"jamesgangnc" wrote in message
...
On Jun 23, 2:03 am, "Steve B" wrote:
I want to pour some Sonotube bases for a metal awning. They will sit
directly on caliche, hence no digging of footer holes to insert said
Sonotubes into, just cut to length, and fill and use the weight of it to
hold down the 3" x 3" x .120" posts. Said awning about 15' square, and
located in an alcove surrounded by three sides so no chance of wind
endangerment.

I just bought an old cement mixer. This thing is mondo. Heavy cast iron
gears, etc. I don't know the actual volume of the drum, but I have seen
ones like it on block wall jobs. It's big and heavy.

I want to buy bags of Portland, and buy some sand and aggregate, and try
to
get a production line of cement going that will produce a stream steady
enough to fill these Sonotubes. Sonotobes will be about 24" diameter, and
18" high, maybe a little more so they can be used as places for pots, or
to
sit on. I intend to look up the mix in my Pocket Ref, and just do it by
counting shovels of each, and gallons of water, or just look at it for the
right consistency.

Do you think I can do enough mixers of it to have a monolithic pour before
setting time comes? I'd say three to four mixers full per pier.

Steve

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Sounds to me ike you have massively over engineered your solution.
You really think you need 24" for an awning? I'm thinking 10" or 12"
is plenty. I don't do anything nearly that elaborate for deck posts.
Just mix up a few 80lb bags of ready mix and put it in the hole.

Reply: We get up to 80 mph winds here, 55 being common. The last one was
engineered for 104 mph winds, but is in a more exposed location. I know I
can do this with ready mix, but thought that I'd get a better mix with hand
proportioning it. What I was curious about is if I could mix if fast enough
so that the batches wouldn't have a line between each.