A Case for Mobile Mixers

Long term muckshifting man Nigel Williams has exploded onto the podcast scene in recent weeks with his no holds barred “From the Seat of the Cab” series. Described by our good friend Mark Anthony as the “Thinking man’s Digger Driver” Nigel has strong views on various topics and doesn’t hold back in expressing them.

Nigel also spends a considerable amount of time on the LinkedIn professional platform and it was on there that I spotted him discussing mobile 4x4 compact self-mixing concrete trucks. These machines from the likes of Fiori and D’Avino are extremely popular in Italy and other parts of Europe, but are rarely seen in the UK, why is that?

Nigel takes up the story, “So many times I have been on site and had to sit there patiently waiting for concrete to come, excuses range from non-existent punctures and trucks breaking down to fully operational batching plants being "broken down".

A few years ago I saw these off road self-mix trucks on YouTube, and for the life of me I can't see why sites are not getting bulk ballast and cement delivered, and mixing on site as and when they need it, all additives can be measured and in the mix, competent and trained operators can even run between sites locally for days or weeks long runs of work adding convenience and efficiency into the process”.

It is a strange one, but I guess once again, its one of those region-specific issues, I liken it to the way we use site dumpers in the UK, while in large parts of Europe they are hardly ever used, with contractors there preferring to use the compact wheeled loader to move materials around.

I can see where Nigel is coming from with his thoughts on this though, I’d like a pound for every time I have mixed up some concrete on the road using the bucket of the digger, with lads throwing bags of cement onto the ballast and adding a bit of water to produce a mix for edging stones or kerbs, and I’ve often thought to myself, this is not the most efficient use of an excavator, and pondered on the actual quality of the concrete produced, all food for thought.

These self-loading, self-propelled, and self-dispatching mobile mixers must be worth a closer look in my opinion.

Pictured: Nigel Williams, Podcaster From the Seat of the Cab.

Anyway, if you have not had a listen to Nigel Williams podcast you can check him out here, From the Seat of the Cab, but be warned there is strong language for those easily offended.