YARDMAX YM0115 4.0 Cu. Ft. Concrete Mixer

I am very impressed with this machine from opening to use. The entire thing needs to be assembled, but the instructions are very good. Simple and easy to understand. I was very happy with the hardware packaging. It was packaged and numbered in sequence so I knew for sure I was using the right parts in the right place. The assembly took me about an hour. I was worried about the wheels because they seemed flimsy, but they have held up great.I have used this 3 times now. The first time I started in the afternoon and poured 29 60lbs bags of concrete. I was worried about the machine overheating. The motor cover got hot, but did not overheat. The first pour took me about 3 hours and the mixer ran almost the entire time.The second pour was 12 60lbs bags. I only put one bag in at a time. During this pour I wanted to see how much it could take. I tried putting two bags in and even though they fit, it didn't work because I couldn't put it at the right angle for it to mix properly. I ended up having to pull the extra out. I think it could handle an 80lbs bag.The third pour went great as well, I did 14 60lbs bags. I have two major complaints. The biggest complaint is the mixer dumps almost straight down. I have to either be right over where I am pouring or have something to pour onto so it goes where I want it to. The other issue I had, which could easily have been my technique, was the concrete would be dry and clumpy at the base of the fins and I would have to stop the machine so I could break it up so the mixer could finish mixing it.The cleanup was really easy. I was able to spray most of it off and then towel off the rest.Overall, this was a sturdy, powerful machine and absolutely was better than doing it by hand.

I am giving this machine a great review. It is a powerhouse. Firstly it comes unassembled. The instructions for assembly were pretty clear. It was very useful that the nuts and bolts for each step were labelled clearly. One of the little compartments was cracked and I could not find a washer. However my wife found it in the box on rechecking (she is good at those things). With her help assembly took just about an hour or so.So I bought this to help me cast a foundation for a fence I am building. The foundation was 18" x 18" x 35'. My mix was a 1:2:3 mix of cement, sand and gravel (in this country this is like sharp sand mixed with stones). My first 2 mixes were 1:3:3 but the sand seemed to be too much and caused some sticking to the bottom of the drum. With tweaking (gravel and water in first, followed up by half of the sand then half of the cement, then the remainder and minimal additional water as necessary) and use of the recommended angle for concrete (about 60* vs about 45* for mortar - guessing as I didn't measure) the process became smooth. The capacity of the drum allowed half of a 5 gallon bucket of cement, one 5 gallon bucket of sand, and 1.5 buckets of the aforementioned gravel, and half a bucket of water. By my calculation this gives 1.6 cubic feet of concrete or approximately a full wheelbarrow's worth. Now this is the 4 cubic foot model I am speaking about, but this amount fit comfortably at the working angle, mixed well and did not spill or splash out much.I managed to work all day long and mix and pour 9 bags of cement at 90 lbs each...which is a lot for me compared to mixing manually ( I would probably give up after mixing 2 bags). The quality of the concrete was good. The machine itself worked like a beast, all day long. No issues, handled the material well. I did not get the sense that it was struggling or under strain once the mix was achieved. I rested the machine minimally between mixes while I poured the barrow of concrete, a 5 minute break between bags, and a 15 minute break every 2 bags ostensibly to prevent "machine" overheating ( which is what I told my wife, lol) but really it was for me.Overall, I was impressed. Great value for the money. Build quality was excellent in my opinion at that price point. Worked well and all day long. I would recommend it, and I would buy it again, although it seems like there is a lot of life left in this machine.

