Hey everyone. I'm getting ready to pour a concrete counter top. My biggest piece is an island that is going to require 4 cubic feet of concrete (8 bags of 60-pound sacked concrete). I am looking for an electric mixer that can handle this capacity. I've found many mixers online but I am not clear as to their actual capacity. Does anyone have any experience with electric mixers that would work for this application? The local big box stores have little ones that will do 1.5 cubic foot batches but I would like to do the mix all in one big batch for consistency.

 

Go to a real rental place..unless you plan on doing this a lot. They kinda get expensive to buy for that quantity.

 

You will need at least an 8cuft mixer, and an electric one will cost you almost three grand to buy. Rent one for the day for a hundred or so.

In lieu of that, that is 4 batches in a 6 cuft wheelbarrow, which you and 2 helpers should be able to mix and place in less than 45 minutes. Place it such that the final batch is the exposed coat (mind the edges), and you won't have to worry about color matching.

 

Thanks for the replies. I checked the biggest rental place here and all they rent is gas powered mortar mixers. They said I can't mix concrete in them.

I may buy a smaller electric mixer and then rent a secondary one for the pour of the island counter top. I have 6 more counter tops to pour after that but they are small enough I could get by with one mixer. This project will be spread out over several weeks which is why I am planning to buy rather than rent.

I've found a couple of mixers. One says 8cu foot drum and one says 6cu foot drum. What I am trying to determine is what the ratio is between drum size and amount of material it can actually mix. The 6cu foot drum size says it has a 500lb capacity and will mix 4 to 5 bags of pre-mix concrete. Whether that is 60 or 80 pound bags is beyond me. Everything seems purposely vague in the product specs.

 

It depends upon the design, but generally about half to 3/4 of the stated barrel capacity. You should not mix concrete in a mortar mixer.