Mixing concrete (Aldi mixer), procedure.

[Chris Bacon]

On March 6, 2006, 12:03 pm Chris Bacon wrote: > On March 5, 2006, 7:33 pm Lobster wrote: > > That's certainly the grade and length of chain you'd expect for that > > sort of job; but no, there's nothing like a locking pin anywhere. > > It's actually one of the machines's disadvantages which I can see > > immediately IMHO, which is that it doesn't collapse easily (ie you'd > > need spanners and it would be awkward) like those proper Bell jobs > > which sit on removable stands; ie, really it needs a trailer or van > > to transport it. > > > > Where's Chris P. Bacon when you need him!? ISTR he bought one of > > these too? > > David > > You saved ?70 compared to buying the same product from Tesco... > I'm glad you started this thread - I haven't put mine together yet!

Well, I retrieved the box from under the bench in my small workshop (where I had moved it to, from the dining-room, in about 2008), and I have put it all together. Looks nice now, back in the dining-room, where I assembled it just now, with its nice orange glow.

Anyway, I've got a delivery of ballast coming tomorrow (and another one the next day), so that will keep me busy shovelling and barrowing it around the back nearer to where I'm making my bigger workshop. The mixer's instruction manual says it can mix 100kg of concrete, which does not sound much, being only about 40l of concrete in a 100l drum, so it may take 25 mixers worth of concrete to the cubic metre... perhaps it's possible to fit more than 40l in... 50l?

Is Lobster still about? I feel like Rip Van Winkle.

How much cement and all-in ballast should I use for each fill, by volume?? I'll be having dumpy bags of all-in ballast and 25kg sacks of cement.

This is for a floor slab which will (eventually) be about 6m x 5m, and will have a concrete prefab on it, so C20-ish.

[Chris Bacon]

My guess, which I forgot to post, is 1/2 a bag of cement = 12.5kg, plus

6 times that of ballast = 87.5kg total = 100kg plus abou6 6 1/2 litres of water.

[John Rumm]

For general purpose concrete I tend to do about 5 or 6 shovels full of ballast to each of cement. (its easier to judge by volume rather than weight when mixing from bulk bags IMHO).

Doing a full barrow full (I think my barrow is about 85L if you brim it) seems about right for my mixer (fairly typical Belle) - it won't take twice that anyway without slopping loads out the front as it mixes - and

1.5 barrows full is less useful in the end.

[Chris Bacon]

I have bought a beautiful new wheelbarrow, from Wickes of all places. A Chillington County 120l, galvanised, steel wheel. Worse than useless plastic handgrips, but they will pull off easily.

Re cement mixer... withe these cheaper ones where the drum's drive is a gear on the motor's shaft meshing with slots in the pressed steel drum itself, I assume it's a good idea to apply a quantity of grease?

[John Rumm]

Not seen one like that... does the manual have anything to say on it?

[Chris Bacon]

On 05/08/2020 20:03, John Rumm wrote: > On 05/08/2020 15:13, Chris Bacon wrote: >> Re cement mixer... withe these cheaper ones where the drum's drive is >> a gear on the motor's shaft meshing with slots in the pressed steel >> drum itself, I assume it's a good idea to apply a quantity of grease? > > Not seen one like that... does the manual have anything to say on it?

Manual? What? What?? Pffft!

The instructions that come with it say about how to put it together, and various mortar/concrete mixes, that's about it.

That's why I wondered whether Lobster still posts here (he bought one at the same time I did), possibly crb, who bought a Machine Mart one described as a "clone". They might have used theirs by now....