I’ve had an ongoing project which I just finished today, mostly because it has rained 50 out of the last 55 days. Our driveway is 7 ft wide, and not wanting to park a new vehicle on the street, I decided to widen the 28 ft of the driveway closest to the street by two feet. I considered hiring one of those on-site mixer trucks for the 1/2 Cu yd I needed, but with our unpredictable weather, I couldn’t schedule friends for a Saturday because we’d never know what the weather would do. So I dug the necessary trench and placed a 2×4 frame for the 7 sections along the main drive. I set it up so I could pour three alternating sections one at a time, let them harden, and then pop the 2×4 divider pieces so I could pour the next section using the sections on each side as the support. I drilled the divider 2×4’s to so rod could go from one section to another. I ended up doing the first three sections one at a time by mixing sackcrete in one of those plastic tubs. Now THERE is work. 😉 But once those sections had set up and I had the dividers torn out, I rented one of those 1 bag mixers (maybe it was two, but I did a bag at a time) for four hours. Much nicer on the back. I need to do some sidewalk repair in the future, and if more than 6 bags of sackcrete are involved, I’ll be renting the mixer again. But if much more than 20 bags are involved, then the wallet comes out for a delivery, assuming I can get friends to show up and help work it. I searched this topic and was amazed that people considered using a portable mixer for 6 cu yd jobs. OUCH!
Part of this story is ironic, in that my father ran/owned ready-mixed concrete plants and did heavy highway paving from just after WWII to around 1980. I’m sure he looked down and laughed at his son using a shovel and a tub to mix 80 lb bags, considering that his son spent alot of his youth riding around in Macks, Reo’s, and Oshkoshes as they ferried 8-9 yds from the portable plant to the 3 lane tracked paving machine.
Replies
in our area (ma) some places will sell concrete in small amounts (less than a yd belive) you take it away in a trailer of theirs. never used it but know it is availble
bobl Volo Non Voleo Joe's BT Forum cheat sheet