How to make a trough for mixing concrete with your own hands?

Achieving excellent results with a do-it-yourself concrete project requires careful mixing of the concrete. The easiest way to accomplish this is to construct your own concrete mixing trough. Concrete that is strong and long-lasting needs a thorough mix, which is ensured by using a trough to keep everything contained. Fortunately, creating a mixing trough at home is a simple task that doesn’t call for a lot of specialized equipment.

Making your own mixing trough can be a rewarding and affordable project. Whether you’re working on a small-scale DIY project or a larger construction project, mixing and pouring concrete can be much simpler with a specially designed trough. You also get the satisfaction of creating a practical tool from start.

We’ll take you step-by-step through the construction of a concrete mixing trough in this tutorial. We’ll go over everything, from selecting the best materials to providing step-by-step building advice, to make sure you have a sturdy and useful trough. Now grab a rag and let’s get started on making a useful tool that will come in handy for your next concrete project.

Constructing a DIY concrete mixing trough is an easy project that can help you save money and customize the equipment to meet your needs. Build an effective and long-lasting mixing area with a basic trough made of materials that will help guarantee that your concrete reaches the proper consistency and blends uniformly. You can mix concrete with confidence and ease by following this guide, which will take you step-by-step through the process of building a useful, DIY trough, from choosing the appropriate materials to assembling the components.

Design features and purpose

A concrete container is a unique construction container with a trough shape used to mix ingredients for concrete. It is also feasible to deliver the ready-made concrete mixture to the mason’s job site if lifting equipment is available.

Due to the small overall dimensions of the design, concrete can be prepared in the necessary quantities. Depending on the requirements for the concrete composition, the dimensions may vary. Fundamental measurements are:

length 1-1.8 m;
width 0.5-0.8 m;
height 0.2-0.3 m.

When using all of the mortar from the concrete mixer and needing multiple buckets of concrete to finish the job, using a trough for mixing is especially important.

For a variety of tasks, a bucket or concrete container is utilized. It is employed for:

Sealing joints in the foundation of a building.
Plastering.
Masonry.
Small repairs.
Construction of utility rooms with small dimensions.
Installation of enclosing structures.

Small amounts of concrete can be manually mixed with a shovel, trough, water, gravel, and dry cement mixture.

Concrete preparation products are long-lasting as long as the inner surface is cleared of any remaining cement mortar, which needs to be eliminated prior to hardening. The volume and form could change. The height of the sides should be considered when designing the trough because their small size facilitates concrete mixing.

The concrete composition can be mixed using a cast iron or unnecessary steel bathtub. However, what should you do if you don’t have one on hand? One can create a trough on their own.

Manufacturing

The preparation of the solution is a labor-intensive building process. For this reason, the mixing trough needs to be incredibly sturdy and user-friendly.

With a small capacity, you can use an ordinary shovel as a tool to mix a limited amount of the composition evenly. A concrete mixer is needed for solutions larger than one cubic meter, so that the finished product can be poured into the trough from it.

Let’s look at one potential design approach. The following supplies are required for manufacturing:

sheet metal. It is advisable to use sheet steel measuring 1000×2000 mm, at least 1 mm thick, with a zinc coating. The dimensions of the steel sheet may vary. The main thing is that the volume of the container corresponds to the tasks;

We construct a sheet metal container to hold the solution.

softwood in the form of boards with a thickness of 30 to 50 millimeters. Prepare one board about 6 meters long, which will allow you to make a trough with dimensions of 1×2 m;
nails for making a wooden frame or self-tapping screws for fixing a steel sheet to the boards.

The following steps should be followed when creating a concrete trough by hand:

Cut a solid six-meter board into 4 blanks: two pieces 2 meters long and two 1 meter long.
Round off the edges of the two-meter blanks by radius, sawing off the corner fragments.
Nail galvanized steel sheet to the straight parts of the prepared planks using nails.
Bend the edges of the sheet at the level of the radius part and, using self-tapping screws, fix the meter-long boards.
Additionally fix the structural elements with self-tapping screws, which will increase the service life and ensure tightness.

