Had to choose between a drum mixer and a paddle mixer for my mortar

Had to choose between a drum mixer and a paddle mixer for my mortar last month on a retaining wall job out in Rockford. The wall was about 80 bricks per course so I knew my little drill paddle setup would take forever. The drum mixer rental was $45 a day so I figured I'd give it a shot and save my arm. But honestly it was a pain. The drum took forever to clean between batches, like scraping hardened mortar off the inside for 20 minutes each time. I ended up wasting so much time compared to just doing multiple small batches with my paddle. Not sure if I got a bad model or if they all suck like that. What do you guys use for bigger jobs? Paddle or drum?

2 comments

2 Comments

ward.piper4h ago

Hold on, is it really that big of a deal? I mean you're mixing mortar, not doing brain surgery. So you had to scrape the drum for a bit, big whoop. I've used both and honestly I just pick whatever is closest at the rental place. The paddle is fine for smaller stuff but for 80 bricks a course, I'd rather be scraping than standing there with a drill for three hours. Feels like some of you guys get way too worked up over twenty minutes of cleanup.

spencer66419h ago

I had the same problem with a drum mixer on a patio last summer. Switched over to a paddle mixer from Harbor Freight for $40 and my helper could actually keep up without me yelling at him to scrape the drum.