DIY Concrete Batch Plant / Mixer

[@kalbcorp]

I am so impressed.. thid is pretty damn industrious !😊

[@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201]

thank you!

[@johnjmariettijr5671]

You guys are geniuses.

[@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201]

Thanks. I gotta say, digging through junk yards and repurposing the junk into a batch plant was a fun winter project for us. Thanks for watching.

[@tomdale1313]

guess the equipment used was what made it a one man show...as long aS it didnt break down...txs for sharing, from Seattle txs

[@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201]

Had to automate, b/c contractors would have made our site look like a moonscape for a season, we would have to move out, and landscape after (if they even showed up.) Our concrete costs in place in the wall was about $48/ yard, about 1/4 the cost of labor & material otherwise, and we sold all the equipment for the build costs.

[@UnknownIdaho]

That is fantastic! I have been imagining this is the way to do it and you guys did it! I have some ideas for custom cinder block products and now a full basement for our planned 16x42 foot addition on our 1914 farmhouse here in Idaho. I will study this carefully.

[@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201]

Glad this helped. Three things we learned: 1. do not use conveyor belts w/ flights. us a flat top b/c gavel jams it up. 2. put water above and fill to a line rather than dump water in. 3. dump the cement directly into the mixer, not on the conveyor or in the batcher. Have fun. Thanks for watching.

[@FourthWayRanch]

I want to feed the dry mix into one of those mudmixer devices, slow but easier maybe? Im buulding basement in remote location and redimix is expensive to bring in

[@ellaquette4438]

Good job guys!! 😎👍🏻

[@FourthWayRanch]

Using arduino? Any more build info to share?

[@evanking6329]

Bloody ingenious I think 🤔

[@buelowexcavating]

Lee: I looked at a bowed wall last week. I told the owner they needed to repair it. We got about 6" of rain.............. I have two videos about it on my KZbin channel: "John Buelow Excavating". I will probably post another video on it tomorrow showing more work done on it last Friday. You taught me a lot!

[@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201]

I've been watching those. It's amazing you much damage roots, water, & wet soil can do. I agree that wall was too long & too tall for just running bond concrete block with no pilasters or bond beam. Glad you got it cribbed up.

[@buelowexcavating]

Lee: When people are building a new house I tell them if they put a jog every 20' that will really strengthen the wall. Or maybe they could hire someone to do it right.

[@andy-sl2im]

@@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201 Hello, any chance I can talk to you about facing a similar problem in my home?

[@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201]

you can find John's channel - search "John Buelow Excavating on KZbin. He is a great guy in the twin cities area (Minneapolis/ St. Paul.) Tell him Anderson said Hi

[@harrisedgar]

Wonderfull video..!!! thank you...!! (Would you post the brands and models of the equipment that you used?)

[@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201]

OK, here goes - - 1. I found an industrial version of an International tractor in a scrap yard. It's purpose was to move 200 (of total 360 yards) to the disposal site across the street. Got it running & added a dozer blade. 2.Re-manufactured a small scraper & dump box into an off-road dump trailer. 3. Modified a new Lamar dump trailer with a partition and off set tailgate. 4. Added an auxiliary hydraulic valve to a TCP (Taylor Construction Products) track dumper so we could use it to power batching & mixer loader conveyors. 5. Acquired a 10 cu. ft. Gilson concrete (cement) mixer. 6. Built the dry batch system 80% out of junk. 7. Built the concrete mixer feed conveyor/ measured water staging out of junk. 8. Built a concrete shuttle cart out of a greenhouse cart and a slit water tank. 9. Built a winch system to pull the 1500# shuttle cart w/ a winch from my equipment trailer & an old hand truck. 10. Built a concrete placement auger out of swimming pool cover hydraulics and a scrap line bore auger. 11. Built a power cart (mostly out of junk) so I could run the 3 phase electric JCB excavator I found off of single phase household current. Didn't want to use a genset. 12. Found a ship's ladder on a scrap pile. Refit it to work for us. 13. Cut the ears off of a backhoe bucket and turned them around so the mini exc. could work like a shovel. Partner Joe & I built the equipment during winter months when snow was too deep to haul material. All the equipment was sold a few weeks after the job was finished. Upshot was we dug 360 yards and loaded it out to the dump site, and mixed & placed 36 yards of concrete, all without shoveling anything. Thank you for watching.

[@harrisedgar]

@@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201 Thank you so very much..!!! (I'm stunned about how much you made your self). Wonderful work...!!!

[@tjn2254]

You have more toys then Batman.

[@TqSNv9R0iG5Ckxew]

Amazing to see concrete for only $55 per yard. Now just a few years later in 2023 some places are charging up to $200!

[@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201]

It is amazing. On top of that, we get a short load charge of $135 and only a 15-minute window to unload, plus a fuel surcharge. When we used our little batch plant, we were only pouring 1yd/ pour. We would have been skinned alive if we bought redi-mix. Thank you for watching, and for your input.

[@TqSNv9R0iG5Ckxew]

@@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201 It wasn't available when your project was happening but there's a pretty cool new product called the Mud Mixer that takes your bagged ready mix in a hopper, mixes in the proper amount of water, and extrudes a continuous flow of ready to use concrete with an auger AS NEEDED. It's all the rage on KZbin now but the most common complaint is the $3000 price. I think I can build my own for about $500-800, although I must admit that it would solve a lot of problems even at $3000 In my opinion, the biggest benefit never mentioned is that you can use it on your own schedule. It would be impossible to get a truck delivery late on a Saturday night but if you wanted to, you could mix your own after work, or whenever your buddies are available to help. Lastly, you wouldn't need to order and waste an extra yard to compensate for what sticks inside the truck or to compensate for measurement mistakes

[@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201]

@@TqSNv9R0iG5Ckxew We decided not to use bagged pre-mix because of the many times a bag is handled, the high cost, and the fact that it only had 3/8" aggregate. For smaller jobs, though I'd use premixed bags. If memory serves, we mixed 109 batches with our batch plant.

[@TqSNv9R0iG5Ckxew]

@@diycrawlspacedigoutunderpi4201 Your batch plant is how I found your channel in the first place. I am still looking for something better suited for my needs than the Mud Mixer. Something bigger for sure. A combination of your system with bulk materials ready to go and the automatic mixing of a mud mixer would be perfect for me