I finally gave up on my old way of mixing small batches of mortar by hand.

For years, I'd use a bucket and a garden trowel, which took forever and never got it right. Last month on a patio job in Springfield, my arm was killing me by noon. I bought a cheap 3.5 cubic foot mixer from Harbor Freight that afternoon. Now I can mix a perfect batch in under two minutes and my shoulder doesn't feel like it's going to fall off. Anyone still mixing by hand for small jobs, or did you all switch ages ago?

2 comments

2 Comments

aaron8965h ago

A 3.5 cubic foot mixer is huge for small batches, isn't that better for full yard work? For a patio repair, I'd think a smaller drill-powered paddle mixer would be easier to handle and clean.

aaron6771h agoMost Upvoted

Yeah @aaron896, my last patio fix with a big mixer ended with more concrete on me than the slab, lol.