H/F concrete mixer and my wife

[AlanB]

Not sure if it goes here or not, but what the heck. Thought I would share something I found rather funny yesterday.

Went to HF to look for a ventilated tarp for the new dump trailer, wife was with me, and decided she wanted a concrete mixer for the current landscaping project instead of using the wheelbarrow that she normally does. (wife is a landscaper) Tried to talk her out of it for a while, we already have a fairly large, older, heavy duty, cast iron based mixer said I could put it into service and she should just use that.

At some point in the discussion, I realized that here I was, trying to talk my wife, out of buying a concrete mixer..... Not sure how to make a stupid man face, but there was one on my face at the moment.

Anyway, after loosing about 25 man points, I went, why yes baby, it is on sale right now, and I have a 20% off cupon at home as well......... So I spent an hour or two last night assembling a cheap chinese lightweight concrete mixer for my wife to use on her current project.

Sometimes I don't appreciate what a great wife I have.

I hope this HF mixer works as well as the vibratory compactor. We bought the 2 year warranty so I forsee them exchanging it in the future for us. Or at least the chinese electric motor.

 

[Ford960]

That's pretty good.
Did HF have the tarp that you were looking for? I need one for my trailer too.
BTW, my old lady likes junk yards and hardware stores. She thinks it's fun to ask me what things are or how they work. She also likes boats, trucks, and airplanes. Guess that makes her a keeper. Better yet she hates mushrooms as do I.

 

[AlanB]

Yep, they had the Tarp, 8 x 16 or something, regular $30 on sale for $20. Used it this past weekend bringing a load of plants up too Louisville. Held up just fine. I was wondering if it would rip / tear and looks like new still. I think I am going to put ropes down the side and make a mount to mount it on the front of the dump trailer to make it a bit easier to use.

Last week she bought a tile saw.

I know a lot of people have bad views of the HF tools, but all in all, if we do not get our act together, and get competitive on prices with the Chinese, they are going to drive us into the ground.

From my view their quality is continuing to improve, and their tools are very usable.

That concrete mixer has been running two or three days straight at this point, no, that is not much in some ways, but if you think about if we had rented one, I would have paid as much in rent as I paid for the HF mixer, not to mention that it sat over the weekend and is waiting on them this morning.

There was that discussion up above somewhere about cheap wrenches. My $15 set that I keep banging around in the toolbox of the mowing truck sure saved me a ton of money this weekend when I could take my loader apart myself while I was out of town.

My wife is definetely a keeper, every now and then I may not remember it like I should but all in all I cannot ask for anything more.

 

[The Gardener]

Could you please post an image of your old cement mixer and this new cement mixer. I am curious what they look like. Also, what is an approximate price range for the cement mixers available?

Is your wife an artist? a landscape artist?

My wife is a sculptor, and we have considered the purchase of a cement mixer [only in discussion at this point] so she can pour her own concrete bases and concrete pads for outdoor sculptures.

Thanks,
The Gardener

 

[AlanB]

I am terrible about grabbing pictures, but the HF one is easy.

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

She has been running it now about 2 weeks, about 10 to 20 bags of mortar a day. While it is not high quality, it is just sitting there working, and as far as I am concerned has earned it's money, anything further is just gravy. She did buy the two year warranty and I would suspect that we will be using it and getting another.

If you have two 80 lb bags of mortar in it, and you turn it 90 degree's for max mixing, it will stall out the motor. Turn it about 45 degrees and it runs fine.

We are debating if we want to have them just replace it with the warranty as it comes up broken, or we (I) may upgrade it as we go with items like a bigger motor, weld in the paddles, reinforce the motor mount and housing etc.

My wife does Landscaping and Lawncare.

The current project is a little over 1000 sf I think of flagstone (KY colored stone) patio on a driveway that ties to a previous one that she did about 900sf. There is also a 20' counter / seating / grilling area / bar that she is building and stuccoing.

*** Hanna Bechard *** A Woman's Touch *** Clarksville ***

Pictures not up of this particular project, but some of the others are there.

 

[The Gardener]

Very impressive! The website images and the before/after sequences speak volumes about the wonderful work. The ponds are great. Your wife's clients must be delighted with the end results.

Thanks for sharing both links. I can certainly understand her need for a cement mixer.

Sincerely,
The Gardener

 

[AlanB]

Thanks,
Her and I do not always see eye to eye on how to do things, but, it is her's and she is the one having to make it work, so nowdays I just let her go at her projects, offer my advice when it is requested, and try and keep the equipment running while planning for the next stage.

We need to update the website, I keep coming back to that advice that we need to work ON, the business some as well as IN the business.

She is on her way as I type to get another 20 bags of mortar.