A concrete container of this kind is easy to transport because of its lightweight and compact design. Cleaning and extracting the completed solution are made easier by the radius shape of the sheet at the ends. After the first mixing, when the cement mortar seals tiny cracks, the structure becomes tight. Water cannot escape the concrete mass once it has hardened.

Because concrete mortar is used to seal the cracks after the initial mixing, the trough will nearly completely hermetically seal after that.

Using readily available building materials is possible with this straightforward design option. A trough like this is a complete concrete preparation tool.

A container made from a barrel

You can construct a steel version of the tank entirely out of metal if the thought-out design option consisting of boards and a steel sheet doesn’t seem sturdy enough for mixing. The container’s semicircular shape and 200-liter capacity are its design elements. At the base of the container is a metal barrel that holds fuel and lubricants.

Look for a barrel that is at least 1.5 millimeters thick, and make sure the metal is thick enough. Even with heavy use, the service life of the tank can be increased by using a barrel with thick walls. Even for a single season, a thin-walled tin barrel cannot be utilized to its full potential.

There’s a different way. If purchasing a thick-walled barrel proves to be difficult, you can create your own trough by bending sheet metal to the necessary radius.

Even with daily use, such a tub will last you many years.

The following supplies are required for manufacturing:

a pipe with a diameter of 1/2 to 3/4 inches. Two pieces of this pipe will be needed to make horizontal jumpers located on the end part of the sections of the container, made from a barrel;
steel reinforcement for four supports with a diameter of more than 16 millimeters, the length of which is 0.4-0.5 m. You can use 4 corners with shelves 3.5 cm wide for the legs;
4 pieces of reinforcement rods 0.4-0.6 m long, 10 mm in diameter for making spacers that fix the supports;
thick steel heels of any shape for making supports for the posts, making it difficult to immerse the container in the ground together with the concrete;
thick-walled steel barrel with a capacity of 200 liters.

Create a trough out of a steel barrel by following this work-stage sequence:

Inspect the barrel and cut it lengthwise so that the weld is 5-10 cm from the edge of the cut, and the filler neck does not fall into the cut. This will prevent getting on the overlapping layer of metal and reduce the labor intensity of the work.
Cut off the strip of steel located as the second layer.
Remove irregularities and sand the surface using a grinder or grinder.
Weld along the ends of the cut part of the pipe measuring 1/2 or 3/4 inches, ensuring their location on the outside of the trough.
Attach, using welding, the support legs, spacers, and heel pads.
Remove burrs and grind the welds.

These are the easy steps to build a concrete mixing container. A barrel-made trough’s volume makes it easy to prepare enough material for roughly five standard buckets. Concrete mortar can be easily removed from a semicircular trough. It is possible to create two tanks that are functional for construction work out of a single 200-liter barrel.

Step	Description
1. Gather Materials	Find a large, sturdy board, nails, a hammer, and wooden planks.
2. Build the Frame	Construct a rectangular frame with the wooden planks, ensuring it"s stable and secure.
3. Attach the Base	Nail the large board to the bottom of the frame to form the base of the trough.
4. Reinforce the Corners	Add extra nails to the corners to make sure the trough holds its shape.
5. Check for Stability	Ensure the trough is level and sturdy before use.
6. Use the Trough	Pour in your concrete mix and water, then start mixing.

Constructing a DIY concrete mixing trough can be a satisfying endeavor. You can build a useful tool that will streamline and expedite your concrete projects by following a few simple steps. A bespoke trough can help you save time and money on projects of all sizes, from minor home renovations to major construction projects.

Making a trough requires careful material selection, cutting, and assembly, as well as making sure everything is securely fastened. Using simple tools and a little perseverance, you can build a sturdy and useful mixing trough that meets your unique requirements. For optimal results, just keep your connections tight and your measurements precise.

It is crucial to test your trough after it is finished to ensure that it lives up to your expectations. You can make sure it works well and check for any adjustments by mixing a small batch of concrete in it. If you discover any problems, a small adjustment can frequently fix small issues and enhance your trough’s general functionality.

In general, building a homemade mixing trough is a useful and fulfilling project. It not only improves your concrete mixing procedure but also gives your construction toolkit a unique touch. So gather your supplies, adhere to the instructions, and relish the process of making a tool that will be both practical and distinctively yours.