Some of us slip form advocates have addressed that problem. It would be impossible to dismiss!
I use two methods to get past it, first being to mix in a drum placed on a platform (scaffold) above the form. There are several types of drum mixers, both electric and gasoline powered. Power Spray Washers come in both those flavors, too. You still have to lift dry paper and cement, but that is a big improvement over wet mud.
The other (easier) method is to use a trash rated pump. The initial investment is a lot, but it pays for itself in saved labor and back pain. The first couple of hundred loads I did were lifted by bucket as high as 18' in the air. I had young helpers who looked at it as cheaper than Gold's Gym : ). After they were gone, I got smart fast and bought the best pump I could afford.
On 7/1/2012 3:35 PM, Donald Miller wrote:
I live in SW Arizona and it is hot and dry. However, 8 months of the year we have conditions similar to Montana in the summer. (I used to live in NW Montana) I place my block forms on plastic to allow the water to drain off and then tamp the mix and the resulatant blocks are very sturdy with very little shrinkage. I move them off the plastic as soon as I can, which in the summer is within a couple of hours and in the rest of the year, perhaps the next day. The slip form advocates seem to dismiss or fail to address the problem of lifting the mix after the walls get a few feet high. True, the block making/tamping process is work, but so would be lifting heavy wet mud eight feet high. I don't have any forklifts or front end loaders so I would have to lift it by hand. Ugh!
--- On Sun, 7/1/12, Ron Richter <ronerichter@yahoo.com> wrote:
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