Complete Speed Screed® Video
Metal Form Corporation has specialized in manufacturing steel forms for concrete construction since 1909. During these years, the company has consistently combined an excellent product line with reliable service. We are proud of the fine reputation developed over nearly 90 years of operation. Metal Forms is committed to maintaining this reputation with quality products and innovative ideas for the concrete forming and finishing industry.
When concrete finishing screeds were added to the Metal Form product line, considerable thought and research went into producing a machine that would properly complement the company’s excellent and well-established line of steel forms for concrete construction. The basic concept was to design a machine that would truly fill the gap between manual and automated finishing techniques. These concepts became reality of Metal Forms Corporation with the introduction of the Speed Screed® Concrete finishing machine to the construction industry. There are two distinct Speed Screed® models available - the Speed Screed® Cruiser™ and the Speed Screed® Heavy Duty™.
The Speed Screed® Cruiser™ which weighs eleven pounds per foot and offers a precise concrete finishing with easy transport. The Cruiser™ excels on all types of slab projects including floors, tilt-up, streets, widening and highway patching.
The Speed Screed® Heavy Duty™ model weighs twenty pounds per foot and is ideally suited for low slump high production pours. This machine has been enthusiastically accepted by contractors engaged in placing large and often very thick pavement.
A dimensional comparison between the two Speed Screed models (2:44) is provided by these drawings. Regardless of the model selected, the Speed Screed® can add a tremendous amount of versatility and flexibility to your concrete finishing operations. From small slabs to large paving projects, from wide pours to narrow patches, Metal Forms Corporation has the screed to meet your needs.
Design Features
Let’s take a closer look at the design features which make the Speed Screed® so unique.
The design and construction of All Speed Screed® models blends the best of both worlds. A rugged steel frame combined with aluminum finishing tubes. The steel frame is strong and durable, thus assuring that the entire machine will have long-term reliability and minimum maintenance. The remaining structure of the machine – the front and rear aluminum tubes, provides the precise finishing action needed for smooth and accurate concrete surfaces.
The finishing tubes on all three models are easily reversed if the original wearing surface needs replacing. This reversible feature truly provides a double life for the front and rear finishing tubes. Other screeds on the market require the purchase of additional finishing angles or blades when the original finishing surface wears out. Aluminum finishing tubes permit a solid yet simple interlocking screed connection. An outside saddle bracket works in conjunction with the inside sleeve to provide accurate tube alignment and a sturdy reinforced joint. An additional advantage of aluminum tubes is the ability to move and carry a roll of concrete ahead of both the front and rear tubes during finishing operations. The rolling action created by the tubes helps prevent voids and greatly reduces the amount of labor needed to level concrete ahead of the machine.
Another advantage of aluminum finishing tubes is the relative ease of cleaning the machine after operation. Unlike angle blades, tubing does not accumulate concrete.
Variable Widths
All Speed Screed® are designed to quickly adjust to variable width pours. Each machine extends to the desired width in easy to assemble ten-foot, five-foot and two and one half foot sections.
Controlled Vibration
The two Speed Screed® models incorporate similar vibration systems. Strategically located acentric weights provide even vibration over the entire length of the pour. This vibration may be varied by altering the engine RPMs according to the slump of the concrete and/or the speed of the pour. The use of tubes as opposed to angle blades permits the majority of the vibration to be sent directly into the concrete. Therefore, the vibration is not scattered in other directions as is the case with angle blade screeds. The vibration system is designed for long life and does not cause damage to the bearings. All bearings used are pillow block, self-aligning and grease-type.
Crown Control
Turn buckles with lock nuts provide fast, positive adjustment for various crowns and slopes. Each screed section is supplied with a turn buckle and, as more crown is required, a series of short screed sections can be utilized. This Speed Screed® (6:27) was quickly adjusted from placing a flat floor to paving a 22-foot wide street with four inches of crown.
Winches
Winches are used to advance the Speed Screed® forward during finishing operations. Hand winches are standard equipment on all models. While hydraulic winches are optionally available on Heavy Duty™ and Cruiser™ models. Hand winches are normally operated from opposite sides of the machine. However, one-side winching is also available. This labor savings option permits one person to operate both winches. The hydraulic winch system is direct drive and therefore does not require any belts or pulleys. The hydraulic winches are independently controlled and allow a smooth rate of forward travel. A distinct advantage of the winching system is that a conversion from a hand to a hydraulic setup can be achieved in the field. All hand winch Light and Heavy Duty™ models are supplied with a hydraulic pump mounts to facilitate this conversion.
