New Product Replaces Mud Buckets,’Gas Caddy’
Joe Frisina developed a product that leaps into action when a need arises to pour concrete pads, piers or other kinds of foundation concrete.
The Frog attachment for concrete came about to meet the Frisinas’ needs, in moving and setting homes for the family business, RoMar Homes. After using it for a while, the inventors came to understand how helpful it could be to other professionals who need to pour concrete pads.
“We were pushing wheelbarrows around like most other people who do this,” said Frisina, who co-owns Frog Attachments with his father and brother, both named Dominic. “That’s slow, and can be dangerous depending on how solid the footing is right on the bank of where you’re pouring.
“This provides an added 10-foot reach, and it’s very helpful,” Joe Frisina said.
The Frog received its patent in December 2016. Shortly after it won Most Innovative Product at World of Concrete 2017 in Las Vegas.
Larry Clark of New Jersey Paving purchased The Frog at the show in Vegas.
“Instead of getting a sloppy column, you get a perfect pour. There’s no waste. And it doesn’t look like it’s been splashed on, because it hasn’t,” Clark said. “People come by and say, ‘Man, where did you get that?’ It’s nice to have the best equipment so you can do a perfect job.”
A New Product to Pour Concrete Pads
The Frog has many uses, but a primary use is creating quick, economical and stable foundations for manufactured housing.
“When a community owner has to take out an old home, the existing foundation is either not grandfathered or just obviously needs to be replaced, and this provides a way to do that concrete work and saves a lot of time and labor.
“Last year I did a home with 41 piers,” Frisina said. “That’s typically a six- to eight-hour job. I brought the Frog in and used it for the 30 piers I couldn’t reach. We were able to get the job done in two hours and forty minutes.”
The product reduces the number of laborers needed. It reduces fatigue and cuts down on project time. Therefore, it also allows for the scheduling of more jobs. All of these aspects lead to greater efficiency and increased profit.
The attachment weighs a bit less than 350 pounds and operates with a crew of three, Dominic Frisina Sr. said.
The Frog attaches to a standard skid-steer. A concrete mixer fills the tube with 12 cubic-feet, or four wheelbarrows, of concrete. The skid steer gets in place, lifts and pours.
It’s made from high-density polyethylene and has a steel support and framework.
Frisina said The Frog sells for $4,495 and is shipped anywhere in the continental U.S. If the customer is within 100 miles of the family’s business in Espyville, Penn., Frisina will deliver it in a truck for a reduced price of $3,995.
