Industrial Mixers

Industrial Mixers: How the Types in This Category Differ

All of these machines blend dry material with water, but the mixing action is not interchangeable. Rotating-drum multi-mixers such as the IMER Workman and Workman II line tumble material with internal blades and are the general-purpose choice for site concrete and mortar. Vertical shaft mixers — the IMER Mix All and Mix 360 models — hold the drum still and turn paddles through it, which shears stiff, low-slump material that a tumbling drum only rolls around. Horizontal shaft mortar mixers (IMER HSM 6, HSM 8 and HSM 12) drive a paddle shaft down the length of a steel trough, the traditional layout for masonry mortar and stucco. Continuous mixers such as the IMER Spin Max meter premixed bagged material and water at a set rate instead of working in batches, which suits pump-fed plaster and self-leveling work where stopping to mix is the bottleneck. The Vestil horizontal drum roller mixer rotates sealed drums for blending liquids, and the Makinex MS-100 mixing station is a wheeled stand and bucket support that holds material for a paddle mixer you supply — no mixer is included with it.

Power Source: 120V, 240V, Gas or Motorless

Electric models in this collection run from 0.5 HP up to 7.5 HP, with 120V single-phase units for standard site power and 240V versions where the motor calls for it — the IMER Workman II 350 ED end-dump mixer is offered as both a 120V (part 1105864) and a 240V (part 1105865) configuration of the same 1.5 HP machine. Electric is the default for interior, tunnel and occupied-building work where exhaust is a problem, and it costs less per hour to run. Gasoline makes sense where there is no reliable power at the pour: the IMER 1194648 vertical shaft mixer pairs a 22 cu ft towable frame with a 13 HP Honda GX engine, and the IMER 1194661 Mix 360 vertical shaft mortar mixer is also a 13 HP machine. Three models — the Workman II 350 ED (1105830), the Workman 350 towable (1105856) and the 1194640 towable vertical shaft mixer — ship without a motor, which is worth considering if you are standardizing on one engine or motor across a fleet, or putting a good power unit onto a new frame. OSHA 1926.404(b)(1) requires ground-fault circuit interrupter protection or an assured equipment grounding conductor program for 120V receptacle outlets on construction sites, so plan the generator and cord setup around that.

Sizing a Portable Industrial Mixer to Batch Volume

Rated drum capacity and usable output are different numbers, and buyers routinely size on the wrong one. The IMER 1105802 portable mixer has a 12 cu ft drum but roughly 9.5 cu ft of output per batch, and the working figure is what fills the wheelbarrow or hopper. Work backwards from placement rate: how much material the crew can finish before it starts to stiffen, how many bags that is, and how many cycles per hour the mixer has to turn. In this category, drum sizes run from small portable units up through 6, 8 and 12 cu ft horizontal shaft mortar mixers to a 22 cu ft towable vertical shaft machine, so the practical split is one-person patch and repair work at the bottom, a masonry crew in the middle, and continuous multi-trade supply at the top. Oversizing carries a real cost — a partly loaded drum mixes less consistently, and the extra weight has to be towed, parked, washed and stored every day.

Site Access, Transport and Setup

Decide how the machine reaches the work before you settle on capacity. Towable units are built for a hitch and open ground: the Workman II 350 ED weighs 650 lb and measures 50 x 77 x 56 in (W x L x H), which parks fine on a lot but will not fit through a standard doorway. Confirm your tow vehicle's hitch and tongue rating, and check the towing, lighting and safety-chain rules for the states you operate in, since those are set and enforced at the state level. Portable models are the answer for interiors and upper floors — the IMER Mix 120 Plus is 286 lb at 30 x 33 x 50 in, and the Makinex MS-100 mixing station weighs 40 lb without the stirrer, rolls on four wheels, and drops from a 42-50 in operating height to 31 in for transport in a van. Several IMER drum mixers add forklift pockets, pneumatic wheels and slide-out transport bars for moving around a yard. Confirm slab or ground conditions, water access and where wash-out goes before you schedule delivery.

Safety, Maintenance and Cost of Ownership

Dry cement, sand and premixed material contain crystalline silica. OSHA's construction silica standard, 29 CFR 1926.1153, sets a permissible exposure limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter as an 8-hour time-weighted average and requires employers to assess and control exposure during dusty tasks such as dumping bags into a mixer. OSHA 1910.212 requires guarding of rotating machine parts, and 29 CFR 1910.147 lockout/tagout applies whenever someone reaches into a drum or trough to clean or service it — contact with a paddle or blade on a machine that was never actually de-energized is the classic serious injury with this equipment. OSHA 1926.702(b) requires concrete mixers with loading skips of one cubic yard or larger to have a mechanical skip-clearing device and guardrails on both sides; the drum and shaft mixers here do not use skips that size, but the guarding and lockout rules still apply. On maintenance, the recurring costs are wear parts and cleanliness: paddles, rubber wipers, drum seals, bearings and gearbox oil. The IMER 1105802 uses a sealed oil-bath direct-drive gearbox, which takes chain and belt adjustment out of the routine. Wash the drum at the end of every shift — cured buildup is the fastest way to lose capacity, unbalance a drum and cook a motor.