Self-Contained Power Source
Each screed has a self-contained power source. A wide range of gas-powered engines with a centrifugal clutch convenient mount on with a 5 ½-foot or 10 ½-foot power section.
Lift Handles
The lift handles on each side of all Speed Screed® permit easy maneuvering and transport. These handles conveniently fold away when not in use (8:05). Lift handles, in conjunction with dolly wheels, maximized the ability to handle and transport this Speed Screed (8:13).
Job Site Applications
The design features just reviewed enable the Speed Screed® to handle a wide variety of concrete finishing and paving projects. The following job site applications highlight the great versatility of the three Speed Screed® models. Construction of concrete floors is a popular use for the Speed Screed®. On this project (8:40), over one million square feet of concrete was finished by this Speed Screed® Light. The 28-foot wide screed, with hand winches, accurately placed and consolidated bays which were eight inches thick by 25 feet wide.
On other another flatwork project (8:55), a Speed Screed® Cruiser™ was used to place warehouse floors. The machine was equipped with hydraulic winches which permits forward travel to be infinitely variable from zero to 12 feet per minute. Hydraulic winches allowed this Speed Screed™ to virtually run by itself.
This was also the case on another project (9:14) which involved finishing floors for a UPS Building.
An underground floor for a building expansion (9:23) was placed by a Speed Screed® Cruiser™. The Cruiser™ model was preferred for this job since easy handling and movement of the screed were of critical importance.
The Speed Screed® Heavy Duty™ is specifically designed for low slump high production pours. Airport paving is an excellent example of this type of application. And here (9:55), the Heavy Duty™ model is shown placing a 16-inch thick by 25-foot wide taxiway. The contractor performing this work purchased two screeds for their paving projects and both units were equipped with self-advancing hydraulic power winches.
Metal Forms Corporation is proud of the fact that it’s Heavy Duty™ model has been approved for use on numerous Federal, State, Military and International paving projects.
This contractor purchased a Speed Screed® Heavy Duty™ for several applications, including subdivision streets, lane widening and alley paving. On this application (10:38), their Speed Screed is paving a 16-foot wide alley having a 4 ½ inch inverted crown.
Although primarily used as a paving screed, the Speed Screed® Heavy Duty™ easily adjusts to other applications. For example, here the machine is working on a 60-foot slab for a tilt-up building.
High early strength patching is playing an important part in the rehabilitation of our nation’s roads and highways. Here (11:13), the Speed Screed® Cruiser™ is shown on a state highway patch job which specified a super-high early mix. Despite the very sticky consistency of this concrete, the Speed Screed® produced an excellent finish in only one pass.
After the pour, Tom Miller of Metal Forms Corporation asked Jim Secard of Quality Concrete about the special patch mix and the results achieved with the Speed Screed®.
Secard: “This a high early. In other words, the traffic is going to be on it within eight hours. In eight hours, this road will be open to traffic. This is a nine-bag mix with chloride.
Miller: So you just make one pass with the machine and that’s it?”
Secord: We’ve been making one pass with this machine where with the other brand, we had to make two passes. And sometimes three in order to get the same finish.”
The Speed Screed® is adaptable to all types of concrete paving projects. Here (12:08) a Speed Screed®, equipped with hydraulic winches, is placing a 30-foot wide 10-inch thick street pavement with four inches of crown.
In a different paving application (12:17) the screed was used for lane widening. An adjustable offset plate allowed this Speed Screed™ to finish six inches beneath the top of the form.
Replacement of several bridge deck approaches were accomplished by the Speed Screed®. The pavements required a 3-inch parabolic crown and, under tight inspection, the Screed produced consistent and accurate results. This machine was supplied with front baffle blades which reduced the amount of raking and leveling required ahead of the machine.
Screeds used for bridge deck paving often require modifications to properly perform the job. In this situation (13:08), a special end frame was designed to straddle reinforcing steel which was already in place. The adaptation, combined with the hydraulic winch option, allowed this Speed Screed® Cruiser™ to accurately place a 10-inch thick by 24-foot wide bridge deck.
You have just viewed Speed Screed successfully operating on as variety of concrete finishing and paving projects. This is just a small sampling of the superior results that have led to the very popular acceptance of these machines in the marketplace.
The Speed Screed® has lived up to the fine reputation for reliability on the products of Metal Forms Corporation for reliability and excellence developed by Metal Form Products since 1909. Rely on the products of Metal Forms Corporation for all your concrete forming and finishing requirements. Our service is fast, dependable and complete. For more information on any of our products, please contact Metal Forms Corporation.
*Ultra-Light model mentioned in the video has been discontinued. Parts are no longer available.
*Light model is now known as the Speed Screed® Cruiser™.