-----Original Message-----
From: Martin Scarr <martins@efn.org>
To: BOB NOGUEIRA <nogera@Prodigy.Net>
Cc: shop-talk <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Date: Wednesday, March 07, 2001 10:14 PM
Subject: Re: Concrete Mixers
>
>On Wed, 7 Mar 2001, BOB NOGUEIRA wrote:
>
>> Okay folks, my wife came up with what she thinks is a great idea, she
wants
>> to buy one of those small batch concrete mixers. We have several projects
>> planned that evolve concrete ( walkways, flower bed edges, dog run ) but
>> having never used one, I'm not really sure as to how well they work.
>> Is it feasible to pour a 3foot by 30 foot walk way using a mixer? Cost
wise
>> how does it compare to Ready mix or
>> a bag of quickcrete?
>A 3 foot by 30 foot walkway, 3 inches thick is approximately 22.5 cubic
>feet, or .833 cubic yards. For 22.5 cubic feet of concrete it takes 34
>ninety pound bags of Ready Mix bagged concrete (90 pounds is .66 cubic
>feet). How much is a 90 pound bag of Ready Mix in your area? It's almost
>$3 here in Western Oregon. That's about $100 for less than a yard of
>concrete, and you have to haul all that Ready Mix home. I can get a yard
>of concrete delivered for $100, and I live outside the city limits.
I found it difficult to get only a yard delivered, and our walk next to the
garage/shop extension would be a nasty little wheelbarrow trip. I bought 69
60-pound bags of sackcrete for a sidewalk job. I rented the
(made-in-England!) electric mixer from Home Depot for about 30 bucks. I
carried and mixed (60 is my limit. 90-pound bags would be out of the
question for me. Hell, I wish they came in 30!) all the crete and poured it
directly from the mixer. No wheelbarrow transfer needed. The mixer has
handy wheels so I could pull it back to load and mix, then roll forward to
pour. Mixer worked best with 2 bags in it. Sue did all the finishing work.
The day before, I had excavated and boxed out the panels with cedar 2x4s.
The idea is to leave the cedar forms in place permanently. When done
carefully, the lawn restoration is zero.
I had tested this brand of sackcrete ahead of time to see how it would work
for exposed-aggregate finishing. It is not a perfect match for our
existing, but it works as a transition from the smooth driveway to the
exposed-aggregate in the back yard.
Phil Ethier Saint Paul Minnesota USA
1970 Lotus Europa, 1992 Saturn SL2, 1986 Suburban, 1962 Triumph TR4 CT2846L
LOON, MAC pethier@isd.net http://www.mnautox.com/
"It makes a nice noise when it goes faster"
- 4-year-old Adam, upon seeing a bitmap of Grandma Susie's TR4.
///
/// shop-talk@autox.team.net mailing list
///
|