If you have never made any papercrete and you think a tow mixer will be overkill, my own experience is that you always want more. I made a 200 gal towmixer three years ago to "play" and although I was only going to build a "test" shed 8' X 16' with an 8' eave, I have yet to finish it. Some of the reason is I only work on it in the summer months of June July and August and another is that I keep getting waylaid by new methods.
My point is, even a 200 gallon mixer gets emptied out in minutes and produces only so much final material. They can be made cheaper than what you want to do trying to find a method of using a 55 gallon drum and a way to pulp paper in it.
If size is the foremost concern, use the 55 gallon drum for the tank and put it on an axle and tow it, or drive it stationary with an associated vehicle. You can find a differential with all the necessary stuff on it in backyards all across America for peanuts. Add a pipe, a trailer hitch, some angle for support, a gallon of Bondo to seal the intersection, a mower blade and you are ready to thrash paper. Don't forget to fill the differential with oil when you are done welding the tongue on, as the bearing in the nose will now be pointed straight up and get dry and fail after about the 10th or 15th batch (voice of experience here).
Ron
Thanks for some good info regarding construction of a 55 gal drum papercrete stationery mixer. Still, there seems to be no actual video on how to construct one. I have purchased a video on how to construct a tow mixer. Surprised to hear that an electric motor will not work since I know there are electric hand held drill like mixers used for mixing mortar. A group like this is great to share what has been tried and works. I've seen video with a huge stationery mixer powered by a car whose axle runs the mixer blade but that would be overkill for me. Also have seen modest and somewhat flimsy looking units with a motor on top. I once spoke to Mike McCain about his version of a 55 gallon mixer but he has moved on to the tow mixers and feels its the only way to go from what I gather.
