3 PH cement mixer reviews

[IH3444]

Hello, I've been looking at these 3 PH cement mixers, and have read the TBN forums on all of them. Has anyone bought the new Tractor Supply one, and used it? Or, the one offered by Sweet Farm Equipment? The TS unit is advertisted as an 8 cu. ft. unit, and the SFE is advertised on ebay as a 12 cu. ft. unit. I don't know if theses are total drum capacity, or batch mix sizing. I would think you could not fill the drum completly up, maybe just half size. So the 8 is really a 4 cu. ft., and the 12 is a true 6 cu. ft. Any additional comments, experiences, obsevations will be appreciated. I was also wondering how well built are the drive trains. Metal gears? Heavy chain drive reduction? Thanks again, IH3444

 

[rvaitor]

I've considered buying a mixer, but how much do you save and can you mix large enough to be worthwhile?

 

[Green4Me]

My experience.
I got one of these things a few years ago. It was like the one at TSCO. I think it was around $800. They are considered one bag mixers. One bag of portland and five or six bags(equivalent) of gravel. This comes out around five or six cubic feet per load. I put down around twenty yards of concrete with the thing. Over all it worked well. I did manage to snap the PTO shaft by engaging while in the dump position.
Bottom line:
Adding up the cost of portland and the cost of gravel comes to slightly less than the cost of ready mix. That is to say you don,t save much.
My tractor had a powder coating of portland dust, that was all but impossible to remove.
Ditto for the slop you get when the thing is dumped.
In my case the close to $1000(incl. new pto shaft) I put into the thing would have went a long ways in paying someone to do the job.
My recommendation is to save your money.

good luck

 

[IH3444]

Green4Me, thanks for the reply, and very frank evaluation. I never though of some of those points. I've sent you a PM. Thanks, IH3444 /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jim_wilson]

I thought about buying a 3pt mixer for my BX for quite a while and decided against it for a number of reasons. The biggest one was that for overall versatility it seemed like a bad idea to attach the cement mixer to the back of the tractor. I ended up buying a MultiQuip standalone electric mixer:
http://www.southern-tool.com/store/multiquip_utility_mixer.html

and have been very happy with it. Now I put the mixer where I am doing the work and I use the tractor to haul the cement bags around. I just buy the premix Quikrete type concrete - it saves some on the mixing as I can just dump the bags in the mixer and not have to worry about proportions. I believe that you can also get a gasoline version of this same mixer if you are going to be doing work away from where you will have electric power.

 

[jim_wilson]

One other thing,
Depending on where you are - getting a concrete truck in will be cheaper on a per yard basis than doing it yourself. I think having a mixer only really makes sense if you have a lot of little jobs to do that are too small for a truck delivery. The smallest delivery I can get in my area is 1 yard - and it has premium price over getting a full truck load. This will depend a lot on your location though - I am located in a suburban area where there are a number of concrete companies in the local vicinity. If you are 100 miles away from the nearest concrete factory then a mixer starts to make more sense.

 

[2nstonge]

I agree with both of Jim's posts. The jobs I have don't always allow easy access for a tractor, and I was concerned about the cement dust getting all over the tractor as well. I ended-up buying the same mixer as Jim (about a year ago). It has a polymer drum which has taken some real abuse and cleans up quite easily; no dents & no crusted on concrete. I also have the optional stand which gets the mixer a couple of feet off the ground, great for dumping into buckets or a wheel barrel.

I only have one option for pre-mix delivery and they have a 4 yard minimum - @ $90/yard. Not really an option for most of my jobs which are maybe a yard or two at most.

-Norm

 

[KubotaSteve]

I had almost been thinking about a 3pt hitch cement mixer, but after finishing with a 30' X 40' basketball court using small electric mixer, I decided against it. Just using my tractor to get cement and sand and stone into place the tractor got covered in dust which did come off, but I could only imagine how it would be mixing it on the back of a tractor.

 

[unreconstructed]

I have always kept a good quality electric mixer and some aggregate around for small jobs--do a lot of rock work and even though a concrete mixer doesn't work well for mortar--used it for that too. Is real handy. But like the other posters--for the larger jobs that are close to the five yard minimum we have here-definitely go with the truck. I also hire pros to place and finish slabs--its easier on the back and results are better in the long run and don't owe anyone any favors that way. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[IH3444]

I want to thank you all for the very honest, and frank replys to my questions, and the extra added advice. I had never thought about the portland dust all over my tractor, and knowing it has lye in it, I can see how it would adhere to the tractors finish. Wheeeeee.......almost got caught on that one. The cost is very expensive for what you get, and I do have an electric motor 3.5 cu. ft. mixer now.