Pouring Concrete with a mixer????

[dfeck]

I'm going to pour a concrete slab under my lean two (sp?) that houses my tractor. I calculate that I'll need about 2.6 yards of concrete. Can a large cement mixer do this amount? I can get a truck out there to deliver but I'm faced with a few problems. First, I'll most likely be doing it myself so working the concrete when delivered would require 2 people. Second, the access to the slab is a bit cumbersome. The truck can pull back there but the area is parklike and I would hate to see ruts or worse, damage to my driveway due to the weight of the truck. I figured I could rent a large mixer (12 cu ft) and do the work myself. I'm concerned that the mixer would be slow and the first pour would set-up to quickly before I was done. I could work as I go but I'm not sure if I'd get the desired effect. Any thoughts?

 

[RobS]

I was at our Local Lowes the other day and they've added a Nationsrent tool rental counter to their offerings. One of the items for rent was a nifty looking concrete buggy. Didn't mix the stuff, but would be great for transporting from the truck to a more remote spot on your site. Mixing 2.6 yards by hand would be a job. You may pay a light load charge but it would be worth it to me to have it delivered /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

There's an outfit around here that has just what you need. They have concrete buggies they fill at their place and you take loaded with the concrete to where you need it. Obvioulsy, the temperature and time to travel the distance would be a concern, but it might be something to consider checking out.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Ten years ago I put nine yards through a nine cubic foot mixer all by myself while my dad finished. We put in a slab beside my house. There wasn't a problem because we did it in sections even though it was a constant pour.

Today I put four and a third yards through a nine cubic foot mixer setting posts.

It's all in a days work.

 

[rlk]

dfeck, instead of concrete, have you considered putting down a good base and using paver bricks? Personally, I had rather use the bricks because I can work at my own pace, and am not a slave to setting/finishing concrete. If you get a good base in, the bricks work just as good as the concrete.
Bob

 

[JBX]

Warning! When using the concrete-in-a-buggy deal, where the dealer fills up a metal box on a trailer with a yard of concrete, then you tow it to the job site with your PU truck.
From my experience, the concrete settles as you are driving down the road. When you are ready to open the chute at the rear-end to pour concrete, it is all aggregate (rock) clogging the chute and then you have to muck it all out with a shovel while it is hardening. I did it once. Never again.
I wonder if that is the reason those businesses didn't last long in our area.
Just a thought.
Steve

 

[JBX]

Here is what works for me. My 76 year old Dad and I bought a small mixer from Home Depot, the kind that work like a wheel-barrow with 2 wheels in front. It has an electric motor.
It is rated at 3.5 cubic feet. We bought a pallet of 40 lb sacks of sac-rete. For pouring the slab for an open sided workshop, my Dad works at his own pace and can pour a 3-ft wide by 12 foot long strip of concrete in a couple of hours. He then takes his time finishing with a trowel. Using 1X4 forms, he can stop wherever he wants and pick up the next day as he wants. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
You do need to have electricity and water available on site, which may not be the case in your situation.
Just a thought. Good luck.
Steve

 

[CamshaftLF]

Hi dfeck, It is best in my experience driving a concrete truck for 13yr's that one trip driving though your lawn, is better then numerous trip's, with a pickup with stone and sand and cement you will end up with plenty of rut's to patch. Also if you have a asphalt driveway and that's your only way in take a couple of 2x6's or 2x10's and lay them up against the asphalt so it distribute's the wieght of the loaded truck, and the edge of your driveway would not be damaged as easily.
That's my 2 cent's

Cam in Pa.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Your local rental store should have a cement mixer within the 5 yard range and would probably cost $50 dollars a day. Concrete can take a few hours to dry. When my dad starts to pour slabs on a new apartment project he calls the batch plant ahead of time and they do it very early in the morning and they only do it at certain times. This is how it works on construction anyway, most cement mixers cary like 10 yards and can be expensive so thats why i think you should try renting. good luck