Awl--

In my shop-floor pouring travails (at least preparing for them), I gained
some inneresting insights.

1. Harbor Freight, ito of info, is even more useless than HD, if you can
imagine that.
In their various cement mixers, it is not clear from the cu ft declarations,
if the cu ft refer to the *mixable* cu ft or the drum cu ft.
Plus, the prices for the various "sizes" are all over the map--no
correlation between size and price. Supposedly $199 for a 3.5 cu ft unit,
altho it's not at all clear what that 3.5 cu ft refers to.

The Husky mixer at HD is clear: $299 for a 5.0 cu ft drum, which will mix
2.5 cu ft.
An 80# bag of ready mix yields about 0.6 cu ft of concrete, so the HD mixer
will take, at least on paper, about 4 bags--considerably more than the vague
references on the HF site.

2. Next, I was shocked to discover the following.
That it winds up being more than 2x as expensive to mix yer own
cement/gravel/sand as it is to just mix typical ready mix! I calc'd
$6.66/cu ft using ready mix, vs. about $14+ mixing the ingredients yerself.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow.....
You can approx'ly check the calcs: $10 for 94 lbs cement, which yields 4.5
cu ft concrete, and which requires 250-300# sand (at $4 for 60 lbs) plus 300
lbs of gravel (at $4/60 lbs). Some of the data posted conflicts, but this
is more or less correct. HD prices.
Stunning.
Which means buying ready mix is a no brainer.

But why would ready mix be so much cheaper??

3. HD can be surprisingly close to HF in prices, for things like moving
dollies, 100 ft 12-3 extension cords, other stuff.
HD of course nails you on myriads of other stuff (including nails), as does
even HF, when they attempt to sell Merkin items, like Channellock, etc.--no
bargains at all.

But HD is the supernova example of the ongoing fleecing of America. W/ Bob
Nardelli swearing that HD is a savior of society.
It is, in fact, the moth eggs on our social fabric.

Support your local hardware store, whenever possible.
--
Mr. P.V.'d
formerly Droll Troll

PV, just how much concrete do you need to mix? It is not that hard to
just mix concrete in a one wheeled dolly with a steel tub (forgot what
it is called), and then it is easy to dump into wherever you need to
pour it. Not for large quantities, obviously. One bag at a time. One
bag == one gallon of water == 3 minutes mixing time with a
shovel. Leather gloves help a lot.

i

"Ignoramus19383" wrote in message
...
PV, just how much concrete do you need to mix? It is not that hard to
just mix concrete in a one wheeled dolly with a steel tub (forgot what
it is called), and then it is easy to dump into wherever you need to
pour it. Not for large quantities, obviously. One bag at a time. One
bag == one gallon of water == 3 minutes mixing time with a
shovel. Leather gloves help a lot.

i


Wheelbarrow.

"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote in message
...
Awl--

In my shop-floor pouring travails (at least preparing for them), I gained
some inneresting insights.

1. Harbor Freight, ito of info, is even more useless than HD, if you can
imagine that.
In their various cement mixers, it is not clear from the cu ft
declarations,
if the cu ft refer to the *mixable* cu ft or the drum cu ft.
Plus, the prices for the various "sizes" are all over the map--no
correlation between size and price. Supposedly $199 for a 3.5 cu ft unit,
altho it's not at all clear what that 3.5 cu ft refers to.

The Husky mixer at HD is clear: $299 for a 5.0 cu ft drum, which will mix
2.5 cu ft.
An 80# bag of ready mix yields about 0.6 cu ft of concrete, so the HD
mixer
will take, at least on paper, about 4 bags--considerably more than the
vague
references on the HF site.

2. Next, I was shocked to discover the following.
That it winds up being more than 2x as expensive to mix yer own
cement/gravel/sand as it is to just mix typical ready mix! I calc'd
$6.66/cu ft using ready mix, vs. about $14+ mixing the ingredients
yerself.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow.....
You can approx'ly check the calcs: $10 for 94 lbs cement, which yields
4.5
cu ft concrete, and which requires 250-300# sand (at $4 for 60 lbs) plus
300
lbs of gravel (at $4/60 lbs). Some of the data posted conflicts, but this
is more or less correct. HD prices.
Stunning.
Which means buying ready mix is a no brainer.

