Has anyone used a powder actuated nail gun, e.g. Hilti or Ramset, for setting nails in asphalt?
I'm looking for a fast way to set a lot of nails (tens of thousands).
I have used a Hilti gun for concrete before. It was a long time ago and I was told it was a dollar a shot back then. Not sure if it was or if the Super just didn't want me wasting shots.
If the dollar a shot is true, I would think a system like this would be more efficient:
http://powertank.com/graphics/Const_POP_HangTag_Final.small.pdf
An air gun with the right nails should work for asphalt but I would try it with a compressor before I bought the tank/regulator.
James
I use a rig that uses 22 cal shells to set nails in concrete. You hit is with a hammer to set off the shell and drive the nail. it might be a craftsman??
You can buy different 22 cal loads depending on the length of the nail. It has no problem burying a 2" nail in cured concrete, but I would get the model that is trigger actuated if you are doing 10's of thousands.
I don't think it costs anywhere near $1 per shot. I think a box of 100 shells is about $8 and the nails are less.
We tried it last year.Same scenario. Tens of thousands. No bueno. The nails countersink way too much to be useful.
That may be one advantage to compressed air. With an air gun, you should be able to regulate the pressure to get the desired depth.
James
They have concrete nails with washers that don't countersink. They cost more but beat doing it by hand.
JaRos link has me intrigued. If the CO2 can be regulated that may just be the ticket. I have already gotten the OK to put in a purchase req to try it out. I found a 6lb gun for 250 and the nails are 39 for a box of 2000.
$600 to up productivity and eliminate a hazard would be money well spent in our books.
If you have a service truck with an air compressor on the jobsite, you can use the nailgun and different types of nails to find the right combination that you know will work before you invest in the bottles to go portable.
James
AIr Guns
> That may be one advantage to compressed air. With an air gun, you should be able to regulate the pressure to get the desired depth.
>
> James
It would be interesting to see. I'm not sure if you'd ever be able to properly regulate an air nailer because the pavement may have inconsistencies. The one advantage to the 22 shell nailers is if the nail doesn't go in all the way, you can out another shell and give it another whack. Or use a 10 pound hammer to finish the job. They do make varying strength 22 loads also. Using a washer also sounds like a good idea as is should prevent to much countersinking of the nail.
Haven't used it recently, but we bought two units for one of these jobs. Can't remember the exact model but as I recall it used a plastic strip of 22 blanks and had a dial to adjust the power of the shot when you pulled the trigger. We also found that we could get boxes of nails with the washers pre-attached - not cheap but worth it for the convenience.
We used a two man crew. One with the RTK marking a paint dot on the highway centerline and the second following with the nail gun and writing the stations on the pavement. They were so fast that the flag crews had trouble keeping up because they had to keep stopping to move their signs ahead. With two crews working we needed a fifth person in a truck almost full time moving the GPS base and shuttling the crews around.
Stupid Question: what type of project would require 10s of thousand of nails set in asphalt?
I know...no such thing as "stupid questions"; just stupid people asking questions.
> what type of project would require 10s of thousand of nails set in asphalt?
All of our concrete paving sits on 2.5" of hmac. We give them a nail every 25' on each side of every pass.It is all machine controlled slip form paving so they only use it for line and getting the steel placed correctly.
8.5 miles, 24 lanes wide is a lot of nail pounding. We have already smashed a couple of fingers and I think elbows will be the next to go.
for your viewing pleasure
[flash width=560 height=315] http://www.youtube.com/v/fSS9D7U9mMM?version=3&hl=en_US [/flash]
[flash width=420 height=315] http://www.youtube.com/v/dgxhWLurlbc?version=3&hl=en_US [/flash]
[flash width=560 height=315] http://www.youtube.com/v/DVJhcXr5hN4?version=3&hl=en_US [/flash]
[flash width=560 height=315] http://www.youtube.com/v/t-m5ClvZmXY?version=3&hl=en_US [/flash]
