Gum removal

Tony Shelton

BS Detector, Esquire
Well, we finally tried out a more perfected model of this little homemade gizmo.

It works like a charm. Chris tells me he saved 3 hrs last night on a brand new shopping center that hadn't been cleaned in 7 years.

The only negative at this point is when the burning gum drops off in chunks and goes back on the concrete, it's difficult to get back up because it is burnt in. I think that can be solved with a tin scrape bucket.

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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UPL3zLJtr3s?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></object>
 
Weed burner. Bigger tank, cheaper propane
 
Hmm..

Well, we finally tried out a more perfected model of this little homemade gizmo.

It works like a charm. Chris tells me he saved 3 hrs last night on a brand new shopping center that hadn't been cleaned in 7 years.

The only negative at this point is when the burning gum drops off in chunks and goes back on the concrete, it's difficult to get back up because it is burnt in. I think that can be solved with a tin scrape bucket.

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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UPL3zLJtr3s?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></OBJECT>
How about one of those big metal dust pans on the other saide catching the melted gum?You could home make a stick to hold the dust pan..
 
Weed burner. Bigger tank, cheaper propane

His new system uses the little green coleman tank, turned rightside up with an extension hose to reach the head.

I will have to think about the dustpan idea. Its sounds like a good idea.

If it works good for you guys send all checks to: Sonitx - 845 S. Kenny Way LVNV 89107 :)
 
Tony you should just run the hose off a lil green tank in a backpack.put it on a wooden stick so you dont have to bend over to use it. also with a shut off valve near the pole for adjustments. I used a setup similar to your when i first started and couldnt afford hot water. But i used a steel cup brush to be able to scrape and brush off the gum completly. all you do to remove the gum from the brush is run the torch over it in the grass and watch it melt and smoke away. I spent hrs removing gum like that back when PWing was a hobby.
 
This scraper is a full sized about the size of a broom. You don't have to bend.

We are using the green propane tanks now. This is old video. Chris says once you get it set you don't have to adjust it and the tank lasts between 3 and 4 hrs on the right flame.

He's got it mounted about 2/3 of the way up the pole so it feels balanced and not heavy.

Next we're going to get a fire extinguisher mount so we can change out the tank in a minute or so with a snap or two.

<a href="http://s468.photobucket.com/albums/rr46/sonitx/Freshandeasy/?action=view&current=2010-09-25_09-12-26_688.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr46/sonitx/Freshandeasy/2010-09-25_09-12-26_688.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
And you know where you can send my share of the royalties.
 
Thanks for posting the picture Tony.

Time to cut the new blades and sharpen them and give them a try.

They had all the parts locally, now just to put it together and adjust the flame/air/blade assembly and then try it out.
 
And that is faster than hotwater and high pressure?


Not on regular maintenance accounts.

We've measured ground temps over 150 degrees in the summer here. When gum has gone through multiple summers here it turns into black concrete.

Using lower pressure then slowly moving up to higher pressure (variable wand) and hot water is actually faster and safer when dealing with this stuff than high pressure. Our concrete is junk out here and high pressure will tear it up quick.
 
Wonder if this would work for gum on gas station concrete.... lol.


I thought it would be good for evaporating any spilled gasoline around the pumps. But what do I know, I don't clean any gas stations. :triniti:
 
Not on regular maintenance accounts.

We've measured ground temps over 150 degrees in the summer here. When gum has gone through multiple summers here it turns into black concrete.

Using lower pressure then slowly moving up to higher pressure (variable wand) and hot water is actually faster and safer when dealing with this stuff than high pressure. Our concrete is junk out here and high pressure will tear it up quick.

Same situation here. Weak A** concrete because of the lowbidder/lowballer/hack contractors combined with gum that gets baked in over the years is a combination that you don't know if the gum will come up before or with the concrete sometimes.

There are standards, procedures, methods for pouring concrete but the lowbidders/lowballers/hacks just dont follow them so you end up with weak, substandard concrete that can't handle much pressure before the creme gets washed off and the aggregate is exposed, sometimes the aggregate gets washed out also with under 2000psi.

It all goes back to you get what you pay for and sometimes you pay for what you get.

In the end it is us contractors that have to deal with these situations and do the best we can to clean the concrete without damaging it which is sometimes very hard to do when it is weak and substandard.
 
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