Masonry Magazine April 2007 Page. 58
MORTAR MIXERS
Replacement parts can be found easily for most mixers on the market, but to prevent too many work stoppages, look for quality components. Of course, you will also want to learn about the materials used in manufacturing the components of each mortar mixer. This will help in determining the general cost of ownership.
The Components
# Engines
MORTAR MIXERS generally are built with either belt-driven motors or hydraulic engines.
Push-Button Masonry of Sherrill, Iowa, is introducing its first mortar mixer, the Mix-N-Place, to the market this spring. This hydraulic mixer is big enough to fill six tubs or three wheelbarrows.
"What we'll be able to do is take it to the mixing site and fill [the mixer] with mortar, and then take it to the tubs without having to bring the tubs to the mixing site," said Tom Cummer, president of Push-Button Masonry and owner of Cummer Masonry Inc. "By doing that, we'll be able to save a lot of forklift time."
With his new mixer, Cummer said he is filling a need for equipment that has been unavailable to him in his own masonry business. "I know some of the mixing manufacturers have built big enough mixers that they can mix four tubs of mortar at a time, but you still have to take the tubs back to the mixing site," he said.
The Mix-N-Place is part of what the industry is referring to as a slight trend toward heavier duty, higher capacity mixers. This trend includes the hydraulic mixers, which are more expensive than other mixers, and generally are employed by bigger contracting companies that need to mix larger loads. Additionally, these machines can operate in reverse to unplug mixes. Hydraulic mixers are beginning to increase in popularity, and more mixer manufacturers are producing hydraulic machines, including Toker Engineering, Multiquip Inc. and Buddy Equipment, whose first hydraulic units should be available later this year.
Jim Swisher, owner of Buddy Equipment in Jacksonville, Fla., said hydraulic mixers "give a contractor an ability he's never had before, especially at some job sites where they want to mix their own grout." Swisher sees these machines as a technological improvement for the industry, but for most mason contractors, "the father and son masonry crews," belt-driven mixers will remain the machine of choice.
major marketing tool for the Mexican company, which entered the U.S. market just six years ago.
"As a new manufacturer entering the United States market, that is an advantage for us because... that gives (customers] more flexibility to buy our mixers," said Rafé Garcia, a U.S. division manager for Toker.
Further emphasizing its commitment to American mason contractors, Toker, which is the largest manufacturer of light construction equipment in all of Latin America, recently opened a distribution warehouse in Texas. With a U.S. distribution center, Garcia said, companies know they can get the equipment or replacement parts they need quickly.