Just watch the 'minimums' for truck delivery. Also watch the 'time on site',
as some concrete trucks like to add the overtime to your bill. Where a truck
does NOT make sense is for post holes, small footings, basically the small
stuff.

You apparently are buying your materials at the wrong places. If you are
buying from places such as Lowes and Home Depot for bagged sand and gravel
you are paying five to ten times the price of sand and gravel that you could
buy it for at a aggregates supply house. Last time I bought sand and gravel,
although it's been awhile, it was less than 10.00 a ton.
Dick

"reader" wrote in message
news:W155g.7582$t_2.1378@trnddc07...

"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote in message
...
Awl--

In my shop-floor pouring travails (at least preparing for them), I gained
some inneresting insights.

1. Harbor Freight, ito of info, is even more useless than HD, if you can
imagine that.
In their various cement mixers, it is not clear from the cu ft
declarations,
if the cu ft refer to the *mixable* cu ft or the drum cu ft.
Plus, the prices for the various "sizes" are all over the map--no
correlation between size and price. Supposedly $199 for a 3.5 cu ft unit,
altho it's not at all clear what that 3.5 cu ft refers to.

The Husky mixer at HD is clear: $299 for a 5.0 cu ft drum, which will
mix
2.5 cu ft.
An 80# bag of ready mix yields about 0.6 cu ft of concrete, so the HD
mixer
will take, at least on paper, about 4 bags--considerably more than the
vague
references on the HF site.

2. Next, I was shocked to discover the following.
That it winds up being more than 2x as expensive to mix yer own
cement/gravel/sand as it is to just mix typical ready mix! I calc'd
$6.66/cu ft using ready mix, vs. about $14+ mixing the ingredients
yerself.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow.....
You can approx'ly check the calcs: $10 for 94 lbs cement, which yields
4.5
cu ft concrete, and which requires 250-300# sand (at $4 for 60 lbs) plus
300
lbs of gravel (at $4/60 lbs). Some of the data posted conflicts, but
this
is more or less correct. HD prices.
Stunning.
Which means buying ready mix is a no brainer.

Just watch the 'minimums' for truck delivery. Also watch the 'time on
site',
as some concrete trucks like to add the overtime to your bill. Where a
truck
does NOT make sense is for post holes, small footings, basically the small
stuff.

"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote in message
...
Awl--

In my shop-floor pouring travails (at least preparing for them), I gained
some inneresting insights.

1. Harbor Freight, ito of info, is even more useless than HD, if you can
imagine that.
In their various cement mixers, it is not clear from the cu ft
declarations, if the cu ft refer to the *mixable* cu ft or the drum cu ft.
Plus, the prices for the various "sizes" are all over the map--no
correlation between size and price. Supposedly $199 for a 3.5 cu ft unit,
altho it's not at all clear what that 3.5 cu ft refers to.

The Husky mixer at HD is clear: $299 for a 5.0 cu ft drum, which will mix
2.5 cu ft.
An 80# bag of ready mix yields about 0.6 cu ft of concrete, so the HD
mixer will take, at least on paper, about 4 bags--considerably more than
the vague references on the HF site.

2. Next, I was shocked to discover the following.
That it winds up being more than 2x as expensive to mix yer own
cement/gravel/sand as it is to just mix typical ready mix! I calc'd
$6.66/cu ft using ready mix, vs. about $14+ mixing the ingredients
yerself.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow.....
You can approx'ly check the calcs: $10 for 94 lbs cement, which yields
4.5 cu ft concrete, and which requires 250-300# sand (at $4 for 60 lbs)
plus 300 lbs of gravel (at $4/60 lbs). Some of the data posted conflicts,
but this is more or less correct. HD prices.
Stunning.
Which means buying ready mix is a no brainer.

