Buying the big stuff

• Photo courtesy of Reeves Roofing Equipment Co. Inc., Helotes, Texas.

Although the sales of kettles and tankers have dwindled during the past 20 years because of changing market conditions, many in the roofing industry still use these large pieces of equipment. However, because they are not purchased as frequently as other types of equipment, you may be unfamiliar with the various options available. Following is a summary of what you can expect to find when shopping for kettles and tankers.

Just as there are Ford, Chevrolet or Dodge lovers who will not consider buying anything except the brand they always have used, the same often is true of kettles. But if you have time to shop around, consider seeing what different manufacturers have to offer. With equipment sales being down the past few years, contractors often can get pretty good deals.

The first decision to make is how much hot asphalt you need. Most kettle manufacturers publish the "usable gallons" available for their kettles. This is different from kettle size and varies greatly between manufacturers. The "usable gallons" is the amount of asphalt above the tube unit (flues). Because you cannot pump material below the flues, "usable gallons" is the actual amount of hot asphalt available to use at any given time. Generally, a contractor wants as much production out of a kettle as possible and does not want to have too much material in the bottom of the kettle workers cannot access.

A selling feature some manufacturers talk about is loading height. Lower loading is a great feature for a kettle operator, who lifts kegs of asphalt into the kettle, but may not be for a roofing company owner, who is interested in production. You often give up usable gallons in exchange for low loading height. It is important to know this before buying a kettle so you can choose the style and size that fits your company's needs.

Another option to explore is deck-mounted versus front-mounted pump systems. Both systems have their advantages and will get asphalt to a roof.

With front-mounted systems, the engines are away from the kettle's heat and smoke, which allows a worker to easily and safely refuel the kettle with gasoline. The front-mounted pump has an external outboard bearing that ensures alignment and an external rotor adjustment, allowing a worker to make adjustments from the outside as the pump wears.

Deck-mounted systems are set lower in the kettle so they are able to begin pumping more quickly. In addition, the pumps are less costly to replace. Deck-mounted kettles can be backed up to a job so the hot pipe comes off the back of the kettle, making it is easier to reach.

There also is a kettle available with a horizontal-mounted pump and engine located in the back instead of the front. This allows a worker to back up to a job just as he would with deck-mounted systems.

Temperature controls is another helpful option and has been on the market for many years. There are a variety of temperature controls available from semi-automatic to all electronic systems. Both control types keep a kettle's temperature within a selected range. When the material reaches the desired temperature, the controls cut the flame back to a pilot. Some consultants urge their clients to require temperature controls on jobs because the temperature affects the material being installed.

Also, kettle manufacturers highly recommend using temperature controls when adding a fume-recovery system to a kettle. The recommendation is based on the fact that most good kettle workers usually will use the color of smoke emitted from a kettle to determine whether a kettle is too hot. Fume-recovery units eliminate smoke, and determining temperature becomes more difficult. Temperature controls eliminate this risk. Every manufacturer has a different temperature-control setup, so be sure to ask for details about these systems.

Fume-recovery systems are somewhat new to the industry. They made their initial appearance during the 1970s and, after much redesign and testing, were reintroduced in the early '90s. They are useful for school, hospital and other heavily populated facility work. There are three types of fume-recovery systems on the market: two burn smoke and fumes, and the third captures smoke and fumes on filters.

The first system is built on a regular kettle lid and has an afterburner-type unit and safety-loading device. This lid can be retrofitted to an existing kettle or installed at the factory on a new unit. Using an afterburner-type system with fumeless asphalt is an option and may enable you to install a hot roof system rather than a cold-applied system.

The second system is separate from the kettle and connected to the kettle by a metal hose that pulls the smoke and fumes into the fume-recovery unit.

The third unit also is separate from the kettle and connected with a metal hose. It uses a fan to pull the smoke and fumes into filters that are then disposed. Fume-recovery units allow a built-up roof system to be installed where another type of roof system might have been specified.

There also have been changes in kettle pumps during the past 20 years. One thing to consider when buying a kettle is the volume of asphalt a pump can handle.

Some manufacturers still use a 35-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump while others use a 60-gpm pump. Remember, you are pumping material that is heated up to 500 F (260 C), and if there is a problem at the top of a roof with a hot pipe, flex hose, lugger, etc., you have that much more material coming at one time. The larger volume helps when you consistently pump high distances. Most pumps, regardless of their pump rates, will pump about 200 feet (61 m) when they are new.

A couple of manufacturers have added optional hydraulic-pump systems to their kettle lines. These allow a kettle operator to start and stop the pump without having to shut down and restart the engine. It also eliminates broken pump shafts, v-belts and drive couplings.

As the industry uses more hydraulic equipment, this type of system probably will be used more frequently.

During the past 10 years, most manufacturers have upgraded to 9-horsepower Honda engines as standard equipment on kettles. These engines have proved to be worth the extra cost by saving a contractor downtime on engine repairs. Also added to most kettles have been electric brakes. Because the laws for brakes are different depending on where you live, most manufacturers have added brakes as standard equipment to their kettles. Larger toolboxes also have been added to most kettles as standard equipment, allowing you to store pipe wrenches and other tools at the kettle. Many also are large enough to hold fire-arrester screens for certain fume-recovery units. Pump kettles range in size from 175- to 1,200-gallon (665- to 4560-L) capacities.

If you have access to liquid asphalt from a refinery or delivered to your job site and are involved with large roofing projects, consider investing in a tanker. Day tankers are useful if you have a bulk storage tank at your facility and can use the day tanker to transport liquid asphalt to jobs. These truck-mounted units are available in 7- to 13-ton (6.3- to 11.7-metric ton) capacities.

Mobile storage tankers can be taken to jobs or used to store liquid at yards. Their capacity range is 20 tons (18 metric tons) to 37 tons (33.3 metric tons). Yard-storage tankers are kept at the yard and range from 37- to 75-ton (33.3- to 67.5-metric ton) capacities.

All tankers come with pump systems. Pumps range from 60 gpm to 100 gpm, depending on tanker size. Semi-automatic or fully automatic temperature controls are available for day tankers.

The semi-automatic controls shut off the burners when the desired temperature is reached, but someone has to relight the burners. Fully automatic controls shut the burners off when the desired temperature is reached and will relight them when the temperature level drops. Fully automatic controls are required on mobile and yard-storage tankers.

There are advantages to buying asphalt in bulk. Your workers will not have to break up asphalt or clean up trash from asphalt containers, and you always have hot asphalt when you need it. In addition, if your workers are on a big project, they can fill up a mobile storage tanker at the job site and hold the asphalt temperature around 350 F (176 C). They also then can pump the material into a spiked kettle to bring the temperature up to application temperatures and use the kettle to pump the material to the roof.

Most manufacturers do not get enough opportunity to tell you what makes their kettles or tankers the best. Many spend a lot of money attending conventions and other events and try to make themselves available to answer questions and determine your needs.

A quality manufacturer wants to do what it can to save you money by having equipment that does what it is supposed to and can take a lot of abuse at the same time.

With insurance companies, regulatory agencies and others constantly changing laws and regulations, make sure you choose a manufacturer that makes its equipment as safe as possible and still easy to use.

Amy Reeves is vice president of Reeves Roofing Equipment Co. Inc., Helotes, Texas.