Mobile spray rig provides profitable foam, coatings and adhesives spraying. (Process Machinery).

Until recently, cashing in on the overwhelming demand for sprayed polyurethane foam (SPF) materials required a contractor to assemble a wide range of supplies and equipment from several different sources and to subcontract with other vendors to deliver support equipment such as generators. But with the arrival of newly designed, completely outfitted mobile spray rigs--in the form of a trailer that has been customized for the single purpose of spraying plural component materials--a contractor can be assured that everything needed to complete a spraying job will be on hand, in one place. This permits contractors to roll up to a construction site, open the trailer doors and start making money, as opposed to wasting time on missed deliveries, incompatible parts and loading and unloading everything from site to site.

Because a fully equipped spray rig can allow a contractor to spray a number of different materials, a contractor can take full advantage of the endless opportunities for generating income within this market.

Sprayed polyurethane foam, for example, finds increasing appeal within the commercial roofing market because it cures within seconds after application, adds little additional weight, and it forms a weather-tight roofing membrane that fully adheres to the substrate.

SPF's versatility lends itself to other on-site building applications. Because of its high R-value, polyurethane loam has found an ideal niche in the growing market for residential foam insulation. As a bonus, blowing SPF into wood or metal stud cavities of commercial and residential buildings also adds strength to the structure.

Sprayed coatings represent another untapped bounty of opportunities for profit-minded members of the building trades. These high-performance elastomeric coatings include polyureas, polyurethanes and blended hybrids of the two. Resistant to most solvents and chemicals, they dry rapidly to provide excellent protection against abrasion and corrosion in applications such as underground pipes, waterproofing, truck bed liners, manhole cover restoration, parking decks, conveyor systems, mining operations and other similar processes where durability becomes a primary consideration.

Additionally, the adherence of sprayed adhesives over non-smooth surfaces and hard-to-reach places has made it an increasingly attractive choice within the building industry. Currently, sprayed adhesives have proven immensely popular with the roofing industry, as they are used to glue down EPDM rubber membranes. Within the manufactured housing industry, sprayed adhesives are used to glue drywall to studs with increasing frequency, as the glue is stronger than nails and there are no "pop ups."

New building methods create new challenges

Knowing the many opportunities to use spray equipment in the building trades, one can readily recognize the desire of contractors to enter into this lucrative market. Yet, the complexity of acquiring the various pieces of spraying gear and all its ancillary equipment has traditionally acted as an obstacle to hopeful spraying contractors.

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In the past, a contractor had to single-handedly bring together all the necessary pieces of equipment in order to conduct a spray job. This was no small feat, since even the smallest job requires a spray gun, hoses, compressor, chemical tanks, an electrical generator (or utility hookups) and a production work area. In many instances, assembling all the necessary elements to start spraying has taken more time than it takes to actually complete the job itself.

Additionally, many contractors have been forced to reschedule work because a subcontractor or rental yard failed to deliver a piece of equipment, such as a generator, on time. The business of spraying polyurethanes is particularly susceptible to such delays because of the numerous pieces of equipment involved.

Hooking up these various devices can prove quite challenging, as an intricate knowledge of plural (two separate chemicals that are mixed at the time of application) component spraying is required to know how to connect each spray gun to the proper hose and compressor. Furthermore, there are electrical issues to deal with in order to operate the heated hoses and electric compressor properly.

Difficulties are multiplied when a contractor must move this collection of hoses, drums, compressors and guns to another job site. Everything must be unhooked, loaded up into or pulled behind numerous trucks, carted to the next site and then painstakingly unloaded and reassembled, even for a short distance of several yards. Throughout this process, valuable time is wasted.

A solution arrives on the back of a trailer

In answer to the pressing demands of contractors for a portable, simple solution to building a spraying outfit from scratch, one spray gun manufacturer, Lakewood, NJ-based Gusmer Corporation, has recently come out with an integrated system that fits entirely on tire back of a dual-axle trailer.

