Strange, cheap, concrete mixer

[ns_in_tex]

I tried to come up with a cheap,easy way to mix & pour those little tads of concrete that I always seem to need.

Have mixed 25, 80 lb sacks so far. Much easier for me than mixing by hand.

It is a 55 gal barrel mounted on my fel. Put in materials, clamp on lid, then turn upside down, then right side up, about 1/2 dozen times, remove lid & pour.

 

[ns_in_tex]

Barrel upside down

 

[ns_in_tex]

Barrel right side up

 

[Anonymous Poster]

THe creativity of the folks here just never fails to amaze me!

Very interesting concept...That is really thinking outside the barrel...err...I mean box... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Bill

 

[PTFarmer]

Neil,

I like your style ! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[mrcaptainbob]

Wouldn't it take less fuel to get one that spins, rather than driving in circles to mix it? Not to mention gettin' pretty dizzy!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Cacinok]

Neal,

Did you do anything to the barrell (e.g., weld in a baffle to help stir up the concrete)? Your set up looks like it would be a great help in placement of the concrete, assuming you can get your tractor close to the project -- a whole lot easier than using a wheelbarrow. Do you know how many cubic feet/(yds?) the barrell will hold?

Clint.

 

[Green_in_MI]

I applaude your ingenuity, but I suggest you tip that barrel over a few dozen times instead of a half dozen. If you expect any consistency in strength, appearance, or performance you will need to mix it THOROUGHLY. You could open it occasionally and help blend the components with a shovel. That would probably get you most of the mixing you need. If you were using ready mix and water a dozen tips might work, but mixing aggregate, sand, water, and cement from scratch takes more effort.

 

[ns_in_tex]

Clint,
I did not do anything to the inside of the barrel. So far I have not even put a gasket on the lid. I thought before I use it the next time, I would run a small bead of silicone around the inside of the lid & give time to set up, to see if this eliminated all leaking. It did not leak much, without any gasket.
I am sure the speed at which your bucket tilts, would have some bearing on the mixing ability.

I mixed as much as 5 80# sacks once, but so far I feel 2 sacks at a time may be the optimum.

It works great if you can pull up to where you are pouring with the tractor. I built a V-box (what I call a hog trough with the bottom open), when pouring forms, to make it easy to pour into the narrow forms.

 

[ns_in_tex]

I was using the bagged premix. When you take the lid off to pour, it will be obvious if it is mixed good, to wet, to dry, etc.
Unless you try to mix too large a batch.
Yes if you want to mix by hand, I think, it might still be good, you can set at the height & angle that fits you best.

 

[Michael Knight]

If you really want to mix it well, roll the tractor down a hill. Just kidding.

 

[ray66v]

Looks like a plan, I suggest mixing slowly to keep the aggragite from settling out of the slury. Perhaps, someone, (with the time), could do some tests to determine the optimum results.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Just a thought. If you have a driveline for the PTO in the back that you could bolt to the bottom of the barrel. Then you could spin the barrel with the PTO. Have the barrel supported by a frame with some rollers. Have the barrel tilted a bit to keep the concrete in. Now if you really want to get fancy attach it to the 3PT so that you could tilt and pour.
Jim

 

[wedge40]

Wow sure beats a $800 mixer.. I can get the barrels for about $15 each a couple times a year.

Wedge

 

[bjcsc]

I wonder how it's been working for him for the last 5 years since he posted this...

 

[LBrown59]

I wonder how it's been working for him for the last 5 years since he posted this...

Where has this thread been for the last 5 years .
I never seen it before.

 

[CurlyDave]

If I really wanted to mix concrete in a 55 gallon drum, I would put the ingredients in the barrel, knock it over with the tractor & roll it around on flat ground for a few minutes.

Set it upright and take the lid off.

 

[wedge40]

If I really wanted to mix concrete in a 55 gallon drum, I would put the ingredients in the barrel, knock it over with the tractor & roll it around on flat ground for a few minutes.

Set it upright and take the lid off.

Ya but the beauty of his system is the barrel is hooked up and ready to pour. It'd take a pretty big fellow to lift the 55 gal drum of concret and pour it out.

Wedge

 

[CurlyDave]

It'd take a pretty big fellow to lift the 55 gal drum of concret and pour it out.

My good friend, John Deere, is very strong...

In reality, I have a mixer which will do a cubic foot at a time, anything more than 3 or 4 feet in a day is purchased as ready mix.

But John lifts the sacks up & holds them near the opening of my mixer. The place where I buy them will load a pallet of as few or as many bags as I want in the pickup, and the forks will take the pallet out and hold it at just the right height and position.

 

[Brad_Blazer]

Oscillating a cylinder end over end provides excellent mixing. The first time I saw the method was testing fresh milk in a small bottle. The method was to flip the bottle 3 times end over end. Any amount of shaking was not considered sufficient. Think about it. The fluid gains rotational momentum in one direction and then the spin is reversed. The container is not round in that direction so it mixes like crazy when it is reversed. Get a bottle of Guinness and try it.

Brad