Construction World September 2015

CEMENT AND CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY

SPECIALISED EQUIPMENT

Concrete surface preparation is a specialised activity and demands the use of specialised equipment. However, since it is not always practical for a contractor to purchase this equipment being able to hire it from a reputable company like Lambson’s Hire provides a significant cost advantage. Concrete surface preparation is applied to any new or existing concrete surfaces or structures and Lambson’s Hire recently expanded its offering with a range of fit-for-purpose equip- ment. The selection or use of inappropriate equipment can have a significant impact on the contractor’s bottom line. If the required quality finishes are not being achieved and work has to be redone as a result, this will incur additional labour, hire and consumable costs. “It is essential that contractors have access to best practice solu- tions for specialised tasks such as concrete surface preparation and this is where we play a vital role in industry. Each of the products in the Lambson’s Hire range has a specific purpose in surface preparation, depending on the degree of roughness required and with some overlap of functionality apparent,” Devin van Zyl, CEO of Lambson’s Hire, says. Equipment range The equipment range available from Lambson’s Hire’s Concrete Surface Preparation Division is aimed at improving the productivity and cost effectiveness of the company’s customers. It consists of quality equip- ment, suited to the harsh working conditions found in Africa and with a strong international reference base. Tough floor surfaces are tackled with ease, using the Beaver 250 >

floor scraping/stripping machine. “This scraper readily removes glued down floors, commercial carpets, gummy adhesives, vinyl tiles, solid vinyl, radial rubber tiles, sheet rubber, ceramic tiles, indoor and outdoor sport surfaces, as well as roofing material,” says Van Zyl. For grinding and polishing tasks Lambson’s is able to offer a number of tools that include the versatile 65 kg Meteor 250 and 160 kg Satellite 480 machines. These easy to use and highly manoeuvrable machines are available with a variety of discs for various tasks. The Meteor 250 is a single disc electric floor grinding machine, and the Satellite 480 is a triple disc planetary machine which is available in both electric and petrol options. On the other end of the scale, 125 mm handheld diamond grinder is perfect for use in confined areas due to its compact size and mass of only 2,6 kg. This grinder is typically used for the grinding and polishing of concrete on beams, columns and stairways. The grinders are complemented by the Edco walk behind floor scarifier. This machine has a working width of 250 mm and is used for surface marking removal, levelling, texturing and grooving. Using compressed air to hammer piston-mounted bits into the concrete surface, scabblers typically roughen the concrete surface more than grinding or scarifying. Lambson’s Hire stocks a three headed hand-held scabbler that weighs 4,7 kg, with a blow per minute rate of 2 800 x 3 and an 11 headed walk-behind scabbler, weighing 72 kg capable of covering 30 m 2 /h at a depth of 6 mm, with a rate of 2 200 x 11 blows per minute. The smaller scabbler is ideal for the removal of plaster or the crea- tion of a rough profile on walls or columns while the larger machine is used for preparing concrete surfaces for new concrete/grout/mortar/ thick cementitious layers; for reducing concrete levels and for rectifying over poured concrete slabs. During the preparation and cleaning of floor surfaces, the presence of dust can be an environmental and health hazard. Lambson’s tackles this with two purpose-built dust collectors, capable of catching and collecting even the finest of concrete dust. “These machines feature a special filter shaker which allows all dust to be removed from the filter after operation. For varying needs, we have a smaller 25 litre unit weighing 31 kg and a larger 100 litre, 65 kg dust collector. Both are supplied with anti-static hosing for shock prevention. In addition to its range of concrete preparation products,

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Lambson’s Hire also provides a 20HP self-propelled concrete/road saw that has a maximum cutting depth of 190 mm and is used for cutting all types of concrete and bitumen. “To maximise the perfor- mance of this specialised equipment on hire, Lambson’s Hire’s Concrete Surface Prepa- ration Division offers customers assistance with on-site commis- sioning,” Van Zyl concludes.

The 20 hp self-propelled cutting saw features a reinforced steel box frame design that helps reduce vibration during operation.

A specialised 60 litre dust collector, available from Lambson's Hire, will ensure that companies comply with all environmental regulations.

CONSTRUCTION WORLD SEPTEMBER 2015