Beyond the issue of mixing the stuff on the bottom, I would be worried about the welds holding. He may be a great welder, but the blade in a tow mixer takes a beating if you throw in piles of paper or phone books, for instance. With the long shaft and no support on the top end, you will get very large forces trying to rip the shaft off. This is a safety concern. Even if the welds hold the shaft will flex in use and eventually due to metal fatigue will break somewhere. You don't want to be close when it comes spinning through the side of the drum.
My mixer has a hole in the side where a blade got loose due to a loose bolt. We never did find the blade, luckily nobody was standing there when it exited.
spaceman All opinions expressed or implied are subject to change without notice upon receipt of new information.
On 7/28/2011 11:31 AM, Teresa P wrote:
the guy I hired got creative on me. I gave him a bunch of pictures I downloaded of the mixer I wanted built. Apparently he didnt understand why it would not leak (I forgot to tell him about the bondo) and he instead built the platform about 6" higher then the top of the differential. Then he welded a pole onto the top of the differential and put it about 3' into the air. He cut a center hole in a 55 gallon drum and put that on the platform with this pole coming up about 1/2 way into the barrel. Then he welded lawn mower blades onto the top of the pole. So now, instead of it being like a giant blender with the blades at the bottom of the barrel they are half up in the middle of the barrel. Question, will this work?
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