But why would ready mix be so much cheaper??

3. HD can be surprisingly close to HF in prices, for things like moving
dollies, 100 ft 12-3 extension cords, other stuff.
HD of course nails you on myriads of other stuff (including nails), as
does even HF, when they attempt to sell Merkin items, like Channellock,
etc.--no bargains at all.

But HD is the supernova example of the ongoing fleecing of America. W/
Bob Nardelli swearing that HD is a savior of society.
It is, in fact, the moth eggs on our social fabric.

Support your local hardware store, whenever possible.
--
Mr. P.V.'d
formerly Droll Troll


My local concrete supplier will dump a load of sand or gravel into my small
trailer for when I'm doing a small job. Under $10 for 1000 lbs. That's
what makes mixing it myself cheaper.

Steve.

"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote:

-snip-
2. Next, I was shocked to discover the following.
That it winds up being more than 2x as expensive to mix yer own
cement/gravel/sand as it is to just mix typical ready mix! I calc'd
$6.66/cu ft using ready mix, vs. about $14+ mixing the ingredients yerself.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow.....
You can approx'ly check the calcs: $10 for 94 lbs cement, which yields 4.5
cu ft concrete, and which requires 250-300# sand (at $4 for 60 lbs) plus 300
lbs of gravel (at $4/60 lbs). Some of the data posted conflicts, but this
is more or less correct. HD prices.

As others have pointed out-- don't get bagged sand and gravel. If
you've got a little trailer that's the best deal-- but even if you
need it delivered,. . . I get 3 tons at a time- about $16 a ton,
and $65 for delivery. [that works out to $3.40/60 lbs- delivered!]

How much you need to mix and your specific job make all the difference
in the world-- but there is a guy near me that has a little truck that
does just a yard at a time. He can get it into just about anywhere.
It costs nearly the same as my buying all that Portland / sand
/gravel-- but it also spits out a yard of concrete in a short time.

For 2 yards I might still use him. Over that and I call the big
trucks. Check on exactly what they get for a 'short load'. I
called for 4 yards last summer and got a price. The day before
the pour I decided to do another job at the same time and added a yard
to my order. The pricing was set up so 5 yards was within pennies of
the 4 yard price.

For cement mixers-- watch the wantads. I have an ancient cast iron 3
bagger that I picked up [with a new motor] for $30 a few years ago.
It is heavy as all getout, has iron tires, and looks like crap. But
it sits out behind the garage, motor inside, greased up, and is ready
to go whenever I need it.

Jim

Proct,

How big of floor are doing with this method?


"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote in message
...
Awl--

In my shop-floor pouring travails (at least preparing for them), I gained
some inneresting insights.

On Sun, 30 Apr 2006 11:37:44 -0400, "Proctologically Violated©®"
wrote:

Awl--

In my shop-floor pouring travails (at least preparing for them), I gained
some inneresting insights.

1. Harbor Freight, ito of info, is even more useless than HD, if you can
imagine that.

The Husky mixer at HD is clear: $299 for a 5.0 cu ft drum, which will mix
2.5 cu ft.


2. Next, I was shocked to discover the following.
That it winds up being more than 2x as expensive to mix yer own
cement/gravel/sand as it is to just mix typical ready mix! I calc'd
$6.66/cu ft using ready mix, vs. about $14+ mixing the ingredients yerself.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow.....
You can approx'ly check the calcs: $10 for 94 lbs cement, which yields 4.5
cu ft concrete, and which requires 250-300# sand (at $4 for 60 lbs) plus 300
lbs of gravel (at $4/60 lbs). Some of the data posted conflicts, but this
is more or less correct.

You pay wat to much for sand. Goto the local rock quarry or gravel
pit. Truckoad of sand ( 2100lbs cost me approx $6.50 ) Gravel is
just as cheap.

On Mon, 01 May 2006 01:21:56 GMT, wrote:

On Sun, 30 Apr 2006 11:37:44 -0400, "Proctologically Violated©®"
wrote:

Awl--

In my shop-floor pouring travails (at least preparing for them), I gained
some inneresting insights.

