[johnkeegan]

Is this system something you've fabricated or is it sold as a kit by a manufacturer?

[Bill Schwab]

Speedbase rocks, does'nt it Paul? There ain't nothin like setting base course of siena stones with Speed base, then hiring a crane for a few days. With a 3 man crew, you can lay 1000 sf a day.

We have tried using a multiple block clamp on the front of the TH100, and aligning pins is more PIA than it is worth, so, we hoist a skid of wall up and end up setting them one at a time.

We went to the Allen wall seminar at one of our suppliers, but in all honesty, Keystone butters our bread better. 5 leads referrals a week from spring through winter, and many of them don't ask what it will cost, simply, when can we start...

I have to agree with Paul here...I think setting Keystone is faster because we can lay 3 courses at a time, but 115 lb blocks get old when you have to manipulate them all day...

Block stackabliity, as long as an engineer signs off of whatever wall we build, that's his but, not ours. so long as we make it the way the plan calls for. Allan is becomming more and more popular, but, with the versatility of Country Manor, (we have made fountains, fire places, bbq's, and retaining walls, Allan can't do all those things. I do like that product they make with the diffferent size rectangles and squares though....

[daveb]

Thanks for your opinions guys.

[PSUscaper]

the only complaint I have with allan block is the one unit they make with the lip on the top of the block. I just never liked the look of it and it was a PITA to do more complex designs with. Theres a lot of it out there though and people seem to like it.

[neversatisfiedj]

What is speedbase ?

[Stonehenge]

Check page one of this thread - Paul posted some pictures of it being used.

[johnkeegan]

I was curious about "Speedbase" also. Who's the manufactureer?Where can it be purchased? Is there a website?

[daveb]

Originally posted by johnkeegan
I was curious about "Speedbase" also. Who's the manufactureer?Where can it be purchased? Is there a website?

It appears that they are not made anymore. I couldn't find anything on them...

[Stonehenge]

John and Dave, as I understand it, the company that made it is no longer in existence, and it's not available anywhere else. So unless you can find someone with an old, used system, you won't be able to own one.

[Bill Schwab]

If you call Unilock Chicago, talk to either Scott Swerad, or, Brad Gesbocker (sp) they can probably hook you up with Len Browning, the inventor and manufacturer of Speedbase.

When he moved, I moved and stored several items he had, and along with those, were a couple speedbase units.

Basically, all you need are 4 steel trolley wheels, a few pieces of 3/16x3" strap steel, some stakes, and a clamping system to set elevations of the rails.

[PSUscaper]

I've always just used screed rails for wall runs. Works better on long straight runs, but curves can be set up with a little bit of tweaking. I'm not sure where he went, but the accu-screed system using the plastic yokes to hold the pipe worked well.

As for the speed base, it doesn't look like it would be hard to get a local welder to fabricate one for you. If it has any similiarity to the probst tool pricing, I'd bet you could fabricate something pretty darn similiar for a lot less money than buying the the real one.

I have to ask if the speed base has problems?? When I was using the accuscreed system, it is basically the same exact set up. You would hammer stakes into the ground on each side of the base trench, put the yokes in, set them with a laser or by placing the pipe on top and using a level, and then run a screed a board across the top.

The problem I often had was that, if the ground is soft of rocky underneath, it became difficult to get the support posts to remain stable. Even though there was 6" of stone base (actually more like 12"), it still was hard to get the support posts solid in the ground. If you hit a rock, you were screwed. Also, you would hammer the support posts in past the base, and they would have a tendency to just sink into the sub-base. The concept seems sound, but on certain jobs, it could take forever to set up properly.

[Paul]

Speed base used 1" concrete stakes that were 24" or 36" long. It ran on 2 rollers and 2 Teflon pads on the extension arms. The real trick to the system was the grading blade that was adjustable, it allowed 8" of height adjustment plus you could back pitch the wall units to allow more set back. As we all know more set back can get you away from using grid. Even 1 degree more back pitch can allow for easier wall construction if grid is not needed for the build.

Other screeding methods don't have the adjust ability that the Speed Base has. The clamps that hold the rail allow you to make minor adjustments with nothing more than a 9/16" wrench. Most are right Landscapers are cheap they couldn't see spending $2500 on the Speed Base plus the $1000 on a laser system! It must have taken us all of one job to make it back. I showed it to a class in Washington D.C. area, not one person really wanted to know about it, but they all wanted to see and use the block splitter LOL.

[Paul]

Heres a close up of the rail system being adjusted

[Paul]

another shot

[johnkeegan]

Do you have a closeup of the screeding unit itself? I understand the rail system. I have someone that is an excellant fabricator, perhaps they create a close facsimile. Thanks.