Cement Mixers / Concrete Mixers

[CurlyDave]

Electric mixer all the way. If a job requires more than a few sacks I have two options:

1. A truck of ready-mix, or

2. A trailer of ready-mix.

Around here we have rental yards that also sell concrete in trailers, which look like little miniature ready-mix trucks. They have a small gasoline motor to keep them turning. They will hold up to a yard. More than a yard, and even with the short load charge a truck is less expensive than mixing it myself. The trailer is about the same price per yard as a truck, so it is also less expensive than mixing sacks.

The only real reason to have a mixer is very small jobs, and as a backup for when a truck is 1/2 yard or so short for the forms. If I am pouring something where being just a little short would be bad, I buy a yard or so worth of concrete in sacks from Home Depot. They will load it in the truck for me and I just have to have them and the mixer on hand. If I don't need it, I can return it the next day and am not out any money. They even unload it for me.

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The secret to a cheap mixer is in the assembly. They always come as a box full of parts, and they way they usually fail is that the stand is not very well made and gets rickety over time. This can be solved by using Locktite during assembly and being careful to get all of the bolts tight.

Mone is still sturdy even though the wheels on it are getting worn out.

 

[dfkrug]

Around here we have rental yards that also sell concrete in trailers, which look like little miniature
ready-mix trucks. They have a small gasoline motor to keep them turning.

We have the readimix trailers here, but none with a mixing motor. I have only seen them in
pictures, or at the World of Concrete trade show. Those would be a great option for
a yard or less if available.

I have bought a yard at a time using the dump trailers, but they do not work well at
all. The aggregates settle to the bottom very quickly, and you end up scraping a lot
of the mix out with a hoe. All the watery parts of the mix pour out first.

 

[HarryAk]

I have an old Cherokee (not made anymore) 3 pt. mixer I bought off one of the guy's I worked with, about 15 years ago for $100. It has way more than paid for itself over the years doing small jobs. Pads in front of entry doors, feed/tack room floors, apron in front of the garage, chimney foundations, etc. Most pours were under 1-1/2 yds. With them having to pay a 3 yd. minimum here, for anything under 3 yds., it has saved me some money. Money I put towards the rest of the project, or, paid for the total cost.

It's been 3 years since I poured a new well pit & lid, and now getting ready to pour another foundation for a chimney for the shop. Have enough sand & gravel left from the well pit job to do this one. All I need to do is get the bags of cement. I mix near a yard hydrant, and fill a couple 5 gallon buckets with water. I tend to mix a little wetter than you would get off a truck, and sweeten the mix a bit to make up for mixing it wetter. By the time I transport to where I'm pouring, it's thoroughly mixed.

When pouring the well pit walls, I sprung for a HF concrete vibrator. Worked very well, and saved a LOT of hammering on the forms, to get it to flow & settle.

For larger jobs, it's best to have everything ready to go the day before. It will be a long day from start to finish, with mixer & tool clean up in between.

I just obtained a Cherokee Mobil Mixer. The bearing housing at the base of the barrel is broken where it attaches to the frame. I would really appreciate a picture of what that part is supposed to be. I don't think it will be to diffacult to come up with a replacement but it would sure help to know what the original was. Thanks

 

[SmallChange]

When I use concrete, everything involved in the job winds up with a thin gray film of gritty persistence. Then I diligently clean it off, which means 10% of it remains there forever. It's bad enough that the shovels and hoes and my shoes all wind up looking as old as I am. Getting my tractor into this mix just doesn't sound appealing.

 

[natedog75]

Just a note on the wheel barrow style mixers.

If you have help you cannot dump the mix into a wheel barrow and let them start the next batch. When working alone it is somewhat convenient to use the barrow mixer.

I still find I prefer the stand alone mixer as I put my next batch to mixing before I dump my wheel barrow so while I am dumping/working the current batch; the batch left mixing is ready to go when I return.

Although the break provided while waiting on the batch to mix is becoming more appreciated as I age.

 

[DJ54]

I just obtained a Cherokee Mobil Mixer. The bearing housing at the base of the barrel is broken where it attaches to the frame. I would really appreciate a picture of what that part is supposed to be. I don't think it will be to diffacult to come up with a replacement but it would sure help to know what the original was. Thanks

Pretty sure I'm understanding what you mean, but a picture would be a big help. I'll try to remember to get a picture of the drum/barrel tomorrow.

Mine is alive and well. I mixed,and poured an 8' X 30' slab in the end bay of my new storage building last Nov., for a small storage room for small engine parts, a oil tank battery to store used oil for my waste oil furnace, and a coal bin to store coal for the shop stove. I poured it in 3 sections to make it easier to work by myself. Just did a bull float,and edger finish on it, as it didn't need to be a slick finish. Turned out very well..!!