How to make a concrete mixer with your own hands

Constructing your own concrete mixer can be a financially beneficial and highly satisfying project that gives you a strong sense of achievement. Building a concrete mixer from scratch is a useful project that anybody can complete with the correct instructions and supplies, regardless of whether they’re a do-it-yourself enthusiast or just someone who enjoys taking on new challenges.

Any size construction project can benefit greatly from having a concrete mixer on hand. It can take a lot of time and effort to mix concrete by hand for projects like building garden pathways or laying foundations. In addition to expediting the process, a homemade mixer guarantees a more uniform mixture, which results in concrete that is stronger and more resilient.

We’ll take you step-by-step through the process of creating your own concrete mixer in this article. Everything will be taken care of, from obtaining the required supplies to putting your new equipment together and testing it. With a little work and clear instructions, you can have a working concrete mixer in time for your next project.

So prepare to get your hands dirty and dive into this practical project. Building a concrete mixer is a doable project that can simplify and expedite your construction tasks, regardless of your level of experience. Now let’s get going!

Step	Description
1. Gather Materials	Collect an old drum, a motor, a metal frame, some screws, and a few basic tools.
2. Prepare the Drum	Clean the drum thoroughly and cut an opening for adding materials.
3. Build the Frame	Construct a sturdy frame to hold the drum in place, ensuring it can support the drum"s weight and movement.
4. Attach the Motor	Secure the motor to the frame and connect it to the drum to allow it to rotate.
5. Test the Mixer	Run the motor to ensure the drum rotates smoothly and efficiently.

Constructing a concrete mixer at home can be an economical and fulfilling endeavor, providing you with a flexible instrument for a range of construction requirements. This tutorial will take you step-by-step through the procedure using easily accessible supplies and simple tools. You’ll discover how to put together a sturdy and effective mixer that will simplify and expedite your concrete projects, whether you’re a professional trying to cut costs or a do-it-yourself enthusiast.

Basic principles of operation of mortar mixers

A self-made concrete mixer functions in the same way as its industrial counterparts, with the materials and sizes being the only variations. Additionally, since you are familiar with the intricacies of the self-made mechanism, fixing a concrete mixer by hand will be simpler.

Depending on the amount of work that needs to be done and the parts that are available, the completed device can mix concrete in a concrete mixer using forced, gravitational, or a combination of methods. The latter is most frequently utilized because of how easy it is to manufacture and how well it functions.

Forced mixing of the solution

This is how a construction mixer or drill with a special attachment works: a whisk is lowered into the solution and rotates to mix the ingredients. However, these tools work better with gypsum plasters because the weight of the sand and cement—especially when crushed stone is added—is much higher. In the best scenario, you won’t get a high-quality mixture, and in the worst scenario, you risk burning out the drill motor or gearbox while creating the solution.

Concrete is prepared using a slightly altered design: a shaft that runs through the middle of the container and is equipped with blades to mix the mixture’s ingredients is used. Another effective tool for breaking up mortar lumps and achieving a homogenous mixture is the frame mixer. Certain builders are convinced that preparing arbolite solution qualitatively can only be accomplished with a mixer like this.

Advantages and disadvantages

Although this method produces excellent results in production, you should consider the advantages and disadvantages of the design before implementing it at home.

There is just one benefit: in the shortest amount of time, this type of concrete mixer will yield the most uniform solution.

There are numerous additional drawbacks to this kind of device:

• Complexity of design. It is necessary to ensure the tightness of the place where the shaft passes through the mixing container. This determines how often the bearing, which is usually installed in this place, will need to be replaced. It is also necessary to reduce the "dead zones" that are near the walls of the container – the blades or frame must rotate freely, but at the same time pass close enough to the surface so as not to leave unmixed parts of the solution there.
• High-quality parts are needed. The concrete solution is quite heavy in itself, and adding crushed stone or other inclusions to it requires additional capacity from the concrete mixer. As a result, to get a good concrete mixer, you need to remember or master the basics of strength of materials.
• The design is not designed to prepare a solution including medium and large fractions of crushed stone or expanded clay – they will simply get stuck between the blades and the walls.
• High power consumption. Again, everything is tied to the density and weight of the concrete in which the blades will rotate. For the same reason, a homemade forced-action concrete mixer must have an engine – if you try to rotate the shaft manually, then you can use shovels with the same success.

The following schemes can be used to make a forced concrete mixer with your hands if the quality of the solution and the speed of its mixing are more important.

Parts and device

The elements that make up the design are as follows:

• Bearing frame. Its design is individual in each case.
• Drum for mixing, with smooth inner walls.
• Working shaft. Frames or blades that mix the solution are attached to it.
• Electric motor.
• Reduction gear.
• Coupling. Transmits force from the gearbox to the shaft. Can act as a safety device in case of jamming.
• Hatch for pouring out the finished solution.
• Lever for opening the hatch (or turning the drum).

Coerced behavior When assembling concrete mixers by hand, you need to pay close attention to how the prepared solution will be unloaded. This is a mechanism for fully turning the mixing container over so that the finished mixture escapes through the loading compartment, or it is a hatch in the bottom of the container. It is best to choose the most appropriate approach in advance.

