Cement Mixer uses for the home?

[gtaus]

I have been considering getting a cement mixer for use around the house. I have watched a number of YouTube videos where people are using cement mixers, attaching a wire barrel, and sifting out compost for the garden. That looks like a better option to me than my current setup of shoveling the compost on a flat sieve and shaking out the compost for the garden.

I have read a number of posts of people using a cement mixer to mix feed for their chickens, which sounds like an interesting use of a cement mixer, but I don't really mix any feed for the chickens at present. If anyone does this, let me know.

Of course, I could also use the cement mixer to mix concrete. I might be making another shed this summer and have not yet decided if I want a dirt floor, or a concrete floor.

Anyway, I'm still trying to decide if I can get enough use out of a cement mixer at home to make the investment. If anyone has some thoughts on this issue, please post your ideas. Thanks.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We have one. We use it every few years to mix concrete. I don't understand how you can sift compost with one.

 

[Waylonsmommy11]

I thought you meant I big truck. I was like why would you want that big ole thing to sit in your yard for compost then I saw the picture and realized how stupid I was

 

[gtaus]

We have one. We use it every few years to mix concrete. I don't understand how you can sift compost with one.

There are a number of YouTube videos showing how to add a sifting funnel on to the front of the barrel.

 

[gtaus]

I thought you meant I big truck. I was like why would you want that big ole thing to sit in your yard for compost then I saw the picture and realized how stupid I was

I only have to look in the mirror to realize how stupid I am! Or, just wait for Dear Wife to remind me of same.....

Anyway, came across another use for these cement mixers and that is to mix up your potting soil or raised bed mix. Probably not needed for that, but if I had a cement mixer, that would be something else I could use it for.

As you can tell, I am not to the point where I can justify buying a cement mixer for mixing cement maybe once every 5 years. Needs to be useful in other ways before I invest.

 

[gtaus]

Life is short and I'm getting older. So I bought myself a cement mixer last week when they went on sale at our local Fleet store. Had to buy a new one as nobody around here has posted any used cement mixers for sale on Craig's list, etc....

I bought the exact same mixer as in the picture in the initial post. Then I built a compost sifter attachment using half of a plastic barrel and some 1 X 1/2 wire. Then I added some 1/4 inch hardware cloth on the outside of the barrel to make a finer sifted compost. I also have some 1/2 inch hardware cloth if I want to sift larger compost.

I got everything set up today and tried sifting some wood chip compost this afternoon. In just 20 minutes, I had already filled my 6 cubic foot cart full of fine compost and filled my other cart with the larger wood chips that need to be sent back to the compost pile. Actually, I plan on throwing those larger wood chips into the chicken run instead of back on my wood chip pile.

It would have taken me literally hours to sift that much compost in my manual wooden compost frame and I would have been dead tired after that project. So, from that perspective, this cement mixer converted to compost sifter has been worth it. Locally, compost sells for about $5.00 per 1 cubic foot bag. Often times, the big box store compost has to be sifted anyway because there is just too much garbage found in the mix. In just 20 minutes, I made about $30 of compost of a much higher quality than I can buy. At this rate, I expect my investment in this project to have paid for itself sometime later this fall when I compost the deep litter in the chicken run.

Posted this update in case anyone in the future has a similar notion with making a compost sifter from a cement mixer. IMHO, this project was well worth the cost.

 

[gtaus]

UPDATE: 9/22/2020 I have now used my compost sifter/cement mixer 4 times and have already sifted 36 cubic feet (36 bags) of high quality compost. Essentially, this project has now paid for itself. Everything sifted from here on I would have to consider a bonus. Best is yet to come as I have not yet started sifting the compost litter in the chicken run - which looks like black gold sitting there waiting to be mined.

I was hesitant into putting almost $200 into this project, but as it turns out, the machine paid for itself in less than 4 weeks. Very few of my projects have broken even in that small amount of time. So I am thinking, convincing myself, that I really was smart on this investment.

If anyone else is considering such a compost sifter/cement mixer, almost all my cost was in buying the new cement mixer. I looked for a used cement mixer for almost a year, but none was to be found were I live. So I ended up buying a new mixer on sale. An old mixer would have worked just as well for this project.