best cement mixer

Hi All,

I am getting around to the list of odd jobs from SWMBO and after spending half a day hand mixing a small concrete slab via the wheelbarrow the other day I reckon there is another tool opportunity in this.

I picked up a GMC welder a few months back (recommended in other posts) and it has been fantastic, so I have been looking at the GMC cement mixer, but am a bit concerned it may be underpowered (3/5 hp) and a bit small.

I would like to do some retaining walls and perhaps do the slab for my garage one day, so I reckon I might need something a bit larger, about 3.5 cubic.

Does anyone have experience with a good economical mixer?

Regards

Haydn

Hi Haydn,
You seem to have already dismissed the GMC, but I reckon it's great value for money.

I borrowed one from a friend to do some post holes for a deck (22 of them) and liked it so much I went out an bought my own - which I have used quite a lot since.

It may only be 2.5 cu. ft. but there seems to be a big dollar jump between the GMC and bigger mixers. And for the home user the additional capacity of a 3.5 is rarely missed.

If your on a limited budget then I would strongly suggest the GMC or a good quality used machine.

Another vote for the GMC mixer from me. It represents outstanding value for money for small jobs around the home. I mainly used it for mixing mortar for bricklaying, so capacity was not a big issue (I don't lay very fast!) For a slab for a garage I would have thought you would be better to get a truck in otherwise parts of it will be going off while you are still working on the rest, but I'll leave that one for the experts.

Yep I've got a GMC. For $199 compared to $1,300 I couldn't go wrong.

The only incident I had with it is that its toppled over whislt mixing a couple of times, which I put down in part as my fault in overloading it and the other part being the axle is not long enough and wobbling around on the partly inflated tyres.

Thanks to you all for your great comments.

Looks like I'm goping to add another GMC to the stable

I recently bought one from Aldi for $250, i think its 2.5ci and 3/4hp. My mates laughed but having now seen it work they were all impressed. I've already used it a few times and seem to do my small jobs very well.