For the price this concrete mixer is fantastic. Very well engineered, fairly sturdy and should last for quite a while. I have run about 60ea. 50Ib bags of concrete premix through the mixer already, kept it clean and it looks like new. My observations are as follows:When assembled it is smaller than you think from the pictures. But it is strong and works perfectly fine for small jobs.Take your time assembling the mixer. The description says it can be assembled in 30 minutes but that is not the case. Read the instructions carefully. Although it is relatively easy to assemble the instructions are not perfect and it is easy to get a piece facing the wrong way around (like I did) and you have to dissemble.I used 50Ib bags of concrete mix, they are easy to handle and the smaller size places better into the small drum.I am sure you can use 80Ib bags but that will be harder on your back and the spillage will likely be greater.I tried mixing two bags at one time and it did not work out so well. Stick to one bag at a time.Once you have used it a while it is easy to get into a routine.Place some water in the drum. Place one bag in the drum while it is stationary. Tilt to the first setting and run.Add more water (using a hose is much easier) and tilt further. Keep adding water. Tilt Further. Add water.Place at 90 deg tilt and let it mix fully for a little while. A bucket maybe used to catch any mix spilled from the drum.Stop the mixer and tilt fully to empty the concrete into a bucket.You can fully tilt when running but the mix spills out further than the 5 gal bucket I was using making a mess.You will get to know the right texture, not runny, the mix should slowly spill into a bucket or wheelbarrow.Remember - the less water the stronger the concrete. A little more water is easier to place, tamp (or vibrate) and finish.Blast the inner drum clean with a hose, leave a watery mix spinning in the mixer as you place your concrete.Tilt mixer upwards and turn on. Add fresh bag of concrete mix.Repeat.You can finish your concrete when the mixer is spinning a fresh batch.I ran 26 bags in about two hours with no rush and it was easy. That is about 1 cubic yard of concrete.This mixer is great for small jobs only. It works like a charm.

I bought this mixer because I have a few medium DIY jobs around the house. Renting one for these occasions would be about the same as owning one, plus you never know what condition you're going to get.I bought one and put it together with the instructions which were very well written. Like most men, I look at the pictures first and then read when it doesn't seem to make sense. If you settle down and read the words, then associate the pictures, it will be a lot easier to assemble.Got it all together, plugged it in, and nothing. No sound, no hum, nothing. Called Amazon and they coordinated for a replacement. When I talked to a rep, they were polite but they were not able to send just the motor. Amazon did coordinate the return after the delivery of the second mixer, so I could just swap motors. Swapped motors, turned it on and let it run for the entire time that it took me to replace the dead motor, repackage all the parts, write a note and tape up the box. This only took about 15 minutes, so I let it run a little while longer. Works fine.For my first project, I made a small patio about 4 feet square and 4 inches thick. I used one 80 pound bag at a time. Partially because of the sounds the mixer made and partially because 80 pound bags were kicking my butt. The mixer muscled through and it took about 7 minutes to thoroughly get the cement to the correct texture. I poured in the premade bags of concrete from one side of the mixer and dumped it into my forms on the other side. This process took 11 bags and about 3 hours. Hey, I'm almost 60. I did take some advice from a video and attached a pressure treated 2 x 8 approximately 30 inches long to the foot. This made the mixer stable throughout the job.Right after dumping the last bag into the forms, the mixer stopped. I felt the motor and it was hot. I wasn't too concerned because the instructions did say that this could happen. I scooped out the last bit of cement with my hands and rinsed out the tub. After I finished getting my project set, I cleaned off the mixer thoroughly from top to bottom. Fingers crossed, it came back to life when I pushed the 'On' button.I'm giving 4 stars because of the first motor and the fact that it died after 3 hours. I'm not a contractor and this is not a commercial machine, but I would assume that 3 hours isn't really that long for concrete work. I have more projects that I plan to do this summer (2019) and I will update with each one.

I bought the mixer to pour a driveway extension in 3 large sections. It has been great so far!It took me about 3 hours to assemble. Very straight forward. The blister sheet of hardware for each step is pure "ikea-like" genius. Two things to beware of: 1) The mixer blade goes little fasten plate end first - follow the picture carefully, and 2) You would be best served by attaching the tilt handle immediately after attaching the drum bottom. You will find it very useful during the rest of the assembly to be able to hold the drum steady.On Saturday, my two helpers and I mixed 46 bags of concrete in 23 batches. He is the way it works best.1. Add 4/5 of the water in the drum. The drum is still, not turning, motor off. (For my work, we needed 5 scoops of water and 2 80lb bags of high strength Sacrete.) To the water add 1 bag of the Sacrete and mix thoroughly. It makes a thin concrete slurry. Turn off mixer and add bag number 2. Turn mixer on and move to tilt 1 position. Add final of water as necessary. Mm

