Was dead set against using a power mixer for mortar, now I get it

Kept telling myself a hoe and a wheelbarrow was all anyone needed for 8 years on the job. Saw a guy on a big commercial site near Austin use a Hobart mixer to knock out 50 bricks in 10 minutes while I was still mixing my third batch. Finally rented one for a 300-brick retaining wall last month and it cut my mixing time by at least 40 minutes per day. Still think you need to watch your water ratio carefully or the paddle throws it everywhere. Has anyone else had trouble getting the consistency right with a power mixer vs hand mixing?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_rodriguez15d agoTop Commenter

Watch how fast people change their minds once they actually TRY something better. It's like the guy who swears by his old truck until he rides in a new one with AC and power windows, suddenly he gets it. Same thing with tools like this, you build up this pride in doing it the hard way then realize you were just wasting time. I've noticed it in cooking too, people swear hand chopping is more "authentic" until they use a food processor for a big batch of salsa and never look back. The trick with those power mixers is to add water SLOW, like trickle it in while it's running, give it 15 seconds to absorb before adding more. Once you dial that in, the consistency is actually MORE even than hand mixing, just gotta fight the instinct to dump it all at once.

reed.ray15d ago

Authentic" has nothing to do with it, the mortar hydration is totally different when a machine beats the air into it.