Rising Above the Pour: The Advantages of Concrete Pump Trucks
Ken Throgmorton carefully places his fingers on a joystick console attached at his waist and calls to his crew.
“I’m going up on it! OK, ready? Say when!” he calls out.
And with the slight maneuver from his hands, a 5-inch pipe of concrete springs to life, pumping material that will become concrete pads in a mechanical room at the new Springfield High School building. Around him, his crew moves quickly to place and smooth the pour.
Ken, who has come to be known as Frog thanks to his last name, has been operating pump trucks with robotic controls since 2008 – and prior to that, he worked pouring floors walls and footings, starting in 1993.
“I saw a young kid with a robotic remote, so I picked it up and learned it,” he recalls. “But I’d say if you’re going to be a decent pump operator, know your concrete and do the concrete pours first.”
O’Shea acquired a pump truck in 2024 and has steadily expanded our concrete services since, under the leadership of Frog and his assistant, Logan Llewelyn – who, much to his delight, has been dubbed Tadpole on the crew.
Inside the Controls: Running O’Shea’s Pump Truck
O’Shea’s truck is a Zoomlion 40X 5RZ that reaches 40 meters (about 105 feet).
Each arm of the truck’s boom has a number: arms #1 and #2are run with Frog’s right hand; arms #3,[TC1] 4 and 5 are controlled with the left hand. “Just like an airplane,” Frog says.
The arms are maneuvered depending on whether Frog twists, pulls up, pulls back or moves forward or side to side – similar to an Etch-a-Sketch. He also uses the console to control how fast the concrete flows.
The Advantages of Pump Precision
The pump truck doesn’t just look impressive – it drastically improves efficiency and safety.
“Without this truck, we’d be hauling 5-gallon buckets of concrete up the stairs two at a time!” Frog says.
Because our concrete pump truck saves on labor and time, it’s extremely cost effective for our clients too. While a traditional concrete chute might require 8 to 10 workers, the pump truck only needs a crew of five.
Now O’Shea’s pump truck can be found at job sites all over the Central Illinois community.
This method has gotten so popular that when we’re not just doing our own pours, O’Shea rents out our pump and belt trucks – with Frog and Tadpole along with them as the operators.
But even with all of the benefits, that doesn’t mean operating a pump truck comes without its challenges.
The Grit Behind the Pour
The concrete’s journey starts at the truck, where the two cylinders are 10.25 inches.
“The hard part is making concrete flow through the smaller pipes because concrete doesn’t like being stuffed into a 5-inch pipe,” Frog says.
The cylinders suck the material out of the hopper, like a syringe – and Frog controls the speed with his robotic system. The concrete rounds the corner and is compressed to a pipe half the size. Then it is squeeze from 5 inches to 4 into a hose called the whip hose, which is 10 feet long.
“And there’s a reason it’s called a ‘whip hose’,” Frog warns. The crew is trained to listen for certain noises to ensure they don’t get in the way if the hose starts to whip.
For Frog, the most difficult tasks are priming the pump and guiding it into the building – especially if it’s a tight space.
While wide-open jobs like the recent pour at Scheels Sports Park in Springfield make for a smoother experience, most projects come with tight corners and limited clearance.
Heat is also a concern: “On a hot day, if something goes wrong we only have about 3 to 4 minutes to fix it. Concrete waits for no man,” Frog says.
Although running the robotics of the pump truck – where each tiny movement needs to be intentional and concentration is high – complex projects or unexpected difficulties don’t intimidate Frog.
“I really like the complicated challenges,” he says. “I dig the adrenaline, and it keeps my mind sharp.”