I did a bunch of concrete work around the house last year and used three
methods to mix concrete. A) by hand in the wheel barrel, TOO MUCH WORK! B)
in a two cubic foot capacity plastic drum mixer from the local rental shop
and C) Harbor Freight 3.5 cubic foot metal mixer that you can usually get on
sale for $189.
> - High: This mixer is designed to dump the load into a
> wheelbarrow. They seem to span the range from the $99
> special up to very big and $$$$
This is the HF style. A pain to dump multiple 80# bags of mix into the
drum. Second time I used it, I had concrete mix delivered by the local
supply company and I used an empty drywall 5gal bucket filled to line I made
to dump the mix in, much easier! Works well, haven't had a problem, mixes
well, drum stopped leaking water after a few loads when the concrete
sediment filled up some of the leaking seams. No big deal to me.
> - Low: Kind of like a 2 wheel wheelbarrow. They have a lower
> loading height and the ones I saw at home despot have a
> plastic drum (Is plastic better than the metal drums?)
This is the type I had from the rental center for a small project I
attempted first (after giving up on hand mixing, I had about 20-25 cubic
feet to mix). I didn't mind the plastic drum, if anything the use of a
plastic drum allowed them to mold it in a more efficient shape than a
stamped metal drum. The drum had steel mixing blades in side, riveted
through the plastic shell with reinforced backings on the exterior. Seemed
to work fine, no issues with the drum. Nice and easy to load as it was low
to the ground. BUT it wasn't quite high enough to dump the load of mixed
concrete into my wheel barrel. I had to build up a small wooden platform to
raise the height of the mixer, which eliminated the benefit of easy loading.
I felt that the plastic drum was easier to keep clean and it obviously won't
rust.
If you can dump your load right into the ground where you are working and
want portability, the low plastic drum units will work well. Take up less
storage space as well.
> - 3pt: These hook on the back of the tractor.
Didn't use one of these.
> Size? They seem to come in 3.5 cu. ft. up to about 8 cu. ft.
Obviously load capacity is more important than overall volume of the drum.
With two people working on my project, we never ran into any down time with
the small two cubic foot plastic drum mixer. The only down time came at the
end when I ran out of mix and had to run to Lowes for a few more bags.
I bought the HF 3.5cubic foot mixer out of convenience and because after a
weekend of renting the 2cu. ft mixer I would have paid for a 1/3 of the HF
mixer. Just seemed more economical in the long run to buy a mixer, and HF's
fit the bill price and size wise.
Kai
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Kai M. Radicke
Wishbone Classics
* British Car Parts *
www.wbclassics.com
Ph: 215.945.7250
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