Placing screed with compressed air: Apemat or Transmat

How a pneumatic machine works

The material is loaded into the vessel and mixed. The vessel is then pressurised, and the air pushes the whole batch through the hose to the work location. It is then refilled, and the next cycle begins.

That is why the data sheets state the capacity as litres per cycle and cycles per hour, and not as litres per minute as the mortar pumps do.

According to Turbosol, with Apemat there is no need to set up mixers, hoists and scaffolding, and manual transport of material inside the building is eliminated.

The machines side by side

The vessel, the batch and the reach increase with size. For all three, Turbosol points out that the batch and reach figures are theoretical, and that the stated length and height cannot be reached at the same time:

• Apemat — pressure vessel 190 l, 140–160 l per cycle, up to 80 m length and 40 m height. 2.2 kW at 230 V, 400–590 kg
• Transmat 250 — pressure vessel 270 l, 200–220 l per cycle, 120 m length and 80 m height. 5.5 kW at 400 V, 620–840 kg
• Transmat 27.45 — pressure vessel 270 l, 200–220 l per cycle, 180 m length and 120 m height. Yanmar diesel of 35.5 kW, 1 400–1 650 kg

Filling determines the pace

How many cycles the machine manages per hour depends, among other things, on how it is filled. Apemat E is filled by hand at a height of 85 cm, while on the versions with a loading bucket the height is 41 cm. On Transmat the difference is greater: 95 and 97 cm without a bucket, compared with 36 cm with one.

It is the difference between lifting every bag and every shovelful up to the hopper, and filling a bucket down at ground level. This shows in the cycle figures, and the versions with a scraper are rated at slightly more cycles than those with only a bucket:

• Apemat — E with manual filling 13–16 cycles per hour, EB with loading bucket 18–20, EBP with bucket and scraper 18–22
• Transmat 250 — E 12–15, EB 18–20, EBP 18–22, and ET-SILO for connection to a silo 20–25
• Transmat 27.45 — DC 14–16, DCB 20–22, DCBP 22–24

Aggregate size depends on the hose

How coarse an aggregate the machine takes is stated per hose size, not per machine. Apemat is listed with Ø 50 and Ø 65, Transmat also with Ø 90. A larger hose takes coarser material, but is also heavier to move around the building:

• Hose Ø 50 mm — aggregate up to 12 mm
• Hose Ø 65 mm — aggregate up to 20 mm, the standard hose on Transmat
• Hose Ø 90 mm — aggregate up to 30 mm

The compressor is part of the calculation

Apemat and Transmat 250 do not come with a compressor. They use the site's own. Turbosol states 2 400–5 000 l/min at 6 bar for Apemat and 3 600–5 000 l/min at 6 bar for Transmat 250.

Transmat 27.45 is self-contained: the built-in compressor delivers 4 500 l/min at 6 bar, and no external compressor is needed. If there is no compressor of that size on site, Transmat 27.45 is the only one of the three that manages without.

Suitable materials

Turbosol specifies Apemat for traditional and insulating screeds, mortar, sand, plaster, micro-concrete and concrete, and describes it as ideal for casting in building work, renovation and maintenance of flats, apartment blocks and houses that are in town centres or difficult to access.

The Transmat models are specified for mixes with little cement or water, insulating screeds with lightweight expanded clay, polystyrene, perlite, vermiculite or cork, and concrete with aggregate up to 30 mm. Transmat 27.45 is also specified for semi-dry floor screeds and earth-moist material.

When you contact us

Tell us what kind of material is to be placed, how far and how high it is from where the machine can stand, and whether there is three-phase power or only ordinary 230 V. Also tell us whether you have a compressor on site and what its rating plate says, and whether the material will be filled by hand, with a bucket or from a silo.