Poker Drive Unit – Petrol

Product Description

Flexible shaft driven, pendulum pokers

These can be driven from petrol, diesel or electric power units. The motor or engine provides rotary motion which is transmitted to poker head via a flexible drive shaft.
The head contains a pendulum that spins so the free end of the pendulum oscillates at between 4 to 6 times the speed of rotation. Therefore an engine speed of 2800 depending on the head type and size will produce a vibration frequency between 11000 and 17000 vibrations per minute (183 – 283 hz)
The power units are left on the ground near the operator, the flexible shaft length determines the area that can be worked before the power unit has to be repositioned.  This type of poker is popular because they are powerful and reliable. Maintenance is relatively easy and heads of various sizes can be selected for use on the same dive unit.

Choosing Pokers for Vibrating Concrete

Choosing the right poker for your application will be dependent on a number of factors:

Power available on site.

If an electric supply isn’t available then those options are ruled out.  Petrol or diesel flexible shaft pokers are often the default choice for independent option and high productivity.  Back pack pokers can be perfect where relatively low volumes of concrete are spread about.

Size of poker head.

A bigger head means more concrete will be vibrated for every dip.  So the bigger the better until the operator is slowed down with the additional weight he has to handle.  With poker vibration operator fatigue can lead to short cut being taken. So a smaller head may actually lead to high quality productivity.

The size of aggregate and slump of concrete can determine a minimum size. For example a 25mm will be of little use in low slump concrete with 60mm aggregate.  The balance of head size taking in to account weight and power may also tip the poker type, a pneumatic poker of 75mm is easier to handle than a 60mm flexible shaft poker.