How to make a DIY cement mixer... any ideas?

[Wacky Racer]

OK,

So I want to build a 5 metre natural stone wall, approx 1 metre tall in my back garden.

Building it isn't the issue, I built this garage entirely by myself twenty years ago, including digging the foundations, and roofing it, and it hasn't fallen down yet.



The problem is I used to have a nice Belle electric mixer several years ago, but I honestly thought I wouldn't need it again, so i foolishly sold it for £75 on fb marketplace.

I don't want to rent one, as I don't know how long I'd need it for.

So, being a tight arse, I hit on the idea of making a DIY one for a few quid, using an old fashioned dolly tub....



I could weld or screw a couple of "paddles" inside to agitate the sand and cement, but the problem is how to rotate it, and that's where I need your help.

I could somehow attach it to a frame and an electric motor, or rotate it by hand with a handle fixed to the bottom, so any suggestions would be much appreciated, with Heath Robinson style drawings of your plans if at all possible.

I got the inspiration reading a VIZ comic years ago.




You never know, you could patent it, go on Dragon's Den and make a fortune.

[mickk]

Don't you have a tumble dryer in the kitchen?

[Wacky Racer]

mickk said:

Don't you have a tumble dryer in the kitchen?

Great idea, but it's two months old, and I want to live a bit longer yet,

Mrs WR went apest when she caught me washing my motorbike parts in the dishwasher a few years back.

[paulwirral]

Shovel and mix in a wheel barrow, it’ll be quicker than making something

[loughran]

The dolly tub looks unusual, worth £150 on ebay... would that help towards a cement mixer ?

[snotrag]

Buy another second hand mixer for £75.

In fact I've got one you could buy for£75!


(seriously, I always do this - Wackers, mixers, Rotovators - buy one, use it, sell it on for the same as you paid. I've got a mixer and a wacker currently. Free tools!)

[Aluminati]

Wacky Racer said:

Mrs WR went apest when she caught me washing my motorbike parts in the dishwasher a few years back.

Thought it was just me

[55palfers]

A small electric mixer is less than £200

Buy one and use it. Then sell it for £100.

[OutInTheShed]

You can get things like an overgrown food mixer for under £100.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134784336928

If you're building a wall, you don't need big quantities of mud at one go.

Otherwise, buy used, or borrow, or go halves on one?

[A500leroy]

Electric drill with a paddle on like the plasters use

[Fore Left]

OutInTheShed said:

You can get things like an overgrown food mixer for under £100.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134784336928

If you're building a wall, you don't need big quantities of mud at one go.

Otherwise, buy used, or borrow, or go halves on one?

This is the way to do it. Use a plasterers bucket, you'll crack you pot. You can easily do a bag of sand in one go. Ideally need an assistant to hang on to the tub. Put some water in first to stop the sand clumping at the bottom.

https://www.toolstation.com/heavy-duty-plasterers-...

A500leroy said:

Electric drill with a paddle on like the plasters use

Not powerful enough. I'll burn out the drill in minutes.

[dontlookdown]

I remember that Viz 'ad'. Genius, but they forgot to put a seat tube and seat on their modified bike frame;)

I admire your spirit, but unless you want your side project to take 5x longer than building the wall itself, just buy or hire a mixer.

IME hiring can be quite good because if you only have the thing for eg 3 days, it gives you a deadline. Otherwise these kind of jobs can end up spreading themselves over weeks or months because of other distractions

Also, don't hack up that dolly tub, it's worth money to someone if you don't want it.

[Cats_pyjamas]

I bought a cheap 140l mixer at the start of the year for a patio project. £180 posted.

All the cheap ones are the same...just with different stickers and pricing. Just buy one and re sell on completion.

[119]

I bought a used mixer a few years ago and it was like new.

[mickk]

Cats_pyjamas said:

I bought a cheap 140l mixer at the start of the year for a patio project. £180 posted.

All the cheap ones are the same...just with different stickers and pricing. Just buy one and re sell on completion.

Good idea, I bought a new one 10 years ago and used it for 3 days, been stuck in the garage ever since waiting for my next project

[soad]

loughran said:

The dolly tub looks unusual, worth £150 on ebay... would that help towards a cement mixer ?

Can’t imagine they’re easy to sell, for a decent price.

[loughran]

soad said:

loughran said:

The dolly tub looks unusual, worth £150 on ebay... would that help towards a cement mixer ?

Can’t imagine they’re easy to sell, for a decent price.

There's a roaring trade to be done with old tat a generously proportioned, fluted Victorian garden planter like this, you've just got to choose your market.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgysRim_zT4

[boyse7en]

Why not just buy a secondhand mixer ?

Seem to go for about £100 on Facebook Marketplace, and you'd get your money back after the project is finished

[98elise]

snotrag said:

Buy another second hand mixer for £75.

In fact I've got one you could buy for£75!


(seriously, I always do this - Wackers, mixers, Rotovators - buy one, use it, sell it on for the same as you paid. I've got a mixer and a wacker currently. Free tools!)

This. I bought a grass scarifier at the beginning of summer for £35. Once my grass is in better shape I'll sell it for the same (if not more) money.

[Peanut Gallery]

If you are going to go the route of mixing up smaller batches in a bucket, go through the "Tools I should have bought earlier" thread and buy a small shovel, they used one of those when mixing up a few builders buckets of cement when I had some work done, made the job much easier, far easier to control than SWMBO's garden spade, and gets far more turned over than SWMBO's garden trowel.