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G & D Excavating has seen a number of benefits. "You don't have to go out there with Georgia buggies, or a bunch of guys with wheelbarrows," Antoniou points out. "You're not dependent on a subcontractor to bring a pump. And you don't tie up your [boom] pump on a small job when you could put it on a big job."

The attachment travels on the same trailer as one of the company's Bobcat S300 skid steers. Once on-site, the skid steer moves the pump into position, then serves as its power source. "I have the ready-mix trucks dump right into the hopper and I use it basically as a transfer device to transfer material to the area that we're working," Antoniou explains. "I've pumped concrete 140 to 150 ft. away. We have actually set up the pump in the front, then pumped a foundation addition behind the building. And we did not disturb the area at all around the building with trucks."

The attachment has cut labor requirements. "You don't need as much support personnel for the machine as you would with the larger truck-mounted pumps," says Antoniou. "The same operator who runs the Bobcat can operate the pump."

In addition, it provides more precise material placement due to the steady material flow at a lower volume. "Although its concrete delivery is less than the larger pump trucks, its delivery is more detailed," Antoniou notes. "You have better control of the job."

The attachment proved particularly effective on a recent pour at a Chicago-area warehouse. The job called for an 8,000-sq.-ft. reinforced, structural post-tension slab on a mezzanine level. Rather than bring in a boom truck, which would have required cutting holes in the roof or opening vaults in the side of the building, the skid steer and attachment were driven inside.