On camera forced concrete mixer:

Combined concrete mixers

The most popular devices involve breaking lumps with blades or pins welded to the barrel body, as well as mixing the solution because of gravity. Perfect for assembling arbolite by hand. Compared to forced mixers, they take longer to prepare the solution, but they have a long list of benefits:

• The design is extremely simple, reliable and unpretentious in operation.
• Less force is created on the shaft rotating the barrel, which allows you to use less powerful electric motors than for forced mixing. As a result – significantly less wear of components.
• No need to seal any joints – the solution is mixed inside the barrel, and all the nodes of the mechanism are outside.
• It is possible to mix solutions with any size fractions of crushed stone, expanded clay and other fillers.

The same manual concrete mixer, but with combs or blades welded inside, is the most basic combination manual mixer that can be constructed by hand from an iron barrel. It can be connected to an electric motor if needed.

Self-made

Three main parts make up a factory-made or homemade concrete mixer: a bucket for mixing the solution, a frame for mounting the parts, and a drive, which can be either electric or manual (motors from a moped or scooter are used in some situations).

In the video, a T-16 tractor is equipped with a homemade bucket for combined solution mixing:

Bucket for the solution

Its size is the first thing to consider, as it will be loaded to a maximum of thirty to forty percent. There’s no more because the solution will mix poorly and splash out.

Second, the shape is important to note; it should be pear-shaped. In order to prevent water and solution from splashing out, at the top, and to prevent concrete particles from becoming stuck in the corners where the bottom meets the wall.

An almost completed bucket is the correct size plastic barrel; its weight will be an added bonus in addition to it fitting the shape.

An alternative is to turn an old Soviet round "washing machine" that may be laying around in the attic into a concrete mixer by removing the laundry tank, which is made specifically so that liquid can spin inside of it. The tank is prepared, the top is narrowed, and the bottom is strengthened.

If nothing works, a steel sheet with a cross-section of 2-3 mm can be used to make the concrete mixer bulb. You should use a thicker metal (5 mm) for the bottom since it will support the majority of the drive’s weight.

You get a small bucket that measures 400 mm in height and 500 mm in diameter, but it can hold 30 liters of solution at a time.

You can learn more about the design by looking at the drawings below:

Blades are not necessary when creating a high-quality concrete mixer bulb. In lieu of them, mortar dividers consisting of 16 mm reinforcing rod are welded inside the tank in the diagram, further strengthening the structure. For arbolite, this kind of design is a great mixer.

A car wheel that is welded or screwed to the bottom is attached to the shaft through the hub. The fasteners will need to be manually made in accordance with the drawing if there are no spare auto parts in the garage.

Load-bearing frame

Its design is completely customizable; however, the primary guidelines for construction are that it must safely contain all of the parts and allow unrestricted access for concrete loading and unloading.

The primary distinctions in engineering theory are found in the way the completed solution is poured, which requires that the bucket be movable, or in how the frame is constructed as a whole.

A frame that guarantees the tilt of a sheet steel bucket will be ideal. Through the coupling (16), the engine (17) provides the force to the gearbox drive (15), which is connected to the container itself.

Everything about this revolves on the hinge (14), which is fastened to the subframe (18). The working tilt of the bucket can be altered for various types of solutions. To do this, an eye (22) is welded to the subframe through which a sector (10) passes and is secured in place by a pin (23).

There must be a minimum of three fundamental sector provisions:

50% slope applies to bulky solutions.

30% slope is appropriate for light mixtures, like plaster.

To clean the container, place it horizontally.

Electric motor and gearbox

Using what is on hand is the easiest way to avoid having to purchase these parts individually. The electrical circuit for the electric motor comes from a washing machine, and gearboxes are put together using belt or chain drives, bicycle wheels, and other components. The flywheel that is welded to the bottom and rotates from the "native" Benedix of an automobile starter that is fixed on a shaft is the most similar to the original design.

The following factors are taken into account for all calculations:

• The engine power is selected based on the ratio of 20 watts per liter of solution.
• The number of revolutions that the gearbox produces for the bucket should be within 30-50 per minute. A smaller amount will increase the mixing time, and a larger amount will splash the solution or even cause centrifugal forces, due to which mixing will not occur.

For many do-it-yourselfers, building a concrete mixer is not only a satisfying project but also an affordable one. You can construct a dependable mixer that will save you time and money on upcoming construction projects by adhering to a simple plan. A homemade concrete mixer guarantees that you have the appropriate tool for the job, whether you’re working on a big foundation or a tiny patio.

The secret to success is to start with a clear design and gather all required materials. An old drum, steel bars, and a small motor are all you’ll need to assemble a mixer that can compete with brands. Even people with only rudimentary mechanical knowledge can complete the process because it only requires basic drilling, welding, and bolting skills.

Prioritizing safety above all else should guide your mixer construction. Put on safety gear, operate in a place with good ventilation, and verify all connections before using. If you take care of it properly, your DIY mixer can last for many years and mix concrete more quickly and effectively than before.

In the end, creating your own concrete mixer can be entertaining and instructive. You get a useful tool in addition to learning a lot about construction methods and machinery. You can make simple materials into a useful tool that improves your construction projects with a little imagination and work.

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