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whateg01

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Messages
11,183
Location
doo dah, kansas, usa
How much are you mixing to justify one? They look neat but at over $3k, it feels like a stretch.

It also doesn't look like a machine that justifies that price tag. I wonder if there is something I am missing or if they charge that just because they can
This is the same place where people buy a 2 post lift to change the oil in their car twice a year.
 

LopezBart

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 13, 2023
Messages
2,514
Location
Lopez Island, WA
I dont fault anyone for buying a nice and expensive tool. I certainly have my share of them
But if I was going to spend that much, I'd buy something I'd use more often. Sure, if you're restoring/customizing cars or trucks, great. But I'd buy a nice TIG machine or blast cabinet first.
 

velocipede

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Oct 22, 2013
Messages
517
Location
Yorktown, Virginia
Rent a mud mixer. Pick up on Friday and return Monday before noon, cost me $90. Did 60 @80lb bags in three hours, including hauling the bags 100' from the driveway to the build site in a gorilla cart. The only problem I had was inadequate electrical power. My jennie wouldn't start and I had to buy a 10gauge 100' extension chord to get the machine running...14gauge chord wouldn't cut it.
 
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mike93lx

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Dec 9, 2013
Messages
37,333
Location
Richmond, VA
:( This is why I try to avoid lifting 80lb bags - too heavy. Next time I need to do some concrete (likely new pumphouse on parent's estate) I'll drag the bags out of my truck and slide them onto the loader bucket. As I've gotten older, I'm a bit less cavalier about straining things.
80's are too heavy for me. I recently did a block project and stuck with 60's because of that. Even those are rough to deal with in quantity
 

eviltwin

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 1, 2019
Messages
91
Location
Norcal
I have a lot of projects to help justify buying one. I’ve used it for 4 days so $400 in rentals. But that’s just me. I suggest renting one and using 60lb bags
 

drivesitfar

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Messages
35,988
Location
Pacific Northwest
I know i'm not in the majority here, but at 69 I stopped buying 80 pound bags and hand mixing them in my wheelbarrow a couple years ago cause 60's are so much easier to transport, carry and mix. some might say my little 1/3 acre will be here still when the world ends, but it's mine and I like it just fine that way.

for sidewalks i've used 1x6 trex (pvc type decking product) that works great cause I can leave them in place if I don't need the concrete steel stakes or I can use them to make bends.

one benefit to me doing all my concrete work and landscaping is that I haven't paid for a gym membership in over 20+ years.

If I had an extra $3000 and the space to store it and i had a lot of concrete to pour I might buy my concrete in raw state (piles of the ingredients like gravel and sand and bags of Portland concrete) and buy that spendy mixer. BUT my arms and grip wouldn't be nearly as strong and my bride does like my grip and arms.

I did this 8 inch wide concrete edging around my smallish front yard about 3 years ago and I think it was 2 days and 35 60 pounders for one side and 30 for the other.

the sidewalk up the middle of our front yard was built in mid 1990's so my daughter born with spina bifida could roll from her car to our front door without going in the grass. it was about 80 80 pound bags for the 2 pours in the middle that is about 3 foot wide. my bride also was my finisher until she was 60 years old and she retired for a few years, but when I added a few steps to her garden areas she put on her work clothes and helped me again the last couple summers. IMG_8485.jpegIMG_8486.jpegIMG_8486.jpeg
 
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