Apla Tech coaters

TonyM

Good luck with the sale.
I've advertised some of my apla-tech kit, but can't give it away.

tonyvlx

Biggest waist of $$$ i have ever spent. After 3 years adjusting/playing with the coaters i gave up. The coaters are just garbage.

A+ Texture LLC

Why don't you guys customize your flatboxes to use with it, I've been wanting to just get one of the pumps and box handle to do this. On a previous thread a guy said how he did it and it worked pretty good apparently.

JoeMudder

One of the drywall contractors here had a small set that he sold.

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JoeMudder

The funny thing is that the guy from Apla-Tech who came out to show me how to use the tools wiped things down after he coated and said that's how you get the quality with the tools. I used them for quite awhile and I know that you don't get good quality unless you wipe your work after applying the compound. The Apla-Tech heads just don't do what a person can do with a knife.

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texas412

I do not like the apla tech at all. The hose is a pain which is more items to clean and my partner triped over hose which would be a problem if the wrong person wants to sue me and or the homeowner for cracking there head.

drywalltaper

Hey Joemudder. I have a set of Apla-Tech and the tools work great. I learned by hand and then ran boxes. I bought an Apla Tech set of tools and it took me a little while to get used to them but they work perfect. I also had a rep come show me how to use the tools. I don't think it was the same guy because everything looked perfect. I recently upgraded my set of air tools to the new boxes they offer. Things operate much easier now they did a great job with those. They traded my old tools in for the new ones. There was a little cost difference but it is worth it. Maybe you should give them a call.

drywalltaper

texas412 I couldn't help but read your post and laugh to myself. Do you use extension cords on jobs? What if a homeowner trips on those? Who they going to sue you? If they are that accident prone they shouldn't be anywhere near a jobite.

tanker300

depends on what you are trained with

alltex

I got a set of aplateck and mine sit in the shop too.One big pain in you know what.The coater leave too much or not enouph ,unless ofcoarse you hit just the right speed for the amount of air presure and thickness of mud.After i finaly shuved them and got my 20 year old boxes back out it was a no brainer agane just how i like it.I do like the pump for filling the boxes and bazoka.didn't like untangling air lines either.

alltex

Glad i read these threads ,now ican lauph because i see i am not the only one who fell for the easyer to use sales pich!

JoeMudder

Here is the other issue. I can coat almost as fast with handtools, so the cost involved with the apla-tech tools actually earns me less money. My hand finishing time hovers around 180 to 210 square feet per hour. Based on what you get per foot you can get a guess as to what I earn with hand tools

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drywalltaper

Hey not every tool is for everybody. You have to do what makes you the most money. I know plenty of guys who have Bazookas sitting in their garage and swear they don't work. Which is obviously untrue. There is a fair share of people that have boxes sitting around too because they don't work. Reality is that its hard to change what you are comfortable with. I'll tell you I moved backwards in production when I started using tools. But now I can do more than I ever could before. We all know the jobsite conditions and jobs aren't getting any easier to do either.

alltex

I haven,t tryed to sell mine,sounds like it could be hard to do.i have the taper too and its awkward to run. alittle easyer untill you trip over the air lines or move too fast and dont get enouph mud under the tape.

drywalltaper

hey alltex if you like the boxes you should seriously look into wiping the cobwebs off of your aplatech and trading them in for the new ones. it makes a HUGE difference in the timing. I could run the coaters perfect but when I got a new guy to run them it was a complete disaster. with the new boxes that is not an issue. i think they have video footage online of them. not sure but check it out.

TonyM

Are you using the new boxes with the apla-pump or CFS?

JoeMudder

The guy from Apla-tech that demoed the tools for me knew how to run a bazooka and he had a fitting that allowed us to fill it with mud from the apla-tech pump so we got a bazooka and we got a lot of taping done fast. From watching the videos I do think that the taping system Apla-tech has is very good. I've just never tried it so I can't comment on it either way but my experience with the bazooka was good. I also talked with another finisher who used a bazooka and he said they hold up good if you know how to use them well. The guy from apla-tech broke the bazooka within the first 3 hours of use, but he was being rough on the equipment also in his eagerness to prove how well this equipment works. He was working much harder than you would normally. I know that when I push myself to that point I burn out much faster. I've learned that setting a good steady pace will earn you far more money.

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drywalltaper

Hey TonyM,
I have both systems. Depending on the size of the job I use one or the other. Slim Line boxes are much better on either one.

Stinger

I agree 100%! Adjust your tools/mud right and save your hand trowel for picking angles and spinning outlets. Not all tools adjust like you need for a hands free process though. I like tape tech for there fine adjustment capabilities. I have never ever wiped behind a machine tool because: machine tool = precision & hand tool =hand finisher trying to prove he can do the same.
Machine tools set the standard, and die hard hand finishers try to meet the standard because they know it's not set by them, it's set by the tools.
And when they realize the tools are ahead of them, they try to make people believe they are still needed so they get behind the tools and wipe!
But if your good at machine tools, you don't wipe. You just tell the hand finisher to go pick angles, spin boxes, spot screws, and I'll do everything else. I prove it everyday. I have done time tracking for the past 15 years and can post detailed information that proves you can lay off 2 experienced hand finishers, run tools and do a job alone within 10% of the same time frame and not have to pay them, which helps me profit to buy more tools. But if you have hand finishers, they will follow you and wipe or go off and try to run short flats and bead and butts. I tell them to get lost because I can do it all alone in the same amount of time and with better precision if they don't touch it. Not that I don't hand finish with great competency, but hand finishing is losing it's place on the job big time. Box & wipe why? Because you can't run a box like it's supposed to be ran. Although with Apla-tech coaters, I wouldn't put them up against a traditional style box. You can go over a flat once with accuracy, or five times if you needed to fix a bubble or lap or whatever with a box. But Apla-tech's coaters are a 1 shot deal and everything better go smooth or hopefully you own a power sander,or have a guy to wipe your mess because you chose the wrong tool, didn't know how to run it, or something went wrong. So the only reason people wipe behind a tool is because they don't know as much about running the tool as they claim.

Stinger

A 30' long flat on a 9' ceiling, you start at one end with your pan and knife, I start at the other end with an Apla-tech coater(and I don't really like coaters compared to a box), and your going to meet me in the middle of the flat? Or even 30% of the way toward me? And then repeat that process on every flat on a job and your almost as fast? Somebody dump some cold water on this guy and wake him up because he's dreaming. Meantime the guy running a tool is relaxed and having fun while you sweat your bag off trying to prove yourself. And you cant keep that pace throughout the day throughout the job throughout your career. I have fired guys that brag like you over the years after I proved them wrong on the job. And would you believe they are still out there selling their crap about being almost as fast like you are? From what I have experienced, it seems to be the guys that can't afford to invest in tools that jealously criticize them and claim to be as fast. Let me guess, you can sand a job by hand almost as fast as a worker with a power sander too because you don't have one of those either and look at all the money you make by not having one?