home made concrete

[ALLFARMER]

Since concrete is $131/yard and gravel is $13/yard. I am planing to make my own concrete for my hopper pad. Has anyone done this before and had problem...with cracking? Looking for advise. Thanks!

[dalek]

We always used to make our own concrete with a Teagle 3pt mixer, for freestall barns, silo floors, etc. Never had any problems, usually mix a yard or slightly more per hour with me loading and unloading and dad running it into the forms. How much is Portland there? It runs about $45/yard here, isn't worth mixing our own anymore other than small batches when we consider the extra time we spend .

[farmboy1]

Make sure you have the right mixture and that it is well mixed. Spend a little more and use cement gravel- not pit run. Check with someone who knows what the proper thickness of the pad should be and whether rebar is recommended. We've mixed a lot of cement in the past(up to 6 yds./hr) for all applications and have not run into any problems as long as the site was properly prepped (topsoil removed and one inch of gravel base for every inch of concrete thickness). Good luck.

[ALLFARMER]

For my hopper pad I am told 16" thick 3 feet square around each leg. I plan to make it all 16" thick with the middle being only 4" thick. Should 5 or 6" of 3/4" crush be enough to set the pad up on or is sand better?

[edbaker]

Hi all,

I heard that they'd built a landing pad for UFO's in St. Paul.

But I hadn't heard that you were into building landing pads for 'hoppers.

Do they need wind socks, as well?

I heard that there'd been a lot of them around in recent years, what with the drought and all.

They must have developed much larger ones than when I helped on our home farm near Regina - about 1950. The magpies could eat 'em, in those days.

Progress everywhere, I guess.

Good wishes to all.