Different Concrete Mixer Options

[AJMD429]

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I learned recently that using 'pressure treated wood' that is 'ground contact rated' is fine - - - for about 30 years... So you build your homestead that way in your 30's when you have plenty of energy, and then in your 60's and 70's, when you're old and tired, you get to re-do everything you built three decades ago...

Now most of my buildings are sitting on mushy soft posts in concrete-lined holes going down three feet to support the weight. The concrete was poured with 12" round cardboard forms, the treated wood embedded, then the exposed wood 'tarred' and the sloped tops of the concrete sealed as well. But the wood is so soft you can push a 16d nail into it with your thumb....

I plan to re-do things somehow - pulling an old post while supporting the barn above that post may be 'interesting' to say the least. Not sure if I'll even be able to pull the original posts/concrete out, so I might have to dig a 2 ft square down to frost-line, chisel out the concrete and cut the post as low as I can, and pour a 'pillar' in a form that goes up above ground, then use some form of weight-bearing fastener to support the top of the post that is salvageable. This is all new to me and I don't think there are any "this always works" way everyone does it. The access to the posts is going to be extremely difficult in the two-story goat barn, and they bear a lot of weight. The range-house is a smaller structure, but the posts are not out at the corners as the design was with cantelevered floors, so that could also prove interesting. The pergola has not had the deck added yet - just the pergola itself, so those are reasonably accessable.

As far as concrete mixers....

I had an electric one (Northern Tool I think) 30 years ago, that was ok but eventually the chain-drive pulley warped and I tried to fix it and failed.

Now I own a 25 horsepower John Deere 2520 with three point hitch and rear PTO, but no 'auxillary' hydraulic hookups (other than the front end loader does have four hose QD fixtures so the front end loader can be detached).

I plan to mix batches of anywhere from ten cubic feet to twenty per project (cutting, pulling, and redoing pole-barn posts would be a typical project). Too small to justify a ready-mix truck, and over a year's span maybe replacing sixteen 6"x6" composite beams INSIDE a two-story goat-barn, twelve 6"x6" composite posts for a pergola we plan to put a deck under soon, and six 6"x6" composite posts on the two-level range-house built on a steep hill.

I'd love the convenience and raw power of hauling the concrete to the job-sites of the first two projects with a tractor and a three-point-hitch mounted mixer using the PTO ($3,500..???), but the tractor couldn't get closer than 50 ft from the range house, so I'd have to haul the mixed concrete with 5 gallon buckets half-full or whatever.

I could also buy a cheap ($500...???) electric mixer, although they are SO awkward to move to the sites,tip easily on the awkward terrain we have at the range house, and I'd need to use a portable generator for the range-house site; too far for extention cords with that kind of amperage.

The intermediate option would be a towable gas-powered mixer - maybe $4,000 from what I see, but towable fairly close with the tractor, and seem less tippy.

Renting one of the larger options is not likely a great option, as the projects will be spur-of-the-moment when the weather is good, and I happen to get home early, etc. 30-40 posts done over a year, hopefully.

Not sure the method yet, and it may differ with each structure.

As much as I like the idea of the tractor-mounted one (more maneuverable than the gas-powered one, and we'd NEVER need to take it off the homestead, so don't need the more road-worthy gas-powered one), the dinky little electric ones SHOULD work, even though I remember moving mine was awful, it kept tipping, and so on (but I think the new ones are polyethylene instead of heavy metal).

I just don't think the gas-powered one is worth it, since I'd not be taking it away from the property, and it is sturdy but not that maneuverable. $3,500-ish is a big chunk of money, although of the three options, it would likely have the best re-sale value.

Any of you guys use a tractor-mounted one...? This one isn't too expensive $1,100-ish - https://www.agrisupply.com/cosmo-cement-mixer/p/28537/ I do like the idea of plenty of power from the tractor engine versus pushing an electric motor - plus the option of using it far away from electric sources.

