Stone Construction Equipment's new Groutzilla Placement System places grout or mortar in concrete blocks, walls, forms and foundations faster than buckets and less expensively than grout pumps. The productive hopper-and-auger system uses the forklift already on most sites to deliver a controllable stream of grout or mortar high onto walls.
Stone says Groutzilla can be effective on jobs that call for filling more than 5,000 blocks. With a suggested retail price of $6,499, the company suggests the unit will pay for itself in 60,000 blocks.
Locked on the forks of a telehandler or other forklift and powered by auxiliary hydraulic circuits, Groutzilla handles 20 cubic feet of material of almost any slump (Parker heavy-duty hoses carry a five-year leak-free guarantee). The hopper swivels on heavy-duty roller bearings. Three locking positions allow it to turn 360 degrees for cleaning and filling, 180 degrees for grout placing, or lock it in place for transport.
Groutzilla is designed for easy cleaning. The replaceable steel hopper's geometry promotes flow to the auger and helps prevent accumulation of grout on the hopper sidewalls. A built-in splash guard reduces spills in transport. The self-wiping polymer flighting on the Talet auger discharges all the grout in the chamber, eliminating build-up that can contaminate the next batch and significantly reducing waste.
You don't have to take the discharge snout apart or remove the auger to completely clean the unit. One five-gallon bucket of water can clean the hopper. The hydraulically activated shut-off valve seals the hopper, preventing any water seepage. Running the auger in reverse agitates the water and loosens residual grout. Run the auger forward to flush the hopper and discharge snout.
An optional radio-frequency remote (retails for $998) transfers control of grout placement from the forklift operator to the mason at the discharge point, eliminating the need for confusing hand signals. The remote can be purchased with the unit or installed later in the field.
Groutzilla can be filled from either a ready-mix truck or a mortar mixer, and was designed to be most productive when teamed with Stone's 20-cubic-foot SM2000 Silo Mixer. Groutzilla is covered by an unlimited one-year warranty.