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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 12:09 am
by nelly05
Rain..........................................................
Set myself up to point the flags up, opened the box the romex came in, got the sand out, two clean buckets (yup the mixers not clean!!!! whos is??) and guess what, bloody drops of rain.
Ah well theres always tomorrow.
Any tips on using the stuff guys
Regards
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 1:04 am
by lutonlagerlout
forget the 2 clean bucket routine mate
clean your mixer out properly with pea-shingle then make sure it is bone dry
add 25 kg of your preferred KD sand
then add 1 tin of romex
let it mix for 3 minutes
scrape any residue of the sides ( i use a gauging towel for this)
mix for a further 3 minutes then tip in a barrow and spread
point and brush
you have about 1hr30 mins per gauge to use it
cover afterwards if rain is coming
regards LLL
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 6:33 am
by seanandruby
(yup the mixers not clean!!!! who's is??) mine and most guys on this site. tools are expensive, make you money and have feelings 
. seriously m8 clean everything, they are your bread and butter. :;):
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:04 am
by nelly05
seanandruby wrote:(yup the mixers not clean!!!! who's is??) mine and most guys on this site. tools are expensive, make you money and have feelings . seriously m8 clean everything, they are your bread and butter. :;):
Very true m8.
Unfortunately mine is 3rd hand and came from a guy who got rid because it was easier to buy a new one than clean it - lol.
Having worked on site cleaning always took a priority, just a shame i got the filthy one.
Will give it a clean first and see.
Regards
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 2:59 pm
by Tony McC
If you're doing a good few patios, it's worth having a separate mixer for the jointing. You can pick one up at Machine Mart for under 150 quid.
I know I keep banging on about it, but that GftK stuff I've been playing with over the last few months has a 'weatherproof' version that can be used in torrential rain without it affecting the cure. It's more expensive than the 840 polymeric, and a much more commerically-orientated product, but if you were really desperate to finish off a job and it was forecast grim for a few days, it could well be worth considering.
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:15 pm
by Stuarty
An old workmate never used to clean the mixer, then when he left and i was put on that squad i spent just about a morning taking all the old concrete off the sides. Im sure there was a good half barrow on the sides. Just about cried lol
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:49 pm
by Tony McC
We worked on a very militant union site back in the early 1980s. The workforce were notorious for walking out over the slightest perceived infringement of their self-appointed rights, and a 12 month contract was running 15 months late. We went in to finish off the groundworks as the previous crew had literally had enough of the union's antics which seemed to be skewed towards doing as little as possible for as long as possible and everyone going home with half-empty pay packets because they'd been on £3.00 quid an hour daywork all week. The convenor was a big, gruff Scotsman, based in Liverpool, who was allegedly a Sparky but seemed to spend most of his time loading knock-off cable into the back of his car and arranging 'private' jobs for all the other tradesmen, with a commission for himself, of course.
One Friday we were laying pipes as ducts connecting two buildings. A mortar mixer was positioned equidistant between the two almost-complete structures. At 3:30pm, the hooter went, and the lad that had been mixing mortar for the brickies, just knocked over the compression lever, causing the mixer to trundle to a halt, and walked off, leaving a drum full of partially mixed mortar.
On Monday, he was ordered to clean out the mixer that he'd completely ruined, but he felt 'abused' and went crying to the convenor, who duly threatened to call every one out on strike unless the site agent apologised to the useless labourer responsible, and paid him time-and-half for cleaning out the mixer, as it was not his stated job!
A few weeks later, the main contractor went bust, all the union lads were laid off, and surprise, surprise, the contractor re-appeared a week later under a different name and with a 100% non-union workforce.
I've worked on many union jobs and many were well-organised and efficient sites, but this one job was the worst example of bolshiness and blatant disregard for tools I ever saw. It was the fault of the convenor, not the union, but through his attitude, he was actively encouraging bad workmanship, theft, and a negatrive attitude to the trade. I'm glad to say those days are, largely, long gone!
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:59 pm
by lutonlagerlout
union jobs are nice with the tea huts and drying rooms and all that ,but i hate that clocking in bollox.we were in edgeware and the subbie walked round with the foreman
anyway it was 5 to 5 and we all made ourselves look busy raking out brickwork etc
then one Pratt shouted "muck up" to the hoddie who looked like grizzly adams
so he had to knock a gauge up in the freshly washed out mixer
by the time this happened the subbie had gone to a different part of the job and the Pratt says "nah dont bovver " to the hoddie/man mountain.
man mountain got him started in real estate
gave him a couple of acres
good job done IMHO
LLL
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 9:09 pm
by Stuarty
yeah he deserved that one heh
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:52 pm
by nelly05
Well i spent a good morning cleaning the mixer.
Came up well to be honest. Outside is a bit battered but inside was clean.
Mixed the romex and got it sorted. Rain held off so all was good.
Well that almost the first bit finished, only another 35m2 to do inc a 2.7m circle kit!!!
Need a break first though. lol
Thanks for all the help guys, especially LLL who provided some well oiled opinions, which personally for me helped correct a few perceptions i had.
Thanks again guys
Neil.
ps ill get a photo sorted asap.
regards
Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 6:05 pm
by Stuarty
One thing i dont do is batter the outside of the mixer to be honest. Its far easier i know but i prefer doing the inside with a scutch hammer and a mash and chisel. Just seems to preserve the life of the drum a bit longer.
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:56 am
by seanandruby
if you keep on top of it the mixer should only require water and a bit of a scrape to clean. the worst thing is not pulling the starting handle off in time when you turn the engine over, its like a scene from ww2 with everyone running for the air raid shelter. ive had a few wacks in the side of the head as I'm sure most of you have,hence.... :p
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:21 pm
by lutonlagerlout
i was the only fool to go back and turn the compression off, when i was about 17.
it was only later on when i say a handle hit someone that i realised, why all the older lands ran like the wind
leccy mixers for me now,hated lugging the diesel about
LLL
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:33 pm
by andpartington
do use run the bell ones lll and how long do they last these day
my granddad is very proud of buying one from mr bell him self at a trade show and collecting it from the factory in Buxton
and mine is 20 plus years old i have have had it for 10 years and payed 120 for it used 
andy
Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:06 am
by lutonlagerlout
i think we use a bell at the moment it is orange,they normally last about 3years,but that is pretty constant use avg maybe 3-400 tonnes a year knocking up(this is a wild guess btw)
nothing lasts like it use to
barrows 6 months tops,buckets a month,shovels a couple of years or so but they seem to wear down now much quicker
cheers LLL