Cement mixer

[LDS]

I’m about to buy a new mixer. I need to mix 1 bag of cement, 2 gravel and 3 sand at a time. Does anyone have an idea of what size mixer I need? Does 140 litre sound about right? TIA

 

[Charlie George]

Mines 150 and it would overflow a little using 6 25kg bags, just about doable might have to throw spills back in mixer.

 

[LDS]

Thanks. I’ll see if I can find a slightly larger one. Selection is pretty limited at the mo

 

[Charlie George]

Sorry LDS my mixer is Belle 150 but the drum is actually 136 always thought 150 was drum size,only been using one 35 years.

 

[LDS]

That’s actually good news, the price jumps up if you go over 140. That will do me then. Thanks for your help

 

[^woody^]

Why do you need to put those exact quantities in at the same time?

If you do, you just tilt the mixer back.

 

[noseall]

Lol. put less in and do more mixes. Just ensure the ratios are consistent.

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

your making concrete. and your ratios will end up grossly innacurate.
3:2:1 does’nt translate in bags as they are graded by weight not volume. you’ll end up with a cement rich mix that will be weak, dry too quickly and be very dusty.
you need to decant your aggregates and cement into buckets first unless you do it for a job and know from experience what you want.
a belle minimix (yellow) should be ideal for what you want. depending on how big the area is.

 

[LDS]

Why do you need to put those exact quantities in at the same time?

If you do, you just tilt the mixer back.

I don’t need to, but would like to. The prices are pretty sameish until you go really big so thought may aswell get one that could do it in 1 go.

 

[LDS]

your making concrete. and your ratios will end up grossly innacurate.
3:2:1 does’nt translate in bags as they are graded by weight not volume. you’ll end up with a cement rich mix that will be weak, dry too quickly and be very dusty.
you need to decant your aggregates and cement into buckets first unless you do it for a job and know from experience what you want.
a belle minimix (yellow) should be ideal for what you want. depending on how big the area is.

Hi, are you saying the ratio is ok but just to measure it in buckets instead of straight out the bag?

So 1 bag of cement (2 buckets) 6 buckets of sand and 4 buckets of gravel?

Would that all fit in the minimix?

cheers

 

[^woody^]

Unless you're building some sort of civil engineering contraption, the mix ratios are not that relevent and you will never acheive them in anycase DIYing.

Throw the stuff in near enough, put the barrow in front of the mixer to catch what falls out, throw that back in after a while.

 

[cdbe]

I have a belle maxi, which has the same drum as a 150 but I wouldn't mix that quantity unless it's virtually liquid. It will take ages to mix properly. If you use a smaller amount it will mix far quicker - it will probably be ready before you've refilled your gauging buckets ready for the next mix. Also, if you're tipping it into a barrow you want to mix what will fit in comfortably.

In the old days, we used to call them a half bag mixer (but that was when a bag of cement was twice as big as it is now) and I think that was based on a 4/5-1 mortar mix.