Guide
Line pump vs boom pump: which one does your pour actually need?
Updated
Booking the wrong machine is the most expensive mistake in pumping, because you find out on the morning of the pour with the mixers already rolling.
The two products
- Line pump (also called a ground line or trailer pump)
- A smaller unit, trailer mounted or on a van or truck, that pushes concrete along a run of steel pipe and rubber hose laid out by hand. It goes where the hose goes: through a house, round the side of a building, down a garden. Set-up is a hose run and takes labour.
- Boom pump (truck-mounted, folding placing boom)
- A pump and a hydraulic placing boom on a chassis. It parks up, sets its outriggers, unfolds and places concrete accurately over walls, scaffolding and into upper floors. Set-up is fast, but it needs firm level ground for outriggers and clear airspace above.
Which suits which job
| Situation | Usually suits |
|---|---|
| Garden room base, garage slab, rear garden with no vehicle access | Line pump |
| Trench fill or footings where the wagon cannot back up to the trench | Line pump |
| Screed or floor pour inside an existing building | Line pump |
| Large slab pour where speed matters | Boom pump |
| Placing over a wall, hoarding, scaffold or an existing building | Boom pump |
| Upper floors, decks and basements below working level | Boom pump |
| Restricted street where the machine must stand on the road | Depends entirely on set-up space, ask for a site visit |
What each one needs from you
- Line pump: somewhere to lay out and later clean the hose, a route that is not a trip hazard for everyone else, and labour to move pipe as the pour progresses.
- Boom pump: firm, level ground for outriggers, clear of drains, inspection chambers, cellars and recently backfilled trenches. Outrigger loads are concentrated, and a collapse under a spread pad is a serious incident, not an inconvenience.
- Both: a clean water supply if the contractor expects one, and an agreed place for washout. See washout and washwater.
- Both: honest information about overhead cables, weight restrictions and the width of the entrance.
The safety questions worth asking
Concrete pumps are work equipment, and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 place duties on employers around suitability, maintenance, inspection and the competence of the people operating it (PUWER 1998, and the HSE guidance pages). A contractor who answers questions about maintenance records, operator training and how they assess ground conditions for outriggers is a contractor you can put on a programme.
If you genuinely do not know which machine your pour needs, say so on the form. Contractors would far rather advise up front than send the wrong unit.