ToughButterCup Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Answers on a postcard, please. As usual in 17 minds about it (yep Declan , overthinking it) Lots of work for one if I buy, and I have a bad to poor back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlewhouse Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 (edited) I asked for one as a birthday present (I got a new deer rifle for my birthday the year before so we may be officially rednecks I think!) and even before our build starts it's been really useful and we've made paths, a shed base, and odd bits and bobs like bedding in posts which I'd have mixed by hand and hurt myself doing (I have a prolapsed disc and live on Tramadol), so even if I'd paid for it, it would have more than repaid itself by now. Edited August 8, 2016 by curlewhouse 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 I was doing some wiring for a chap and there was one in his garden looking unloved. I asked if he wanted to sell it. He said no, but you may borrow it. So I borrowed it for a few weeks (this was 13 years ago when building the previous house) when I finished with it, I phoned him to arrange a time to take it back. "Oh, I don't want it back" he said. It's still going strong now and still looking just as tatty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crofter Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 My Dad bought a cheap Belle 240v one about 20yrs ago and it still looks almost good as new. Secret is to keep a bucket of shingle on hand and let it chew on that for ten minutes after you've finished. Definitely worth buying, and if you find it isn't being used stick it on Gumtree. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Buy an old belle if possible or even better a mixer with a Lister engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 4 minutes ago, Declan52 said: Buy an old belle if possible or even better a mixer with a Lister engine. Declan, I'm married to an old Belle And yer pushing on an open door with the Lister engine. God, the number of times I've nearly broken my wrist starting one of those in an old boat I owned. Hard to get it to stop once started, though. And totally reliable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Prime the engine with a squirt of quick start in the exhaust and swing on it till your arm near falls of. At just that point flick the compression on and make sure you take the handle with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 1 hour ago, Declan52 said: [...] and make sure you take the handle with you. Oh how I laughed when first I made that mistake! Oh how flew the handle - like a homesick Angel! A beautiful high tumbling arc straight into Diglis yacht basin in Worcester, by the river Severn. Oh how I cursed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Our builder uses his own petrol Belle for his building work, but we still bought a cheap electric Belle look-alike for ourselves from ScrewFix. Jan and I have mixed a lot of mortar and concrete in our time, but we're getting too bloody old for that lark. The electric mixer is just brilliant, and we use it for our garden and boundary walling and paving etc., which we are doing ourselves. Thanks to the bucket of ballast trick, it still looks like new and we'll probably get rid of it on eBay or whatever when the house and garden is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 1 hour ago, recoveringacademic said: Oh how I laughed when first I made that mistake! Oh how flew the handle - like a homesick Angel! A beautiful high tumbling arc straight into Diglis yacht basin in Worcester, by the river Severn. Oh how I cursed. Have seen many a man run for the hills when they realise the handle is stuck. Trying to turn a mixer of with the handle swinging is def a skill few have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Reminds me of when I was a young boy. There was a building site near us and at weekends we used to love exploring the part built houses. One weekend, they had left the starting handle with the dumper. So what do young boys do? put the handle on the shaft and give it a spin. I don't think any of us expected the dumper to start and of course none of us knew how to stop it, so we just scarpered. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 OK, petrol Belle or decent electric? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 I have had both and i would go with electric, no starting problems, dirt in petrol, servicing ( once a decade usually) I have an old electric mixer I was given as it had been left on site and the builder never got around to collecting it, after cleaning half a ton Of old mortor out of it it's never let me down and is about to be used on my new build ( if it ever gets started . ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney12 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 +1 on the Belle Electric. Bought mine what must be 10 years ago and it's never missed a beat. Still going strong. Just keep it clean, a few stones in after you've finished and a bucket of water and a liberal scrub with a stiff brush arround the outside. Simples looking at eBay prices I think they've got stronger residuals than a well cared for Rolex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Electric for me too. Just to have less noise is a major plus tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 There is no better sound than a few stones slapping about in a mixer , it means the days work is soon to end. For what Ian needs a 1 barrow electric mixer will be fine but I wouldn't want to attempt a block house with one. You would never be away from the mixer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 Thanks folks. That's it. Off to the BM this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Late to the party. Mine was from Wickes 3 years ago, and is a Belle own-branded iirc. Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 We bought this one from ScrewFix at £200. No complaints, other than they classified it as a 2 person lift; so their staff weren't allowed to pick it up. Taking an extra person might help. They taught sappers how to pick up heavy loads; probably something they missed off the educators' courses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I've looked at a few - is 90 litres too small ..?? Always think the wheeled ones are better than the ones you have to lift onto the stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crofter Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Lifting onto a stand is pretty simple. I can manage and I'm about 5'5! How big a barrow do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Construction Channel Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 (edited) Well I missed the party on this one. But I would also go for the 90l electric belle. edit:when i say 90l i mean mix capacity, usually about 130l drum but i think thats what most of them are, Edited August 8, 2016 by Construction Channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 6 hours ago, PeterW said: I've looked at a few - is 90 litres too small ..?? Always think the wheeled ones are better than the ones you have to lift onto the stand. Mine is ancient and only has wheels. It doesn't even have the spigot to allow it to go onto a stand. So if you want to be able to tip it's contents into a barrow, you have to drag it up onto a stack of pallets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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