Need to pour a small slab

[alabama]

One Yard of 4000 psi Concrete mix.
Cement = 620 lbs
Water = 33 Gallons
Sand = 1105 Lbs
Gravel = 1872 Lbs


you can slow the set time down and make it easer to work in the summer with some
Retarding Agent like 6 oz of Pozzolith 100-XR

 

[iowafarmer]

Yeah I would go with a footing aound the edge about a foot and a half or two feet deep around the edge so that rats don't get udner it. Then use rebar on 18" and put some in the footing and go 6inches of cement deep and put a layer of gravel 4 inches thick where the pad is but you don't need it for the footing. Helps if ground with freezing here in iowa and thawing and stuff. the pilllar idea was good but you could get by with out them. Unless you have really strong winds over 75mph i doupt it would tip over if bolted to 6 inch slab of concrete and is full of feed. It would take a tornado to blow it over. You don't need a footing just an idea or gravel makes a nicer base under neath than top soil. I would put rebar in it though to strengthen it up so it doesn't crack.

 

[Brad D]

We have put 3 oil barrels in the back of our truck and went to the cement plant and got them to fill them up, then back up to where you need them and dump worked ok that time anyways. As long as they don't put any acelerator in the cemet it shouldn't harden to quick.

 

[backhoeboogie]

you can slow the set time down and make it easer to work in the summer with some
Retarding Agent like 6 oz of Pozzolith 100-XR

Alabama, That is something I will try next time. Maybe I can breath a little longer between throwing buckets out of the way.

 

[alabama]

you can slow the set time down and make it easer to work in the summer with some
Retarding Agent like 6 oz of Pozzolith 100-XR

Alabama, That is something I will try next time. Maybe I can breath a little longer between throwing buckets out of the way.

Be carfull. It don't thake much. Notice 6 oz in one yard.

 

[cowsrus]

Lots of helpfull information from you guys. You gave me several good ideas on how to do this project. Although what I thought was going to be a simple job turns out a little more complicated. Anyway, I would rather do it right the first time. I can see one thing that has to be exact is going to be the placement of the bolts in the cement for the legs. There is almost no room for error. I thought of making a template rather than just measure and hope. Any ideas on this ?
Also where could I find some of that retardent for the cement.

 

[skyline]

Template would be good, but whatever you do, measure about 4 or 5 times just to be sure.

 

[Stocker Steve]

If you mix a yard of concrete with 3 shevels of graval to 2 shevels of sand and one shevel of portland cement ,even in a mixer, you will be my hero.

Good luck

We mixed a 4'x6'x6" thick pad in a wheel barrow last fall. The wife complained a bit towards the end so I let her take a break ;-)

 

[alabama]

The trick to a template is to make sure that you can hold it while the concrete is being poured and vibrated. I make templates out of plywood by drilling the bolt pattern and bolting the anchor bolts to the plywood. You still have to hold the bottom of the bolt so that each bolt does not move out of plumb. This can be done by tack welding the bottom of the bolts to a small peace of steel plate with a hole in the middle or tying to the bottom matt of rebar. The top template can be attached to the side forms but make sure you get concrete under the plywood template and leave no voids.
I have added the anchor bolts after the concrete cures. That way you can set the bin on the pad and drill through the boltholes in the feet. Use a rotary hammer drill and go about 10 or 12 inches deep. Then set the anchor bolts with a good concrete epoxy. Two things get all the concrete dust out of the hole and have the hole just a little bigger than the bolt. This will let the epoxy set. Also, this is not epoxy you get at Wal-Mart. Ask for a concrete epoxy for anchor bolts at an industry supply house. A one-gallon kit should run about 30$. Don't let them sell you that $30 per hole stuff. You don't need it.

You can buy concrete retarding agent from any concert ready mix plant but remember that at 6 oz per yard it will be hard to add, mixing in small buckets.

One part that most people neglect and it is the cheapest and one of the most critical is curing. Concrete should not "dry." Concrete should cure and no water allowed to evaporate. Have the soil moist under the pour and cover as soon as you can. The best cover is water but plastic or even better is wet burlap covered with plastic. Let it stay wet for two weeks or at least 3 days and you will prevent cracking. I have seen folks spend a lot on rebar and forms and buy good concrete and then pour it out in the hot sun and not keep it wet and then wonder why it cracks.

Good luck
I still recommend that you get everything ready and order the concrete in a truck.
And please let us know how it goes.

 

[iowafarmer]

Yeah i would go with putting in the anchors after the cement has cured. We used a hammer drill and just use cement anchors that you tighten with a wrench. We used them to hold down 3 round corncribs we put up the other year and they work great.