Small mortar mixer???

JD Seller · Dec 23, 2012

I am going to plaster my rock basement walls. I guess I should say finish doing it. I started it a few years ago and just never got them all done.
I have already attached expanded metal to the walls to help hold the mortar as you apply it and to act as reenforcement when it drys.

I have been mixing the mortar by hand and that gets old fast. I tryed one of those small electric cement mixers but it did not work with the mortar. It will have to be not very wide as the door to the basement is only 32 inches wide.

I have been trying to think of some thing simple to use. I even was thinking of trying to make some thing.

Do any of you have any ideas???

Old Roy · Dec 23, 2012

if the cement mixer is made of steel rather than the plastic ones some have , .maybe you could cut away some of the fins in a staggered fashion or drill large holes in them ???

JD Seller · Dec 23, 2012

The trouble is mortar is sticky and will not tumble like concrete. If you look at large mortar mixers they have a stationary drum and paddles that turn inside to mix the mortar.

I need a giant version of a kitchen aid mixer. LOL The wife saw me eye balling hers and told me that it had better not go missing.

big fred · Dec 23, 2012

I haven't done much, just for tile, and I've just used one of these in a 1/2 inch drill. Works okay for up to about 20lb at a time, but you're going to need more than that. They make a larger version, but it's still gonna beat you up if you gotta mix very many batches in a day. If you're gonna be knocking this job out in a day or two, I'd suggest going to your rental shop and inquiring about a stucco mixer. If it's too big for the doorway, mix it outside and bring the mixed mortar inside in a bucket.

led · Dec 23, 2012

Bulb digger in cordless drill, 3" wide, 18" tall. Looks like a post hole auger, in a 5 gallon bucket.
Led

Rich_WI · Dec 23, 2012

You can use what the pros use on small jobs, a mortar mixing drill. Its just a heavy duty drill with low gearing. Some people use a standard drill with an egg beater type paddle on it but its kinda hard on the drill.

There are many brands of drills but this link is just one that has a good picture. http://www.contractorsdirect.com/Tile-Tools/Mixers-Drills/RubiMix-9BL-Mixing-Drill

Anonymous-0 · Dec 23, 2012

Depends, back when I drove a concrete mixer we used to load 4 maybe 6 yards of mortar in them, If the batch man added the water in the right amount AND at the right time, Then we had a good load, If not then we had golf balls. these were the newer mixers with no beaters in the bottem, Just fins the whole way up and down, Also I don't know if your useing the same type of mortar.

Wile E · Dec 23, 2012

I did what big Fred has suggested, works good. I even put in a concrete walkway this past summer with a power drill and a 5 gallon bucket and 30 bags of quikrete. It took some time but it worked.

larry@stinescorners · Dec 23, 2012

try mixing the mix drier in your mixer ,then dump it out and just wet it and mix it the rest of the way with a hoe,it should work, The inside of the mixer has to be clean to mix mortar,is it crusty or rusty?

the tractor vet · Dec 23, 2012

Mortar mixers use paddles to blend the sand mortar and water where as a cement mixer tumbles it and the stone - slag whatever keeps it loose and flowing .Now if ya had a basement winder you could place the mixer outside next to the sand pile close to the winder and put and old coal shoot thru the winder with a trough or wheel barrow in the basement and mix out side dump on the coal shoot . And like you said hand mixing sucks.

just thinkin · Dec 23, 2012

We used a small concrete mixer. We held it by hand on the dump side. Hold it just so the mix will not fall out this will allow the mix to fall off the paddles and remix. Do not over fill it.

JD Seller · Dec 23, 2012

The one I tried was a small concrete mixer with a plastic tub. It had paddles molded into the sides.

Greg K · Dec 23, 2012

Disconnect the heat in your clothes drier and see if that will work!lol A wheelbarrow and a garden hoe or a drill with a beater on it sounds like your two best options.

IOWA NORTHEAST · Dec 23, 2012

All the drum mixers WILL work just fine if you slow them down so the mixture drops instead of sticking to the side. It is best to use the smallest CAST iron pulley on the motor. Give me a call Garnavillo 563-880-7786 I have every mixer under the sun you can borrow. I have
nt been to the farm where I keep my junk so the drifts may be a issue.

Eric in IL · Dec 23, 2012

If the wife won't give up the mixer, maybe she's not so attached to her ice cream freezer ?? LOL

Ultradog MN · Dec 23, 2012

Best mixer I have found is a wheelbarrow, hoe and a 16 year old kid to do the mixing.
They need the money, training on how to work and you can talk with them - offer a bit of advice on things like what kinds of folks he ought to vote for in 2 years, cars, teachers, guns, hunting, fishing and destructive habits such as girls and drugs.
I lost the helper I was using for the last few years on projects like that.
He's in Vo Tech now about 150 miles north of here.

Old Roy · Dec 23, 2012

Friend of mine was thinking on the order of making a box trough, and take an old rototiller..put an electric motor on it ..On the edges of the trough turn angle iron upside down . mount a set of Lawnmower wheels ( without the tires )act like a track to run on.... weld paddles on the tines.

showcrop · Dec 23, 2012

(quoted from post at 08:57:49 12/23/12) Best mixer I have found is a wheelbarrow, hoe and a 16 year old kid to do the mixing.
They need the money, training on how to work and you can talk with them - offer a bit of advice on things like what kinds of folks he ought to vote for in 2 years, cars, teachers, guns, hunting, fishing and destructive habits such as girls and drugs.
I lost the helper I was using for the last few years on projects like that.
He's in Vo Tech now about 150 miles north of here.

I was that 16 year old for my dad when he built the endless stone walls. At least they seemed endless to me at the time. I was only thirteen at the time, and I got no money, just workin' off my board. LOL

Bryan inIowa · Dec 23, 2012

I have been just mixing outside on mortor mixer hauling in under house in 5 gal buckets . might need tent over mixer and a heater depending on the weather.

Geo-TH,In · Dec 23, 2012

I saw a guy use a cement mixer. Made a wet mix. At the end, he would slowly add sand and mortar to get it where he wanted it. What stuck to the sides, he would get with a trowel. Looks easier than mixing by hand.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 23, 2012

I have no experience at this, but have heard that running a cement mixer backwards works better for mortar. Might be worth a try.

Areo

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