I had torn up a good portion of my basement slab to rearrange the bathroom plumbing and work around some drain pipe. I had never used more than half a bag of concrete for a project before, so I was pretty overwhelmed by the idea of pouring 20+ bags by myself in a single go.I looked into a rental from the local big box stores and it was ~$60 for a day but only came in the 4+ cubic ft versions which I don’t have an easy way to transport. I ordered the 1.6 mixer and assembly was very easy, all parts are numbered, and as others have mentioned, look up a video or image of the mixer to better understand the blade orientation.Using the mixer was also just as easy. I was using 60lb bags which called for 1.9L of water. I started by setting the mixer at the first tilt angle and adding all of the water. Then I slowly poured the 60lb bag in and tilted the mixer to the second or third notch (about 45 degrees). I sprayed a little bit more water with the hose if it looked a bit dry. After a few minutes I slid my plastic tray underneath and dumped the batch. Sometimes there was a bit that got stuck to the sides so I’d spray some more water and let it run or scrape it off and dump it into the batch.After the first one, I started mixing the next batch right away while I went to pour and float the current one. This is where the time savings really started adding up because I could let it mix for 3-5 min while I was pouring, leaving very little wasted time as you would when hand mixing each batch. I may have been able to fit 1.5 or 2 bags at a time but I didn’t feel the need to after getting into the rhythm of measuring and mixing. I was able to pour and spread 22 60lb bags in just about two hours. This gave me plenty of time to get the whole slab floated and evenly distributed without worrying about the batches starting to set. I can’t imagine how much longer it would’ve taken to mix all those bags by hand!Cleanup was just as easy. I put the mixer to near vertical and sprayed water inside. I brought the pan back to dump the water out and repeated a few times until the drum was clean. I wiped down the inside and outside with a damp towel and then took the tray outside to rinse it with my other tools.This mixer ended up being the perfect size for my project and will be easy to lift and store in the attic for future uses.

I purchased the in YARDMAX YM0046 1.6 Cu. Ft. Concrete Mixer in October of 2017. Unfortunately, the mixer arrived alongside the rainy season here in the San Francisco Bay area.I assembled it immediately and was impressed with the product appearance; it truly looked like a piece of art. Many guests agreed and commented on the beautiful aesthetics of this 1950s-1970s design styled machine. But would it actually work?Yes! With nothing weighing it down, the mixer worked amazingly. In lieu of shoving it in the backyard, I decided to keep this retro beauty in my Living Room! Yes, with the right decor, it really can pass as an artistic endeavor.Today, 08MAR2018, I finally put this little monster to the test. My goal was to create custom pavers for my backyard. I was NOT successful.This POS did not make it through one single 50 pound bag of concrete mix. It powered on and turned around like it had in my Living Room. Less than two minutes after adding the water and mixture, it simply stopped. The motor continued humming & buzzing and the lights remained on, but the turning action ceased.I can’t express the level of disappointment experienced after the anticipation built up over the past few months.If I could return this for a full refund, I absolutely would. However, If I can save another Amazon customer from the heartache I’m currently experiencing, I will consider this a success.If you want an interesting conversation starter for your Living Room or Den, your search is over!If you need a cement mixer that works, keep looking. This one literally won’t work for you, or anyone for that matter. Swipe Left...

Have owned this unit for two months and completed several pours with over 70 80# bags. So far the mixer has performed well in that it has provided consistent mixing and ease of use. That said i have issue with the mixing paddles. The design places the largest portion of the paddle toward the front of the drum where it seems to collect dry mix more than provide any mixing action. Mixing action seems to take place more from the rolling action of the product than from the paddles. So far I have mixed two bags at a time which allows viewing of product at the back of the drum to inside consistent mixing.The Amazon price plus free delivery plus quantity discount from the home improvement stores on concrete mix make for considerable savings over having the work contracted if you are willing to do the work. I also built a stand to hold the concrete bags so it is not necessary to stand there while they empty into the mixer. A labor saver!

Finally convinced my husband to get a ciment mixer. This one is a good little mixer for those old ciment jobs around our home ! The price is good on your wallet too !

Me gustó la forma, de embalaje, el equipo es confiable para el trabajo, se veía muy pequeño, pero trabaja bien las horas de uso

No funciona muy bien no es buena compra es muy pequeña que ni con medio saco puede

Easy to clean and maintain. Fast to assemble. Run it all day without a problem.