Has anyone ever made their own Concrete?

[bandit67]

I ordered a stand alone 4 cu ft electric concrete mixer. A buddy has the same one that is about 30 years old and still works. I figure if I can get at least 10 years out of mine, it will more than pay for itself, heck, even 5 years would more than pay for it.

I considered a 3pt mixer, but decided I wanted to be able to set up the mixer independent of the tractor so I could use the tractor for other tasks during the concrete projects, such as moving bags of portland cement, sand, aggregate, etc. to the pour site.

 

[tessiers]

I wasn't suggesting that home mixed concrete was not acceptible, only that you should use the best materials available, whichever route you go.

 

[LBrown59]

This thread reminds me of an article in Pop Sci or Pop Mech maybe 35 yrs ago where they showed how to make what they called a "soil cement" driveway. I was always tempted to try it but never did. It works only with lighter type soils something like this: Mark out nine foot squares and use one bag of portland cement per square,then rototill to a depth of 6 inches and follow with a plate compactor to smooth and compact. Then cover with burlap and keep wet for 21 days. This slow cure was supposed to cure and harden the weak mix to what they claimed would last for many years with light to moderate traffic.

I think I remember that article too.
Meant to keep it but lost it right after seeing it.

 

[LBrown59]

I'm thinking of mixing Portland Cement with dirt but I don't know how much cement to mix with how much dirt.
Anybody ever tried it or have any ideas on how much cement to use?

I am thinking about buying Portland Cement, but rather than buying tons of sand and gravel, using excavated dirt from my property. The dirt is sandy with decomposed granite and gravel, and I could buy a small amount of clean sand to supplement, if need be.

I'm no geologist, but it seems like it might be good enough to make concrete for dog kennels, patios, steps, maybe even parking pads, etc. I've used the fill to backfill holes for wood fence posts, and it compacts well, and the posts don't budge. I do know a former geologist that lives nearby, so I may bounce this off of him, but I don't know how well versed he is as far as concrete is concerned.

Has anyone done this before? If so, how did it turn out? Thoughts, ideas, comments?

 

[Egon]

And how strong do you want the result and what type of conditions must it preform in??