Roadformers

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Stroppymonkey

Well-known member
Anyone still use these? I’ve got quite a few little jobs coming up where I could do with some 4” and 6” straight and flexible ones. Used to use them when I was a kid but everyone seems to use timber these days, we do for all our slabs.
I have also seen screw on clips for timber that allow you to use steel pins.
Can’t see much in the way of used stuff on eBay or market place. Looks like £40-£45 a length for new stuff online which isn’t as horrendous as I expected
 

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doobin

doobin

Well-known member
I've got a crate full of those metal clips for wood. They're OK-ish, but the pin supplied are nowhere near long enough. Even if you buy longer, they will wobble about due to much less surface area than a wooden post. I also don't trust them with a beam tamper, they are liable to continue driving into the ground. Basically you've never got exactly the right steel pin that can be driven in deep enough to hold well but not stick up proud.

I find it far easier even for large-ish jobs to drive cheap 3-4" wooden posts in with the handheld hydraulic hammer, and screw through to them. Then cut flush with a chainsaw. For what I presume you are doing (small concrete bases for boilers and plumbing stuff?), I prefer to cut the form to size, kit form, from 6x2 or similar (love having my own sawmill) in the comfort of the workshop. Much more pleasant to measure, cut dead square on a chop saw, can even chamfer the edges.

Take it to site, screw it together, spray round it, excavate. The a few site pegs bashed in every metre around the edge and a clubhammer or sledge. Set level with screws using the NivComp to measure- no messing about. Easily attain a tolerance of a couple of mil.

Road forms are ideal if you do a lot of long, uniform concreting such as farm tracks, but a hassle to store and keep clean, plus for odd jobs you never have the right lengths and are loathe to cut them down. Timber can often be re-used and I find it a lot quicker to work with on most jobs. When I got the sawmill the decision became super easy- the last length off the mill is always an odd thickness that you can't use on the cutting job in hand. But thickness doesn't matter for formwork. So stick them to one side, and last thing put them all back on the mill at once and cut them to a uniform width. Stick em on the shelf, jobs a good un.
 
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S

Stroppymonkey

Well-known member
I've got a crate full of those metal clips for wood. They're OK-ish, but the pin supplied are nowhere near long enough. Even if you buy longer, they will wobble about due to much less surface area than a wooden post. I also don't trust them with a beam tamper, they are liable to continue driving into the ground. Basically you've never got exactly the right steel pin that can be driven in deep enough to hold well but not stick up proud.

I find it far easier even for large-ish jobs to drive cheap 3-4" wooden posts in with the handheld hydraulic hammer, and screw through to them. Then cut flush with a chainsaw. For what I presume you are doing (small concrete bases for boilers and plumbing stuff?), I prefer to cut the form to size, kit form, from 6x2 or similar (love having my own sawmill) in the comfort of the workshop. Much more pleasant to measure, cut dead square on a chop saw, can even chamfer the edges.

Take it to site, screw it together, spray round it, excavate. The a few site pegs bashed in every metre around the edge and a clubhammer or sledge. Set level with screws using the NivComp to measure- no messing about. Easily attain a tolerance of a couple of mil.

Road forms are ideal if you do a lot of long, uniform concreting such as farm tracks, but a hassle to store and keep clean, plus for odd jobs you never have the right lengths and are loathe to cut them down. Timber can often be re-used and I find it a lot quicker to work with on most jobs. When I got the sawmill the decision became super easy- the last length off the mill is always an odd thickness that you can't use on the cutting job in hand. But thickness doesn't matter for formwork. So stick them to one side, and last thing put them all back on the mill at once and cut them to a uniform width. Stick em on the shelf, jobs a good un.
Yes we use timber for our small jobs pretty much as you say, but use a 6ft level not a Niv Comp (but will check them out)
We clean and re rack our timber with the lengths marked on the end, so we don’t waste much.
I’ve got a plans to lay a couple hundred cube of concrete to lay over the next few years at the new yard. Tracks and roadways + yards etc, some of it with curves as well, hence thinking about road forms.
 
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DaveDCB

Well-known member
Surprising how many you need even for small jobs! I won’t lend them to anyone, they do require a lot of care , soon get twisted!
Had local farmer come to me asking to borrow them, ‘yeah we will cover them in old oil before we use them’ 🤦‍♂️
 
JerryRtilt

JerryRtilt

Well-known member
I like using roadforms for larger slabs, find them a bit quicker than timber but very few hire companies keep them now as nobody looks after them. Only people that keep them in this area are Marwood group who have a few depots around the country and may sell some off perhaps 🤔
 
Giles

Giles

Well-known member
Recently bought 10x8” and 10x 10” snd 4 x 4” at an auction for £450 2 bent though so will need straightening so far easier than all the timber shuttering I’ve ever done
 

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Stroppymonkey

Well-known member
I like using roadforms for larger slabs, find them a bit quicker than timber but very few hire companies keep them now as nobody looks after them. Only people that keep them in this area are Marwood group who have a few depots around the country and may sell some

Recently bought 10x8” and 10x 10” snd 4 x 4” at an auction for £450 2 bent though so will need straightening so far easier than all the timber shuttering I’ve ever done
okay if you want really thick concrete!
 
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