic that may be of use to persons thinking of working with this type of vehicle.
brit pete:
I am no expert as i do not do it too often only when there is no one else around at our firm so my experience is not that great but I WILL SAY THIS. some loads will tip easy and flow very fast while others are completely different and harder to tip and flow very slowly,
also when raising the SILO you have to ensure that the complete vehicle is stood on firm level ground to stop the SILO from tipping over, you must also ensure that the unloading pipes are properly secured as if they become lose when unloading your load will be spread all over the area
where you are unloading.THESE are just a few points and hopefully the SILO DRIVERS will come and put more answers on the site to help you.
Dave:
but my two pieces of advice would be, always wear safety goggles when unloading (this is compulsory) however. Some drivers I see don’t bother, but i look at like this, you only have 1 pair of eyes and the slightest leak from your pipes or couplings will see air/cement or whatever etc getting blasted into your eyes at 30 psi.
and it goes without saying, look after your equipment then you should avoid the above.
good luck.
Limey:
A nice Feldbinder or Spitzer belly ( non tipping) tank is far more preferable to an old tipping tank, I think Bells do better than CRW in this respect. Great to pull with an incredibly low centre of gravity. On the road a tank is hard to beat, its just the loading and unloading where you can come up against it.Your first problem will be lining your lid under the loading silo sock. Remember to make a mark for future reference once you get aligned. Before you go under its best to climb up and open two lids, (you may not be able to raise them when under) one for loading and one for letting the air/ dust escape and for watching the product rise in the tank. You will have a pressure clock to indicate your weight, have a notebook and write down your eventual weight to the clock reading i.e. 4.99 = 29t 4.27=23t 2.12=10t and so on. A lot of places still have stupid little silos and order specific weights.
Try not to let the product spill over the tank when loading ( THIS WILL HAPPEN) Powder runs like water and just a small spillage could land you with two hours washing off.
When discharging, as stated, make sure your clamps are tight. Also make sure you can follow the pipe into the silo so you know how much air to send up your pipe. Try and connect as short and straight a pipe as possible to the discharge point (a rare pleasure.) Take great care with the smaller silos, use as little air as possible without blocking the pipe and be alert when your tank is getting empty because if you don’t shut the air off quickly the rush from the tank will blow the vent off the top of the silo and cover you and everything around you in product. I could go on and on, every day you learn a little more and I’m no exception.
Map-man:
Probably best to do the training specific to your product first, as said above different powders act differently. Pay attention to the “do not’s” as most of them lead to a blocked pipe or getting covered in product.Remember most powders that you are likely to pull are harmful, lime being one of the worst.
Safety is the biggest factor, make double sure all your kit is clean and in good order before you leave base, always fit the safety pins in the clips. Always wear the proper PPE, which any employer is obliged to provide. It’s possible to stay clean but easy to get very dirty if your not careful.
We have a strict regime of not going on top of the tank at all except at our own depot’s where there are proper access platforms with barriers.
As with any job, there is a correct textbook method to learn first off then you will find your own way of blowing the tank. Personally I still do it the way I was taught 99% of the time and so far haven’t had a blocked pipe or got covered, I see others and think their time is running out or with one guy it ran out in his first week and several times since
From a cement point of view…
Delivery sites vary a lot, from big concrete block plants down to little batching plants where getting an artic thru the gates is a challenge let alone getting to the silo
In the wet, sites that have spills of powder get VERY slippery so take care. Our own yard in Rugby is like an ice rink in the wet and it’s pretty clean.
Wheel Nut:
one thing to remember is that when you are tipping a silo at night, if you touch the pipe you can light yourself up like a Christmas treeDon’t forget the static electricity, it looks cool but aint