FEL mounted hydraulic cement mixer project

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jimbo913

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Apr 22, 2011
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The volume of the 24" cylinder is 1/2 yard and a half yard of sand/gravel is around 1500lbs. So in theory I should be able to process 1/2 yard batches.
The most I have lifted with this tractor was 1 ton of wood pellets (not counting weight of forks and pallet). Pretty sure this bucket is not more than 500lbs, so I should be able to lift it with up to 1/2 yard in it. It should make concrete fast enough that I dont have to overload it. I would be happy with making 1/3 yard batches.
 
Grouse Feathers

Grouse Feathers

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An internet search for concrete weight, says 4000# per yard so you may want to start at 1/3 yard.
 
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jimbo913

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I was just looking at the gravel/sand and didnt consider the portland and water, or that the numbers do not add up. It takes roughly 8 cubic ft sand, 20 cu ft gravel and 5 bags portland to make 1 cu yard (27 cubic ft) of concrete. The sand, water and portland fill in voids around the stone so even though 33 cubic feet of materials go in the mix, it makes only 27 cubic feet when mixed.

So yes, I will be mixing less than 1/2 yard.
 
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jimbo913

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On a side note, I was going to mount a Kushlan 600 on the fromt of a quick attach plate until I decided I didnt want to hand load the aggregate. The Kushlan specs state it is 6 cu ft, but can only process 300lb of mix (2 cu ft).
I should be able to process up to 5x what the Kushlan can.
 
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jimbo913

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Trimmed back the bottom edge, so it doesn't dig in when scooping. I would trim the back edge, but I want it to sit upright when detached.
 

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Southernfarm

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Been watching this post and would love to have one myself. Great job. +1 for seeing it in action.

This got me thinking, why not a PTO driven, 3pt Hitch mounted one? It wouldn't lift as high, for sure, but for slabs and post holes, would be fine. This is pretty much a tiller upside down. A 2000 rpm tiller, mounted on a 540 rpm tractor, would turn the blades at about 50-75 RPM. That should be good for cement. There would be no reverse though, just paddle mix and dump or open a chute at the side (with paddles pushing everything to one side).
 
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jimbo913

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50-75 rpm is fast for a mixer. Mine is geared to run 15 rpm at idle and 23 rpm at 1500 rpm. I will run it at about 20 rpm.

The sprocket and hubs arrived but somehow I lost the idler I already purchased so I need to buy a new one before I can find the one I already bought : (

I think it will be fine for now without an idler so after I weld the main sprocket hub and the motor mount, I will give it a test run with #57 stone to check the line pressure, etc. Everything runs true the way I have it tacked in place.

I will try to post a video somewhere once completed. Sorry the photos are sideways, I do everything via mobile device..
 

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jimbo913

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Well, I got it welded up and scooped up concrete sand and #8 stone. #57 is too big as max size for that can be 1" and I only have 1" gap between the bucket and paddles. It mixes fast and well but I did add about 2-3 gallon water as wet stone mixes easier. If I hold it in one direction too long it pushes the mix to one side where it crowds and force to turn increases as does line pressure. Max pressure I noticed was 1000psi. I found that the best practice is to run the mixer 20-30 seconds one direction until it crowds and then reverse and run it the other direction. This also mixes it 100% as pushing across the bucket dislodges any mix below the paddles that would sit between the gaps.

I will continue to test and will consider modification. I might cut some 2" holes in the paddles to reduce the load so I can try mixing a larger batch because I dont think it would pull a bunch more unless I go with a round aggregate. Any type of crushed limestone packs easier and is tougher to mix than a round aggregate.

I need to get some portland to start putting down some concrete but my truck brake lines burst so that project will need to be addressed first. I attached a photo of the mix. I only ran it about 1 minute total and it was at 2000 rpm which will put my speed close to 27-28 rpm. That seems like a really good speed.

I do think that if I added more water and portland, I could add in more sand and stone once it became a slurry because it is harder to pull through the current "dry" mix than it would be to pull through wet concrete mix. Overall I am very satisfied. I still need to add an idler sprocket and shield but it is functional without for now.
 

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jimbo913

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Not exactly sure how to post larger photos. I know the photos are fairly large when I take them but I guess it resizes when I upload? I dont have regular internet or a computer so I am limited to what I can do on my cellular device.

I do have a video but need to figure out how to upload that somewhere and/or start a youtube acct.
 
