I would give a call to the redi-mix place and get a quote on the concrete
before you sweat too much! You may be pleasantly surprised at the cost of
the truck brigning it when you figure out how many of those lil Sakrete(r)
bags it will take to fill your hole!
If you do decide to mix it (GL)...two things:
For each 80lb sack of the premixed stuff add a half shovelful of portland
cement...cement is the most expensive part of what's in the bag and it is
what is in shortest supply...you will strengthen the mix considerably.
If you are not renting a cement mixer, don't mix it with a ho, I mean hoe,
seeing as this is your first time you may not be familiar with power
tools...such as the wonder tool - the mixer paddle. When coupled with a 1/2"
drill you can mix concrete in a 5 gallon plastic bucket a lot faster and a
lot better than you would if you were using a mud box and a hoe. With two
guys - one commanding the drill, and the other pouring the concrete mix and
adding the water it goes pretty fast...like I said though:
Calculate how many bags its gonna take....its a LOT. There probably is a
paragraph on the side of the concrete mix bag that tells you it will make a 3
inch thick slab x feet square....figure out how many of those it will take to
fill your 64 cubic foot hole!!! Its a lot! When you multiply it out, you may
indeed find the truck is cheaper......sure it ain't as macho as mixing it
yourself, but heah - you need to save your strength for other "firsts".
73/GL
Jim, K4OJ
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: K7LXC@contesting.com
Sponsored by Akorn Access, Inc & KM9P
|