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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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cement mixer for spawning bulk
#21944537 - 07/14/15 11:09 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Hand mixing substrate and spawn for 6-7 5 gal pails is a PITA and not always consistent. So im thinking about getting a $150 harbor freight cement mixer I could let the bags all drain and cool, dump one pails worth of substrate in, start mixing, then dump in my broken up spawn. Im aware people use them for mixing sawdust but has anyone used em for mixing your pasteurized sub and spawn? Anyone see any flaws or does this sound like a valid idea?
the culprit http://www.harborfreight.com/1-14-cubic-ft-cement-mixer-61931.html
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solarity
mm... my favourite food



Registered: 03/31/09
Posts: 1,590
Loc: UK
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Re: cement mixer for spawning bulk [Re: Gr0wer]
#21945849 - 07/15/15 05:11 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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I have one, never use it. I mix 200kg at a time in half an IBC with a shovel. Any large round/square low open container will do. I know someone uses a paddling pool!
-------------------- Commercial exotics farmer for 8 years - now sold up!
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moonlightmushrooms
farmur

Registered: 05/10/14
Posts: 214
Loc: canada
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: cement mixer for spawning bulk [Re: Gr0wer]
#21945971 - 07/15/15 06:11 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Gr0wer said: Hand mixing substrate and spawn for 6-7 5 gal pails is a PITA and not always consistent. So im thinking about getting a $150 harbor freight cement mixer I could let the bags all drain and cool, dump one pails worth of substrate in, start mixing, then dump in my broken up spawn. Im aware people use them for mixing sawdust but has anyone used em for mixing your pasteurized sub and spawn? Anyone see any flaws or does this sound like a valid idea?
Seems like a dough mixer would be easier to sanitize, though way more expensive (second hand one around here runs ~$250). How do you sanitize your buckets? We were only using 5gal pails but found it way to labour intensive to sanitize every @#%%$# hole for every pail. Even after a good scrubbing some would still have bits of stuff in them.
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drake89
Mushroom Magnate



Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,168
Loc: TN
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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i would save your money before buying anything that has moving parts from harbor freight
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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solarity, Id love to get my hands on a tote, Id probably end up paying for one but there half the price of the cement mixer typically.
moonlightmushrooms,
I just use a rag with dawn. Then ill spray with bleach if the pail had a contaminate in it, otherwise ill just soap and rinse em. With pasteurized bulk you don't need sterile, you don't even need sanitized, clean is typically good enough.
Drake89, I agree harbor freight sells crap. However id be running this at 1/10 the rated load capacity so it wouldn't be stressed much.
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solarity
mm... my favourite food



Registered: 03/31/09
Posts: 1,590
Loc: UK
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Re: cement mixer for spawning bulk [Re: Gr0wer]
#21947635 - 07/15/15 02:28 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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I even have a hand driven 700 L (That 3.5 oil drums!) rotating compost mixer. Never use that either -though that is more to do with the ease of tilting the StasturliserTM and dumping it straight in the trough for mixing. Though the compost mixer might be worth looking into for your operation - load, mix, put the bucket underneath and fill.
-------------------- Commercial exotics farmer for 8 years - now sold up!
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: cement mixer for spawning bulk [Re: solarity]
#21949033 - 07/15/15 07:30 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Only issue is i currently do fairly small batches of 2-7 5 gal pails and experiment with different substrate mixes per pail. So i mix one pail at a time. Hence the cement mixer fitting my bill better. That and i'm limited to a one car garage and ~300 square foot back yard.
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AnarchoV
Revolutionary



Registered: 09/01/13
Posts: 225
Loc: Missouri
Last seen: 11 months, 2 days
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Re: cement mixer for spawning bulk [Re: Gr0wer]
#21951023 - 07/16/15 09:03 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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I have been known to use a harbor freight tool on occasion. Usually, I expect it to be a one time use tool. Otherwise...
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drake89
Mushroom Magnate



Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,168
Loc: TN
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: cement mixer for spawning bulk [Re: AnarchoV]
#21951079 - 07/16/15 09:25 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
AnarchoV said: I have been known to use a harbor freight tool on occasion. Usually, I expect it to be a one time use tool. Otherwise...

LOL YES
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: cement mixer for spawning bulk [Re: drake89]
#21951772 - 07/16/15 12:15 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Rofl. True. Almost every piece of harbor freight equipment needs to be welded and reineforeced for proper operation and longevity. Good old chinesse engineering and sweat shop manufacturing.
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Humbled
Local Budtender




Registered: 01/19/08
Posts: 1,903
Last seen: 8 hours, 55 minutes
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Re: cement mixer for spawning bulk [Re: Gr0wer]
#21956066 - 07/17/15 01:04 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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I think a cement mixer is a good design for mixing spawn with bulk subs. Anything like a dough mixer would probably mash up your grains which you don't want happening if you can help it.
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: cement mixer for spawning bulk [Re: Humbled]
#21956588 - 07/17/15 02:59 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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And the main thing is its designed to tip over and dump all the contents, into a 3.5 or 5 gal pail with a massive funnel. If/when i finally start to make mushroom sales ill give the cement mixer a shot and update this thread, which will hopefully be later this month I think the saving grace for using this harbor freight tool is it will only be ran at 1/10 weight capacity and for short periods of time.
Edited by Gr0wer (07/17/15 03:03 PM)
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drake89
Mushroom Magnate



Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,168
Loc: TN
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: cement mixer for spawning bulk [Re: Gr0wer]
#21957080 - 07/17/15 05:23 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Gr0wer said: And the main thing is its designed to tip over and dump all the contents, into a 3.5 or 5 gal pail with a massive funnel. If/when i finally start to make mushroom sales ill give the cement mixer a shot and update this thread, which will hopefully be later this month I think the saving grace for using this harbor freight tool is it will only be ran at 1/10 weight capacity and for short periods of time.
yeah i'm just giving you shit about it. i think they should work and you don't need to hold it to mix, unlike my home depot model.
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: cement mixer for spawning bulk [Re: drake89]
#21960373 - 07/18/15 12:27 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Yea i was looking at the home depot cement mixer its twice the price and prpbabbly a better choice if i was mixing cement for durability. I noticed it wouldn't work well for my application because he method of dumping, where you tip the whole unit from behind, and the lower drum height wouldn't be good for dumping into 5 gal pails. The harbor freight model with the front mounted dump handle and higher mounted drum would be better because you can load and dump the machine all working in front of the unit and be working at waist level for better ergonomics.
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