1. Harbor Freight, ito of info, is even more useless than HD, if you can
imagine that.

The Husky mixer at HD is clear: $299 for a 5.0 cu ft drum, which will mix
2.5 cu ft.


2. Next, I was shocked to discover the following.
That it winds up being more than 2x as expensive to mix yer own
cement/gravel/sand as it is to just mix typical ready mix! I calc'd
$6.66/cu ft using ready mix, vs. about $14+ mixing the ingredients yerself.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow.....
You can approx'ly check the calcs: $10 for 94 lbs cement, which yields 4.5
cu ft concrete, and which requires 250-300# sand (at $4 for 60 lbs) plus 300
lbs of gravel (at $4/60 lbs). Some of the data posted conflicts, but this
is more or less correct.

You pay wat to much for sand. Goto the local rock quarry or gravel
pit. Truckoad of sand ( 2100lbs cost me approx $6.50 ) Gravel is
just as cheap.
On one project, one of my employees bet the crusher foreman he could
haul his pickup box level full of crushed rock out of the quarry and a
mile and a half home. First try, he lost most of the load when he did
a "wheely". Next try, he backed up the hill, drove home, shoveled the
gravel off and drove back to the quarry to collect his case of beer.
That old Fargo was one tough truck, he had boosted the tire pressure
enough to keep the rims off the road, and drove slow enough to keep
from bottoming out too often.
Most of the cost of gravel is in delivery and placing.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote in message
...
Awl--

In my shop-floor pouring travails (at least preparing for them), I gained
some inneresting insights.

Just how much floor area are you trying to pour? More than a few feet
(cubic) and you'd be better off just getting a truck in there. Otherwise
you'll have nothing but a zillion cold joints from you trying to mix it all
by hand. There is a time and place for mixing your own and a slab/floor
is probably not one of them unless it's quite small.
Cheers,
cc

On Sun, 30 Apr 2006 11:37:44 -0400, Proctologically Violated©® wrote:
3. HD can be surprisingly close to HF in prices, for things like moving
dollies, 100 ft 12-3 extension cords, other stuff.

One big difference is that HF puts many of those things on sale with
significant discount (not a 2% off sale, expect at least 10% but 25%,
40%, even 60% off depending on the item) and does it quite often.

Another big difference... HF quality is all over the map and even on
the same item it varies from shipment to shipment (maybe piece to
piece). At least at HD there is some consistency.

I agree with the "shop your local little hardware store" sentiment. But
as an evening/weekend warrior type, I feel lucky to find HD open at 9pm.

sdb

--
Wanted: Omnibook 800 & accessories, cheap, working or not
sdbuse1 on mailhost bigfoot.com

sylvan butler wrote:
On Sun, 30 Apr 2006 11:37:44 -0400, Proctologically Violated©® wrote:
3. HD can be surprisingly close to HF in prices, for things like moving
dollies, 100 ft 12-3 extension cords, other stuff.

One big difference is that HF puts many of those things on sale with
significant discount (not a 2% off sale, expect at least 10% but 25%,
40%, even 60% off depending on the item) and does it quite often.

It has been reported in other forums (fora?) that HD stores have honored
HF discount coupons.

On Wed, 3 May 2006 15:31:21 -0600, sylvan butler wrote:

I agree with the "shop your local little hardware store" sentiment. But
as an evening/weekend warrior type, I feel lucky to find HD open at 9pm.

Welcome back! Hope all has been well with you and yours?

Dave

On 4 May 2006 17:49:05 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:
On Wed, 3 May 2006 15:31:21 -0600, sylvan butler wrote:
I agree with the "shop your local little hardware store" sentiment. But
as an evening/weekend warrior type, I feel lucky to find HD open at 9pm.

Welcome back! Hope all has been well with you and yours?

Thanks Dave! Yes, all is well and all are very busy.

sdb

--
Wanted: Omnibook 800 & accessories, cheap, working or not
sdbuse1 on mailhost bigfoot.com