Requiring only a 3/4-ton pickup to pull, the mobile spray rig is a heavy duty gooseneck trailer, internally customized to be construction-site durable and completely self-sufficient for spraying foam and coating systems anywhere in the field.

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U.S. and Canada DOT-certified, the trailer is outfitted with all standard safety equipment such as a fire extinguisher, emergency eye wash station and first aid kit. The floors are coated with a heavy-duty industrial paint to protect them from chemical spills, and the ceilings and walls are protected with a durable Chemlite liner. Optional heating and A/C units provide temperature control of the internal ambient temperature inside the trailer to assure optimum material performance. The floorspace is systematically divided into a power utility room, equipment storage space and the production area.

The heavy-duty diesel generator, air compressor and tank reservoir make up the power components in the ventilated front utility room. The generator feeds as much as 125 amps into a 24-circuit Square D electrical panel. An accompanying UL-rated diesel fuel tank comes in different sizes to fit various operating durations. A Champion brand high volume air compressor mounts on board to act as the heart of the rig. A 30-gallon air reservoir tank assures adequate air capacity and fast system response.

A spare tire, storage area and a high performance air dryer are also located toward the tongue of the trailer. The five-in-one high temperature, refrigerant-dryer assures that only clean, dry air is supplied to the spraying components. A workbench with a vice, several storage cabinets, electrical outlets and overhead lights round out the utility area.

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The compressed-air access and control system is conveniently located over the workbench area. Lacking for nothing, the system includes the main shut-off valve, filter and water separator, pressure regulator and outlets for air hoses--both non-lubricated and lubricated air. All material supply connections, wiring and hose plumbing are included.

Extremely important for contractors new to the spraying industry, the mobile rig comes with all the necessary metering and proportioning equipment fully in place and ready to accurately spray plural component coatings and foams. The proportioners are hydraulically and pneumatically operated, yielding both high and low pressure outputs. These units accurately proportion the plural component chemicals. State-of-the-art controllers then automatically control the process temperatures.

A contractor can choose between stainless steel divorced-style transfer pumps or several other diaphragm pump systems. Diaphragm systems come with outlet temperature and pressure gauges to optimize set-up configuration and assist in troubleshooting. An available drum material recirculation system facilitates fast warm-up and system agitation.

Available on the mobile spray rigs, the complement of guns allows the applicator to spray or pour in a variety of different output volumes. Diametrically opposed ports provide a simultaneous mixing of chemicals to yield a quality finished product, and a variety of jet sizes fine-tunes the adjustment of outputs and operating pressures.

Rounding out a complete system, the rig includes hoses (optional up to 300 feet in length) and reels. The trailer also has an exterior outlet to connect to a 110 volt, local feed, an important feature that allows internal heaters to maintain optimum material temperature overnight to avoid wasted time in the morning to warm up the chemicals. Hooking into a local feed also helps conserve generator fuel.

The mobile rig also includes steel chains and wall mounts to secure chemical drums and other movable objects during transport and operation. Finally, rear-opening barn doors swing wide open to provide 100% access to the rear of the trailer rig. For applications that demand the highest degree of safety and operator protection, an optional fresh air mask, respiratory system can be fitted into the trailer.

Contractors reap benefits from a fully complemented mobile rig

The integrated rig design saves thousands of dollars in use by eliminating wasted time and manpower hunting for power utilities, making connections and setting up the equipment every time a contractor shows up at a construction site to spray. Not having to unload and hook up everything, then repack it all to move to another site, can save up to two hours of time at either end of a job. There's no worry about electrical power connections, either, as the generator always accompanies the spraying outfit. A contractor is no longer dependent on a rental yard to show up with a generator.

With a mobile spray rig, everything is hooked up and ready to run. All of the complicated components are already completely integrated--the proportioning equipment, spray gun, heated hose, power components and material supply systems. Of particular benefit, the rig is cross-platform capable so it can lay down spray foam coatings or adhesives.

With the availability of ready-to-go integrated spray rigs, contractors can expand their opportunities into the spray foam, coatings and adhesives business without feeling intimidated.