How big is my mixer

[bigtiller]

I bought a concrete mixer at a garage sale and I am wanting to know what size and how many bags of Quikrete I could easily put in per mixing. Would it mix two - 80 pound bags at the same time or just one - 60 pound bag? I ask because I have never ran a mixer in my life. I am wanting to make a 240 pound weight for my lawn aerator and figured someone here has ran a mixer like this one and knows what size bag will fit the best.

The inside dimensions of the tub are;
21" diameter at the widest spot
24" deep
14" at the opening

 

[4570Man]

I have a mixer that looks very similar. It will mix four 60 pound bags, but it is easier to dump with just 2.

 

[bigtiller]

I imagine when 4 - 60 lb bags get past the tipping point on the way out that it would just slam down onto the stop. Maybe even tipping its self and the wheelbarrow over. That first load could flatten out a large learning curve.

 

[boggen]

the concrete mixer i have. looks approx same size. i generally do not over load it, due to wanting to keep all the slop of concrete/water mixing inside the unit, and not a big mess around it. along with using wheel barrows to 5 gallon buckets. not wanting to have to lift / move a couple hundred lbs of concrete at a time. so generally it goes between 1 to 2 80# lbs of concrete.

it takes practice getting correct amount of concrete / water mix ratio. when you are physically troweling it on say concrete block wall, to making a little sidewalk or a little pad to set something on a concrete pad. to wet or to dry = more difficulty in applying the concrete.

mixing concrete and dumping it down say a hole for a post is one thing. but everything else it does take some practice. keep it in smaller batches say 1 to 2 bags at a time. and only mix enough that you can use in a short amount of time.

be careful of fiber concrete... the fiber can tear up your skin / hands pretty quickly. (make sure you wear rubber gloves), also just general concrete make sure you wear gloves and keep concrete off your skin. folks can get what is known more like "concrete poisoning" i don't remember correct term, but the concrete soaks into your skin and can mess you pretty badly.

=============
for a 240 lbs concrete weight for tractor.... 60# lbs bags to 80lbs bags... does it really make a difference? mix a bag at a time and get a feel for how to mix concrete and learn the unit. so when you get on other projects, you are not experimenting as much to learn about how to mix concrete. ((obtaining a better water / concrete mix ratio))

 

[bigtiller]

I think i'll buy 60 lb bags, they are easier to handle and it sounds like 2 at a time might be just about right. I will be trying for a 5" slump or less.

 

[Egon]

Fill it with water. That should get you a volume.

 

[/pine]

FWIW...mixing and pouring concrete using bagged products or with fine and course aggregate and portland...is fine...but...if the pour is going to be exposed to freeze/thaw conditions an air entraining agent should be added to every batch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_entrainment

Also, for many projects the bagged concrete etc. mixes are OK as is...but for more durability and strength it is recommended that additional portland cement be added...

 

[dfkrug]

for a 240 lbs concrete weight for tractor.... 60# lbs bags to 80lbs bags... does it really make a difference?
mix a bag at a time and get a feel for how to mix concrete and learn the unit. so when you get on other
projects, you are not experimenting as much to learn about how to mix concrete.

Yeah, that's good advice. Such a tiny pour could be done in a wheelbarrow with a hoe.

I prefer the 60# high-strength bags myself, and I recently poured my swale bridge. Note that
a 60# bag is half a cubic foot. Wet, it will be about 75#, so only about 3 bags will be needed
to reach 240#. Add some gravel to make up the slight shortfall.

In this photo, I am pouring about 5 bags at a time, at about 0 slump. I can do as much as
8 bags (4+cf) at a time with this mixer, no way near the 8.5 cf it is quoted to handle. Even 5
60-pounders, wet, is gonna be close to 400# at a time.

 

[boggen]

In this photo, I am pouring about 5 bags at a time, at about 0 slump. I can do as much as
8 bags (4+cf) at a time with this mixer, no way near the 8.5 cf it is quoted to handle. Even 5
60-pounders, wet, is gonna be close to 400# at a time.

that is called cheating, using FEL with mixer attached to it! *laughs hard*
nice setup!

 

[4570Man]

I buy 60 pound bags. They are even cheaper per pound than an 80 pound bag.,

 

[boggen]

I think i'll buy 60 lb bags, they are easier to handle and it sounds like 2 at a time might be just about right. I will be trying for a 5" slump or less.

i had problems, of getting the full mix wetted. in my mixer. and it was a difference between 1 to 3 quick shots of the garden hose. of to much or not enough water.

when i got to much water, it would almost all turn into pea soup / slop. and then when i did not have enough water. it was like dry pancake batter / cake batter stuck to the bowel and you didn't drag the spoon around the edges / bottom of bowl to get it all mixed up.

since i do not have projects come up all the time for concrete, most of the time it has sat in the shed doing nothing. as a result each time i go to use the blasted thing. i end up having an extra bag broken open. so i can take a bowl at a time to scoop up some extra dry concrete and toss into machine when i put in to much water.

==========
there is a bit of an art in opening up a concrete bag.

one end of a concrete bag = "good end" other end = pain in rear to open. generally i have a razor blade / box cutter handy when things do not open up correctly.

so far all the bags i have used came straight off back of a pickup truck via tail gate on the truck. so everything was a nice working height. trying to open top of a bag, and then pickup from ground and dump in, can get rather heavy and sore back quickly.

 

[bigtiller]

Filling it with water was a great idea Egon, and it will show if any holes need repaired.

I like that mixer on a FEL. I can see a future project some cold winter day.

I seen a guy on YouTube turn the mixer off, put the end of a new bag inside, open it with a putty knife, shake the sack empty and then start mixing.

 

[dfkrug]

there is a bit of an art in opening up a concrete bag.

one end of a concrete bag = "good end" other end = pain in rear to open. generally i have a razor blade /
box cutter handy when things do not open up correctly.

so far all the bags i have used came straight off back of a pickup truck via tail gate on the truck.
so everything was a nice working height. trying to open top of a bag, and then pickup from ground
and dump in, can get rather heavy and sore back quickly.

The above pour was something like 35 bags total. For just a bag or 2, I use a wheelbarrow and
a hoe.

Bags are not my ideal way to go; I usually buy sand and gravel separately and load with a shovel.

I open the bags, arrayed on the tailgate of my truck (or similar place), by cutting an 'H' pattern
in the side of the bag. I do this with a sharp square trowel, hoe, or square-point shovel. Then
I hold the cut side against the opening of the mixer (off!) and push the other side. Works well.

My MIXER80 used to be PTO-powered, but I converted it to hydraulic and FEL mount.

 

[bigtiller]

I set it in the load position today and 10 gallons of water filled it up. So that would be 1.33 cubic feet.

80 lb = .60 cubic feet
60 lb = .45 cubic feet

I am thinking a pair of 80lb sacks would fit into the tub but would probably make a sloppy mess. And a pair of 60lb sacks would probably be just about right.

Ha, i haven't used it yet and i am already wanting a bigger one. But for the garage sale price of 5 bucks, i am going to use it until.........

 

[RobertN]

Dunno about the mixer, but that's a nice chipper in the background

 

[bigtiller]

Thanks, but it's one of those things that gets uglier the closer you get to it. The previous owner was pretty rough with it. It looks like they used it more as a bumper than a chipper/shredder. But it still works good and I bought it right.....$1200