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Melvin Chandler
Posted: Apr 09, 2006 09:19 PM
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Build a new rig
I am convinced to open the doors to a new foam business. I have a new Chevy 2500 HD Crew with the Duramax/Allison power and long bed. My first foam rig will have to be a trailer and I think I'd prefer a gooseneck. Will be focusing on Roof applications but hope to get into the residential wall business. Maybe even some flooring, pole barn, and other opportunies depending on the level of roof and wall business. For you guys that have been in the biz and know what equipment to use and what eq to stay away from, how would you spec out your rig and lay it out? Trailer Type? Gooseneck or Straight? Brand? Type of axles? wgt? Special instructions for tires/axles? Length of trailer? Height of Trailer? Ramp or barn doors? Side door? In front compartment/GenRoom? What to put in front compartment? How many a.c. units front and back? Is this a good layout? http://www.graco.com/Distributors/DLibrary.nsf/Files/337110A/$file/337110A.pdf What type of spray equipment and components? Porportioner? Gun? Pumps? Air Compressor? Genset? Air Dryer? What other goodies do you install? |
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Posted: Apr 10, 2006 08:59 PM
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at the risk of sounding rude... buy one prebuilt... time is money...money is time .. buy the rig...make money sooner... build the rig...make money later,,after outlaying cash sooner... learn with a rig of "modest means".. if the business makes it..and you still want to work this friggin hard...maybe then,,,maybe...think about building your rig to your specs ,,,,based on experience that dictates your needs...or better yet..buy one pre built by people who do that stuff for a living...those girls are beautiful(the custom sprayrigs)... |
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Trey Gibson
Posted: Apr 11, 2006 08:18 AM
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I def agree with foamdude, buy a pre-made one or a used trailer. We made ours from the ground up and working 8-10 hours a day it took us about a month. Granted we now can fix anything that goes wrong on the truck which has proven to be a competitive advantage in certain circumstances but it was a pretty big pain in the ass. Unless you know a lot about electrical work and so forth it probobly won't be worth your time. I would recommend getting a rig with a generator, I have seen other companies try to use shore power and it just seems like it would be a bigger pain than it was worth. I would recommend getting a gusmer/graco proportioner, we have had luck with the GAP-Pro gun over the Probler II. Get a pretty good amount of hose length also, we have 250' and haven't have any problems with length but have come close. Make sure you have a good fresh air system, our allegro one sucks and is about to break for the second time and those bastards are expensive. Make sure the compressor is big enough to run your saws off of to cut the foam. We didn't plan this out in the beginning of our experience and have had to get a tag along compressor to run our saws. Wear eye goggles all the time, even when picking up cut-off. Those particles don't come out easy at all. Ask your foam supplier if they know anybody getting out of the business in your area that might be selling a truck/trailer. You might be able to find a nice one less than a year old at a good price. I think this is what we are going to do for our next rig. There are people getting out of this business as fast as they are getting in once they find out the amount of labor it takes to do this and the tedious upkeep on the equipment. I have almost wanted to kill myself after foaming over a gun and having to clean out all those little air ports. You will soon know what I mean. |
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Gerry Wagoner
Posted: Apr 11, 2006 01:06 PM
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heh. The answers on here amuse me. Good stuff. We built our own rig, but I like designing and installing. Definitely a diesel generator Glascraft makes decent equipment Gusmer is ok too. Probler gun is good. We keep coming back to it. Hated GX-7's with a purple passion. Get plenty of air, as was stated. Get a Hankison 5-in-1 air dryer. (about $1200). polyurea the floor with Line-x or use Sherwin Williams 650 epoxy. Line-x is better. Steel drums will kill the floor eventually, unless you have a good tough coating. 250-300 hose. Get a rig that can spray polyurea too. This is a growing market. Put the equipment (comp and genset) in a room of their own and soundproof it. 80 db in your production room should be the upper limit. Vibration isolate the generator & compressor. Provide plenty of ventilation for the mechanical room. Louver in the door. Ramp door is nice. We love it. Get a 4' side door (man door). It makes it easier to set drum inside with a forklift drum grabber. plenty of lights. Workbench. paint the walls with two coats of sherwin williams interior superpaint. Insulate the walls first. go foam, gcw |