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jimbo913

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A few other points I didn't mention yet. I used a #50 chain, and I only put a small 1" weld on the main hub to the rotary shaft. This is a safety in the event that I would encounter a jam as I am not sure what force it takes to reach the 1500psi pressure relief setting. As I mentioned, I have only noticed 1000psi max at near stall from crowding to one side and typically it only runs about 500psi when running and not crowding on one side. Once I learned the forward reverse trick, I am not seeing or hearing the signs of high load.

On another note, if I load too much stone, I found that I can tip the bucket and run the paddles to push some out slowly. This is much more accurate than trying to tip the bucket and have too much fall out. You could also do the same trick when you dump the completed mix to pour more slowly but I have not made up a complete mix just yet.
 
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JohnnyFbomb

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jimbo913 said:
Not exactly sure how to post larger photos. I know the photos are fairly large when I take them but I guess it resizes when I upload? I dont have regular internet or a computer so I am limited to what I can do on my cellular device.

I do have a video but need to figure out how to upload that somewhere and/or start a youtube acct.
Click to expand...
Upload to photobucket, pics or video and paste the link into your post.

www.photobucket.com
 
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jimbo913

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I picked up just enough portland to mix up enough concrete to cover a 5'x18'x4" thick slab. I started at 2:30 and finished around 4:45.
I have done this several times with a normal homeowner size rotary mixer and it takes at least 6 hours and I would be worn out. I don't have a sore back or arms and feel good!
 
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JohnnyFbomb

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jimbo913 said:
I picked up just enough portland to mix up enough concrete to cover a 5'x18'x4" thick slab. I started at 2:30 and finished around 4:45.
I have done this several times with a normal homeowner size rotary mixer and it takes at least 6 hours and I would be worn out. I don't have a sore back or arms and feel good!
Click to expand...
Awesome! Do you mix, place and float all yourself?
 
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jimbo913

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Yes, mix, place and float by myself. I did have help from my 15 year old daughter this first time to help me judge how much I was scooping so that did save me some time from jumping in/out of cab.
I didn't end up with more than a few specks of concrete on the tractor loader arms which I made sure was washed off well. I also kept it hosed down during the process.

I ended up mixing 4 batches total. One time I put sand in first and it strained a little and it look some time working the motor back and fourth and chaning bucket angle to get that load mixed up because the sand really clung to the bucket. I know it would require less power if I had small round aggregate because the crushed stone wants to pack up. That said, it works, I just have to keep and eye on it and not overload it or put in large stones that could get between the paddle and bucket.

The process was: scoop 1/3 gravel, scoop 1/3 sand, add 1 bag portland, add water and mix until correct, scoop 1/3 gravel and mix. If too dry add more water mix and dump. We used the bottom of the shaft as a guide for batch size and it worked out well. 4 batches total means that we were making just over 1/4 yard (7.5 cu ft) batches.
 
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Diydave

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jimbo913 said:
Yes, mix, place and float by myself. I did have help from my 15 year old daughter this first time to help me judge how much I was scooping so that did save me some time from jumping in/out of cab.
I didn't end up with more than a few specks of concrete on the tractor loader arms which I made sure was washed off well. I also kept it hosed down during the process.

I ended up mixing 4 batches total. One time I put sand in first and it strained a little and it look some time working the motor back and fourth and chaning bucket angle to get that load mixed up because the sand really clung to the bucket. I know it would require less power if I had small round aggregate because the crushed stone wants to pack up. That said, it works, I just have to keep and eye on it and not overload it or put in large stones that could get between the paddle and bucket.

The process was: scoop 1/3 gravel, scoop 1/3 sand, add 1 bag portland, add water and mix until correct, scoop 1/3 gravel and mix. If too dry add more water mix and dump. We used the bottom of the shaft as a guide for batch size and it worked out well. 4 batches total means that we were making just over 1/4 yard (7.5 cu ft) batches.
Click to expand...
Jimbo, where are you located in the prople's republic of MD? wouldn't mind getting a look at your version of this, Thinking of building one, for my ASV rc30...:D:D
 
J

jimbo913

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Apr 22, 2011
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About 1hr 15min from you. I am going to download mobile photo bucket and try to share some videos and larger pics. That might be enough to help you. I can also take specific pics if you PM me.

It works well, but I am putting some thought into it to determine if I can do anything to improve the paddles. If I trimmed back the ends by cutting off the U bolt ends, I could attach thick rubber which would not only wipe the bucket but it would give if a larger rock went through.. I don't have rubber like I would need so I will consider that if I come accross some that is stiff enough. I could also purchase a rounder aggregate which I think is readily available as that might make a huge improvement but I heard round stone does not make as hard a finished mix.

I have more concrete to do but I am about done for a couple months as I am taking vacation soon, and I need to disconnect the bucket to do some mowing and other chores.
 
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