rotary broom

[urethane dino]

I am bidding a parking garage that needs to be cleaned with a rotary broom only. Does anyone have suggestions as to what brand works better than another?
Will be running off my S175 skid steer.
Dino

[Mark Oomkes]

Haven't used it a lot, but my Bobcat brand works pretty good.

I am a little pissed off though, my stickers are coming off already. :rolling :rolling

[GMC Driver]

I've got a sweepster - no problems.

My stickers are gone too...... :mad:

[snocrete]

Dino,

What happens if you get a big storm, you said they only want you using a broom? I dont know from personal exper., but I wouldnt think a broom would be able to move more than 4 or so inches? ecspecially if you have to go very far with it? Just wondering?


I have considered getting a rotary broom, there has been many times on jobs(other than snow removal) that I could have made extra :cash if i had one but wouldnt have been feasable to go rent......plus i know if i owned one, jobs would come in from word getting around that i had one

[urethane dino]

It would be a babysit account, so no more than 1/2" to an 1" at most at any giving time. 0 tolerance of you will.
Need the three year contract to cover the purchase of needed eqiuipment and broom. Another skid steer to load salt with at the shop while mine goes to this site would be needed.
I have never understood the love affair with the stickers on plows. If they fall off, I consider it a good hin, means I am working the equipment rather than it sitting looking all pretty.
Dino

[bam]

I take care of a parking structure. In the past a p/u with rubber tip plow was used as well as a skidsteer to throw the piles over the side.

The concrete company who built and maintains the structure sat down with the client and our company this year. We have also dealt with this company in other areas. For this garage as with any concrete structures, they recommend CMA, as chlorides eventually wear down the rebar in the structure. In order to avoid wear of t joints, etc. they provided the following rec.

use a machine with less than 50 psi or a weight around 5000lbs.

use a rubber tipped plow with shoes, snowblower with shoes, etc. and plow perpendicular to the joints.

do not stack the snow on the deck. decks are made to disperse the weight over the entire deck, and can handle the load of a car parked in a spot, or a car traveling to the spot, however when a snowload is stacked in a small area, it can cause failure.

When throwing snow off the side of the building, don't stack against the walls of the structure. Garages aren't built to withstand the force that would be applied against the side of the building.

So. We are using a toolcat with a plow, snowblower, bucket, and spreader to maintain the structure. This should handle any type of storm we get, and with one machine we can remove the snow from the deck with ease. It actually shipped with a huge rotary broom, which is a plus as well.

From what I have read a toolcat weighs in around 5700lbs, while our 350 probably weighs about 7500lbs with plow and spreader. That allowed us to push all the snow into a pile, which we weren't supposed to do in the first place. And at night, when the deck was empty it was always nice taking a cat 252 up there for two hours to throw snow over the side and have it land right against the walls of the structure. The overall bounce in the deck while using the skid also felt real good.

I asked the concrete engineer if anyone has used urethane edges, and he had no clue what I was talking about. So I can't say if that is an acceptable edge for the plow.

In a short hour meeting, I learned more about garage structures than I would ever care to know. But, its definitely worth it to avoid future concerns with liability.

Not sure what the weight of the 175 is, but you may want to consider a toolcat, especially if you are looking at a multi year contract. You could always rent one for the winter.

[Pelican]

Take a look at Quick Attach (http://www.buyattachmentsdirect.com/?source=ov&gclid=CKz-8r2VnJACFTyKOAodcDwj9A). I've got a couple of their attachments I'm real happy with the quality of construction and performance. They are reasonably priced too.

You'll have to train your guys in the use of the broom, the greatest factor in premature brush wear is too much down pressure.

[Spacejunk]

We use a bobcat rotary broom and have used it for two years. They work great, we have been quite satisfied with it. It works particularly well in snow depths of 4" or less, (sweep with the storm) maybe a bit deeper if it is dry snow. It throws the snow a good distance and cleans very well, we end up using less ice melters due to the superior job it does cleaning the pavement. We operate it with a Bobcat S130 standard flow and it handles the weight of the 8' broom just fine. Machine weighs about 4800 and the broom right at 850 or so.

[mflah87]

I take care of a parking structure. In the past a p/u with rubber tip plow was used as well as a skidsteer to throw the piles over the side.

The concrete company who built and maintains the structure sat down with the client and our company this year. We have also dealt with this company in other areas. For this garage as with any concrete structures, they recommend CMA, as chlorides eventually wear down the rebar in the structure. In order to avoid wear of t joints, etc. they provided the following rec.

use a machine with less than 50 psi or a weight around 5000lbs.

use a rubber tipped plow with shoes, snowblower with shoes, etc. and plow perpendicular to the joints.

do not stack the snow on the deck. decks are made to disperse the weight over the entire deck, and can handle the load of a car parked in a spot, or a car traveling to the spot, however when a snowload is stacked in a small area, it can cause failure.

When throwing snow off the side of the building, don't stack against the walls of the structure. Garages aren't built to withstand the force that would be applied against the side of the building.

So. We are using a toolcat with a plow, snowblower, bucket, and spreader to maintain the structure. This should handle any type of storm we get, and with one machine we can remove the snow from the deck with ease. It actually shipped with a huge rotary broom, which is a plus as well.

From what I have read a toolcat weighs in around 5700lbs, while our 350 probably weighs about 7500lbs with plow and spreader. That allowed us to push all the snow into a pile, which we weren't supposed to do in the first place. And at night, when the deck was empty it was always nice taking a cat 252 up there for two hours to throw snow over the side and have it land right against the walls of the structure. The overall bounce in the deck while using the skid also felt real good.

I asked the concrete engineer if anyone has used urethane edges, and he had no clue what I was talking about. So I can't say if that is an acceptable edge for the plow.

In a short hour meeting, I learned more about garage structures than I would ever care to know. But, its definitely worth it to avoid future concerns with liability.

Not sure what the weight of the 175 is, but you may want to consider a toolcat, especially if you are looking at a multi year contract. You could always rent one for the winter.

We use the urethane edges on our bobcats for the parking decks I do. They work good. I don't know how that sweeper will throw the wet heavy snow, but if you stay on it like you say you will i guess you'll be fine.