Cement mixer quantities

[geraldthehamster]

I've bought a small cement mixer for some projects, the first being the footings for my porch, for which I was going to use a 1.3.6 mix.

Can anyone tell me, please, roughly what quantities I would be putting in the mixer for each barrow load? Ideally in terms of shovels full, as I have bulk bags.

Thanks
Richard

 

[noseall]

In a standard Belle, you would be chucking say 12 shovels of ballast and 2 cement.

The ballast part equates to 4 parts aggregate and 2 parts sharp sand.

Try and make sure that you always have a wet drum. Allowing the mix to dry up, i.e. adding water to dry material, prolongs the mixing time and can sometimes mean having dry material clogged at the back of the drum.

 

[Blagard]

Measure the amount of water you put in with the first batch to get the right level of workability (slump). Use a jug or similar. Next batch you can use 2/3 to 3/4 of the water in the mixer straight away using the last bit to get the workability just right.

Experienced users can gauge the water without such aids but you will need that extra bit of help to avoid getting the mix too wet. Being only an occassional user myself, I have a bucket of water standing by, which I fill my plastic jug from to do it quickly. (Quickly get the measuring jug back to the kitchen before the Mrs finds out )

 

[^woody^]

I think that it is much better to soak the sand/ballast and then you need very little (if any) water in the drum and it does not splash as much