PT-425 Cement Mixer capacity

[MossRoad]

For simple ease and fast start, ask Terry to send you two new hoses. They'll have all the proper fittings, reducers, couplers, etc... and you'll be running as soon as you swap them. But you will be limited to one direction concrete mixing. Is that a bad thing? I do not know. Would you ever want it to rotate in the reverse direction? Can that help with unloading it. Big concrete trucks mix in one direction, then rotate in the other to dump it out. I've never seen a small mixer that rotates in both directions. My el-cheapo harbor freight electric mixer only rotates in one direction. I worked for a brick mason in high school ( a loooong time agoooo ) and his mixers only rotated in one direction.

With that said... think about a few things you can do with it being on the AUX PTO circuit instead of the MAIN PTO circuit. As one person mentioned, a bungee cord or clip for the AUX PTO handle could be fabricated pretty easily. That would allow you to rotate the mixer continuously with the parking brake on, and walk away. Also, being able to SLOWLY rotate and stop and start the drum while you are dumping might be useful in emptying it.

You won't be able to control speed very well with the MAIN PTO.
First, its 8gallon per minute flow while the AUX is much less.
Second, the MAIN PTO is either ON or OFF and if the engine is at a higher RPM when you flip that switch, WHAM! it goes and puts quite a shock on the system and can even stall the engine or engage the bypasses(with something like a mower).
So it may be advantageous to try it with the AUX PTO first and see some past threads on TBN about handles and locks that PT owners have made for their AUX PTO levers.

 

[CreativeGuy]

Hi All,
Thanks. It looks like the QA handles trick will be the best way to go. I tried searching for the Handle mod posting but couldn’t find it. If anyone can direct me to the post I would be most appreciative.

Cheers & Thank You,

 

[MossRoad]

Try searching for wood latch pawl auxiliary PTO modification, etc...

Was it Bob that did the mod?

 

[woodlandfarms]

There are some nice ones. I just welded up some flat stock...

 

[CreativeGuy]

I ended up cutting a wooden stick to length that when jammed under the lever would ”run” the cement mixer while I tended to the mixer.

 

[joshlee]

I plan on going down to Tazewell on the 12th to buy a cement mixer and snowblower. I have small concrete jobs around here that I’ve been wanting to do, so the mixer will come in handy.

 

[4570Man]

I don’t like any of the small barrel cement mixers. Their capacity is very small when they’re tilted enough to actually mix anything. And they’re hard to get bagged cement into. A mortar mixer is far better. An average sized one will mix 10 bags of quick creat at a time and they’re way easier to load.

 

[MossRoad]

I used to work for a brick mason in high school. My main job was to keep the mortar mixer fed with shovel full of this and a couple shovel fulls of that. Add some water. Mix, dump, carry, repeat. It was brutal work, but built character (and shoulders).

I've had a little Harbor Freight concrete mixer for about 25 years. It's extremely handy, mixes 2 bags in just a couple minutes, is super easy to load. Just throw the bag on top and stab it in the center. The bag breaks in half and the contents pour right in. Like cracking an egg. Easy to unload, easy to clean. I've done a few short sidewalks and step pads with it. Last summer I did about 16 footing tubes with it for our garage addition. 12" x 4' deep. I just wheeled it over each hole, mixed up the concrete, and dumped it right in. A mortar mixer would have been a lot more work.

Same thing goes for post holes. I think it's better to have the mixer right on the front of the PowerTrac FEL arms and be able to mix and pour directly, VS mix, dump into bucket, haul to hole, try and dump a 42" wide bucket into a 12" hole. You'd need to either shovel it out of the bucket, or make a special bucket with a spout.

While large mixers have their place, as a typical home/estate owner, I wouldn't want one.

 

[joshlee]

I like the idea of the power trac mixers. Being able to drive right up to where you’re putting it and dump it right in is what I like about it. Not to mention having it mixed up in that barrel by hydraulic power is a lot easier than mixing it up in a 5 gallon bucket by hand.

 

[MossRoad]

I kinda got my little electric mixer for free (in my mind at least ) about 25 years ago.

I had to do a small sidewalk in front of some new pre-cast stairs. I needed less than 2 yards. There's a 4 yard minimum if you get it delivered. Less than 4 yards, you pay a penalty. The concrete + penalty came out to about the exact same cost as enough bags to do the jobs plus the price of the mixer. So now I've had a mixer for 25 years.