Have no idea who LaFarge is, but call your redi-mix supplier.

Don't know how it works there, but here we have a 4 yard minimum for free delivery in the county.

2 yards isn't much, and can be wheelbarrowed quite easily... What are you pouring?

 

I don't quite understand. Whats the difference between hauling bags or a hotmix, besides a mess? I would just mix onsite, or have a truck deliver.

 

I'm adding on to a patio and pouring a walkway...Like I said I haven't needed this amount before and wondered if there was an easier way than hauling bags to the back yard...I don't even know the price difference either...it's the weekend and no one is open around here...

 

If you can do this in one pour (that is in 30 minutes or so), call for a redi-mix truck. Find a company that has a truck that can mix on-site. These trucks have hoppers for the dry cement, stone, and a water tank. They mix the concrete right at the top of the shoot.

Here the driver will stick around for 45 minutes than you start paying for time. If you need only 2 yards you may have to pay more. Ask when you call. They can get about 11 yards on a truck so you if you can't pour a yard every 4 minutes, it costs you more.

So if you need a little concrete at a time, you'll have to rent a mixer and mix it yourself.

 

WHY would you bother hauling BAGS to pour a walkway? All you need is a few bags of Portland, Stone and Sand. You could move all that in a wheelbarrow. Go rent a mixer and goto town..

I have a Belle (the orange all metal mixer you usually see for rent) It'll do a wheelbarrow full at a time, so 12 or so and your done.

 

We have a belle as well it is a great mixer. The electric model runs about 500 and well worth the money. Personally we have calculated the difference of portland/onsite mix vs. Quickrete and on small jobs the quickrete wins you can mix 58 bags in short time as long as you have the man power to mix and move.

 

F the bags and all that bull**** for 2 yards, I pour a lot of concrete and doing it from bags is the worst way unless you are pouring under 1 yard anything over that you should just order it from the truck. Doing it from bags is 4times the work, and if you are trying to pour a finished pad you will never be able to work the concrete and mix it too. Call Lafarge they will bring out 2yards for sure, you just might have to pay for 4 yards but trust me in the end it will deffinetly pay off less work, better quality concrete also. Those bag mixes do not have enough portland in them and the mix is too weak.
Just my opinion, Good luck

 

Anything over a yard or so I wouldn't bother with mixing by hand. Call the big trucks. Threes no way getting around concrete work with out a head ache and a back ache.

Like my Grandpa says...."If you have any gray matter up here (points to his head) , then you don't F*** with the gray matter down there"

haha....

 

There are a couple of new companies here that specialize in short loads. They have 3 or 4 yard mixers mounted on single axle trucks. Make some calls, maybe there's one in your area.

 

We work the short load charge into the price, I won't mix unless it's just a couple bags for a repair or mortaring treads or something, do the math, figure the labor and your time and all the other BS associated with mixing your own and are you really saving anything?

 

I would not recommend using bags to do a sidewalk or patio will look horrible unless your covering it with something like brick or stone.

 

Call LaFarge and tell them the amount of concrete you want. Tell them you want 3000 pound mix. They may offer 2500 pound mix, I'm not sure. The weakest I have ever bought is 3000. Tell them if you want fiber in the mix or any other admix. If it is just a sidewalk you can go with straight 3000 K mix. When they get on site, they will send some mix to your wheel barrow and ask if it is good or if you want more water in the mix. Tell them one way or the other and start hauling your mix. If you didn't want to haul all the mix in a wheel barrow, you may be able to rent a "georgia mule" in your area. This is a jumbo motorized wheel barrow. If you are only buying 2 yards you will have to pay a hauling fee. Like the other guys said, the driver will stay with you for 30-45 minutes without a fuss unless it is near the end of the day. I ALWAYS tip the driver 10-20 dollars, it makes life easy for the moment.

Hope this helps.

 

Here is are some different ideas that we've done. 1. Go to a equipment rental business. Around here they have mixers on site and can shoot a yd. of crete into a trailer buggy. 2. If you have a 1 ton truck, just have them shoot it into the back of that.

 

I've seen those little trailer buggies.. It even said "Get a load of this..." on the side. pretty awesome.

 

I just had 3 yds delivered. They used a mini-mixer, single axle truck. It was around $400 after I tipped the driver. The driver was able to get it in the backyard, real close to the pour site, so shuttling with wheelbarrows went very fast.

Much faster & easier than mixing bags by hand, and faster & cheaper than mixing bags with a small rental mixer. About the only downside is you need to be 100% ready for the delivery, and fast. But if I can move 3 yds, uphill with the help of my wife and the driver running the chute, in less than the hour allotted by the ready-mix co., how hard can it be?

 

I can't believe you guys will mix 2 yds worth of cement. We've got a couple of those mini-load companys around here. I haven't had the need for it yet, but when the time comes I know who I'll be calling. Mixing and moving cement sucks. Eliminate as many steps as possible, what you save in time will be more than made up for money spent for the delivery.

2. If you have a 1 ton truck, just have them shoot it into the back of that.

If I had a crew that used my truck as a cement wagon I would fill it with cement again and make them stand in it overnight while it cured. then rent a jackhammer the next day and have them jackhammer themselves out.

 

thanks guys...like I said before I haven't had the need for more than 1/2 yard...I know of a couple places around here that will mix it and rent the trailer to you to haul it yourself...just have to get there quick and have guys ready when you pull up...thanks for the advice and assistance...