Looking Out for the Palmetto State’s Silos, Drums & Mixers.

Regular concrete chipping appointments free your drums of caked-on material that can lead to excess weight, diminished carrying capacity and costly mechanical issues, too. Remember, every concrete pour contributes to drum buildup. At General Chipping, we liken your ready mix drum to a water bottle laid on its side. Even if you pour every possible drop from the bottle, some water will remain along the walls. The same is true with your drums. With every concrete pour, a bit of material stays behind. Those remnants are no cause for alarm at first, but as time progresses, they can lead to lumpy blends, unhappy clients and costly damage as detailed above. We (along with other experts in our field) recommend booking maintenance appointments each quarter.

FUN FACT: Volumetric mixers don’t require chipping.

You might be surprised to learn the average concrete chipping appointment actually consists of three services. Because your concrete chipping company wants to look after the entirety of your operations, they’ll typically tackle ready mix drum chipping, cement silo cleaning and central mixer cleaning all at once. Here’s a look at what that work entails:

• Concrete Chipping: Using handheld jackhammers, crews physically enter your ready-mix truck drums to remove hardened material that has dried along the walls. This improves your carrying capacity and helps ward off mechanical issues which can lead to costly slowdowns, repairs and replacements.
  
  
• Silo Cleaning: Members of your chosen company’s silo cleaning crew are lowered down into your cement storage silos. Once inside, they remove clumps and clogs that slow the release of your cement — and can hold up your projects. Those clogs are ushered out the bottom of the silo. NOTE: Too much moisture tends to result in clumps and clogs inside your cement silos. Silo cleaning is especially important in humid areas such as South Carolina.
  
  
• Central Mixer Cleaning: Similar to concrete chipping services, central mixer cleaning involves crew members reaching inside your team’s mixer to remove hardened material from drum walls. This results in a healthier mixer capable of holding more material than before.

Concrete chipping and silo cleaning work are inherently dangerous, and they should be left solely to trained professionals. Of course, not every concrete chipping company is created equal. Here are some tips aimed at helping you find a crew you’ll not only feel comfortable working with, but can trust with your valuable fleet.

• Find Concrete Chippers Who Are Focused on the Details: Did you know that many companies touting concrete chipping services aren’t actually licensed to do the work? And trusting such work to an unlicensed team can lead to big problems for your company. You could be left footing hefty repair and replacement bills if an unlicensed crew damages your drums, silos and mixers. More importantly, allowing ill-equipped crews to tackle such work could result in injuries or loss of life on your site. Request proof of proper certifications and insurance coverage, and ask about any continuing education your potential company requires of its crew members. At General Chipping, for instance, our team regularly digs in on OSHA safety training to keep crew members at the top of their game — and operating in the safest, most efficient manner possible.
  
  
• Find Concrete Chippers Willing to Be Flexible: No business out there is exactly like yours, and no concrete chipping appointment will be quite like yours, either. Take time to find a concrete chipping company that will learn the way you operate, take special circumstances into consideration and works around your schedule. We recommend talking through any important points during your initial phone call or email. Are any drums or silos experiencing issues they should look into? Do you need your concrete chipping work to take place outside normal hours? Do noise restrictions dictate when concrete chipping can — and can’t — take place? Whatever the case, be open and honest from the beginning. Doing so not only speeds the scheduling process along, but helps to make sure you’re doing business with the right company.
  
  
• Find Concrete Chippers Other Companies Have Found Success With: Word of mouth is a powerful thing. If you have friends or colleagues whose opinions you trust, take the opportunity to ask their input. Which concrete chipping companies have they worked with in the past? How was the experience? What would they do differently? Would they hire them again? From there, take to the internet. Check out your potential companies’ online reviews, scope out where they rank on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website and consider requesting references, too. A little extra legwork can make a world of difference.