Fast mixing - dry mix

[fred]

This popped up on my youtube feed, what a simple idea. I use the digger quite often to make 1 ton (jumbo bag) mixes for post holes, haunching etc using couple cheap osb boards on ground but take it to a box to keep it contained when wet and still be able to mix it with he digger is a great time and labour saver. Can also move it around with the forks to where its needed.

Does anyone do similar for knocking up batches of dry/wet without a mixer to speed up the job ?

 

[V8Druid]

small skip'd be a pretty decent sub.

 

[Smiffy]

Isn't that what the dumper is for ??

 

[T whiting]

Yes on the hornsea job we were laying slabs on a screed bed I was knocking up 9 tons at a time it's surprising how quickly you can knock concrete up I did the same on the tank job last week

 

[Furniss]

Nowadays we just go to conc plant for some dry mix but we have a couple of local plants that nicely cover our working area, so I suppose it depends if you have the facility handy enough to the job, but if you have then surely its the best option and cheaper than time and materials to mix your own, not to mention the hassle with bags of cement etc

 

[T whiting]

It's always handy when your working within a couple of miles of a Batching plant to be able to go and get some but when the plants a half hour drive away it's easier to knock some up. I must've mixed 100's of cube with a shovel when I was younger and dafter I wouldn't do that again

 

[Giles]

Isn’t that what Dumper skip is for?
Do like the look though of the gravel bins the Americans use on drainage

 

[Furniss]

It's always handy when your working within a couple of miles of a Batching plant to be able to go and get some but when the plants a half hour drive away it's easier to knock some up. I must've mixed 100's of cube with a shovel when I was younger and dafter I wouldn't do that again

Likewise ... I have a little tracked mixer and for years we used to mix up in that, shoveling it in....as you say you only do that kinda of work for so long though.
TBH 1/2 hr from the plant and I would still have it priced in and go get it.

 

[Brendan]

Looks handy and easy enough to knock one up, although if your on a proper site, would have thought you won't be able to lift it without certification.
I know the point of it, is for the odd 1/4m3 here or there but once you get over 1 or 2m3 it would be cheaper to get it delivered

 

[Jimoz]

Groundworkers were using the dumper on last site I was on. Doing all there sharp sand bedding mixes this way for slabs and kerbs then getting semi dry conc delivered for haunching.
I use a local place for agg sometimes I've seen him using the wheeled loader to mix up dry conc on the floor, few spoons out the ballast pile, bit of cement, mixing it on the floor with the bucket and driving, needless to say on their price list it says something like 'non designated mixes'

 

[Smiffy]

I always thought it was fairly standard to knock up with a machine
It's what my boss tells everyone to do
Even have a designated area in the yard for it to knock up and take to site
The last job I was on laying highway drainage we did 40t in a dumper over 2 weeks
I have made up and taken 30t to site to install a septic tank knocked up with an 18tonner

 

[Giles]

I always thought it was fairly standard to knock up with a machine
It's what my boss tells everyone to do
Even have a designated area in the yard for it to knock up and take to site
The last job I was on laying highway drainage we did 40t in a dumper over 2 weeks
I have made up and taken 30t to site to install a septic tank knocked up with an 18tonner

That’s an awful lot of cement like 150 bags for 14m3 and taking it to site is that cheaper than £80 /m3 delivered

 

[Smiffy]

That’s an awful lot of cement like 150 bags for 14m3 and taking it to site is that cheaper than £80 /m3 delivered

No idea I don't pay the bills just what is always done
But the ballast is bought 60 tonne at a time cement anything up to six pallets at a time so must get it at a good price and there spare lorrys sat around to take to site

 

[Brendan]

That’s an awful lot of cement like 150 bags for 14m3 and taking it to site is that cheaper than £80 /m3 delivered

Concrete your way is cheap!

Would have thought a loss of a few hundred quid for the raw materials plus all the time mixing and transporting it.

For a c25 ish spec concrete you need around 400kg of cement per M3 so that's 224 bags no idea on bulk price of cement but even if you could get them for £3 each would be £672.

Ballast again let's go low price wise and say £20 a ton so that would be Another £672

As long as you could pay under £96 per M3 you would be up, and that's not including fuel, labour etc saving

 

[DaveDCB]

Sounds like a load of messing around if you ask me, anything under a cube I’ll mix up with the mixer, anything more I get it in a drum, always somewhere to use it up on site if I don’t needs 4cube(minimum order) it never goes to waste!!

 

[Jimoz]

I had .5 delivered in the summer and took the hit for a cube. It was about 3pm no way was I getting the mixer out and messing about local volumetric guys got here within 20 mins.

 

[Brendan]

I'm the same my limit is around 1m3 before getting it delivered.
I know it's very expensive for under 3m3 but the saving in labour and time makes it worthwhile.

 

[Smiffy]

Just to be clear I'm talking about mixing dry lean for haunching kerbs sub base and pipe bedding
Obviously proper concrete wouldn't be mixed with a machine on the floor that would make a mess and impossible to get to speck properly for anything structural

 

[Giles]

My concrete lads run both drums and Volis can go into yard and they have an old voli set up to load into trailers etc or loading shovel into wagon for bigger orders of kerb mix etc pretty cheap collected

 

[DaveDCB]

My concrete lads run both drums and Volis can go into yard and they have an old voli set up to load into trailers etc or loading shovel into wagon for bigger orders of kerb mix etc pretty cheap collected

Do they have a yard at macc now as well or is it still at Buxton?