If not the PTO one, I'm leaning towards this $700-ish one that is electric though, as it looks lighter to move around and hopefully would last long enough to do the tasks. https://www.northerntool.com/products/k ... 00dd-42867

Thoughts...???

[GunnyMack]

Doc, you did what everyone did in the past.
Now we use "sonnet" tubes , cardboard forms for the footings, dug to depth set for frost line by building code.
When we start to build up we use a galvanized steel post base bolted into the concrete, post cut to whatever size needed to obtain level. The post is screwed to post base.
In the past 15 or so years the pressure treated wood chemical has changed to a solution called copper azole - you MUST use ceramic coated,hot dip galvanized or stainless steel screws/nails as the high copper will eat normal steel fasteners.

As for your concrete concerns, none of it is going to be cheap or easy!

[Tycer]

I have retrofitted without replacing the wood. Gunny has the correct way.
I build a temporary support and jack the post up a bit more than the thickness of the Garvey post base and cut the rot out. If’s possible I’ll just use a taller piece of sonotube split and fit around the old pier then ratchet strap the split to hold the new crete. I put hot dipped lags in the corners of the rotting wood that’s left in the pier to keep the new from shifting. If I was in a tornado prone area, I would drill an epoxy into the solid concrete to hold the new piece of concrete. But I don’t live in a tornado area. If I have to cut more wood, then I want to pour concrete then I will do a notch cut halfway through the post so I can run through bolts to hold the scabbed new piece of lumber to the old.

[Tycer]

I have retrofitted without replacing the old concrete. Gunny has the correct way.
I build a temporary support and jack the post up a bit more than the thickness of the galvanized post base and cut the rot out. If’s possible I’ll just use a taller piece of sonotube split and fit around the old pier then ratchet strap the split to hold the new crete. I put hot dipped lags in the corners of the rotting wood that’s left in the pier to keep the new from shifting. If I was in a tornado prone area, I would drill an epoxy into the solid concrete to hold the new piece of concrete. But I don’t live in a tornado area. If I have to cut more wood, than I want to pour concrete then I will do a 8-10” notch-cut halfway through the post so I can run through bolts to hold the scabbed new piece of lumber to the old.

[Griff]

The private road to our house... and the other 4 on it, goes over a creek that flows most of the year... it originally had three 3' diameter concrete culverts under the road, with about 3 feet of fill up to the roadway (gravel). Then, 2 galvanized 24" culverts were added at one end after a complete flooding. It's never flooded since, even during the 100 year rain fall the year before we moved in. But... the ground under the concrete culverts has been washed out allowing the segments of the concrete culverts to separate. Over time, this allows the overlaying dirt & gravel to slowly leak down and create a hole in the roadway. 4 times in the 30+ years I've lived here. The first three times I rented a tow behind mixer of about a yard & a half to 2 yard powered by a Honda industrial engine (same as on my two generators, GX390s), with a high compression mix from the rental yard. Each time from a different location, as the business was bought, & moved. The last time, the place had gone out of business again, with another rental only place buying the equipment. He wanted $20K for one of the used machines. Out of our budget. The nearest local rental yard has pretty much replaced their two behind electric mixers with a new smaller, more portable mixer. Made for smaller needs. Also available from Home Depot: Mud Mixer. This is made to mix one bag of pre-mix at a time. While not cheap, it certainly is portable, as long as you have a water supply within a hose reach. The rest of the repairs I've had to do, on my pole barn, I've done as GunnyMack describes. Although I've just mixed up my 'crete in the bucket on the tractor. And used a couple lengths of treated telephone poles for roof supports. But... it's just a pole barn.

[765x53]

My experience has been that everything below the surface is like the day it was planted. The only deterioration is an inch or so exactly at the soil surface. Since discovering this, I have been treating the base of my posts with anti fungal solution. I have not yet lived long enough to know if it helps.