A concrete mixer truck belongs to a ready mix supplier rather than an equipment rental yard: you buy the concrete by the cubic yard and the drum arrives with it. What a rental counter hires for the same job is the small end of it, towable drum mixers, mortar mixers, power buggies and mixing paddles, from roughly $60 to $110 a day. Knowing which side of the line your pour sits on saves a wasted call.
How a ready mix load is actually priced
Concrete is sold by the cubic yard with a minimum, and a drum holding eight to ten yards is the standard truck. Order less than a full load and a short load fee applies. The driver allows a set unloading window and bills waiting time past it, so have the forms, the crew and the access sorted before the truck rolls.
The mixers a counter really stocks
Towable drum mixers of three to nine cubic feet, usually gas driven and street towable. Mortar mixers with paddles for masonry and grout. Power buggies for moving wet concrete across a site. Mixing drums that clamp into a heavy drill for a bag or two. All of them are day rate items and all are collected by trailer or in a pickup bed.
Where the line falls on your job
Under about half a cubic yard, bagged mix and a towable mixer is quicker and cheaper than any delivery. Between half a yard and two, it becomes a judgement about how many bags you want to lift. Past two yards, a ready mix load wins on cost, on strength consistency and on the time the pour actually takes.
Getting concrete from the truck to the form
A mixer truck chute reaches only so far, and everything beyond it is a rental problem. Power buggies carry a few cubic feet at a time over rough ground. A concrete pump with a hose reaches a back garden or a first floor deck. Wheelbarrows and planks are the fallback, and they set how long the pour takes.
Questions people ask about concrete mixer truck
Can I rent a concrete mixer truck and drive it myself?
No rental counter offers that. A ready mix truck is a commercial vehicle carrying a perishable load and it comes with the supplier's driver as part of the concrete order. What you can hire is a towable mixer and mix on site from bags.
How much does a towable mixer cost to rent?
Roughly $60 to $110 a day depending on drum size, with a week priced near three day rates. It tows behind a normal vehicle with a proper hitch, and yards expect it returned washed out, because set concrete inside a drum is charged as damage.
How many bags equal a cubic yard?
It takes about forty five 80 lb bags to make one cubic yard, which is a long morning of lifting for one person. That arithmetic is usually what decides the pour: at one or two yards, most people stop mixing and place an order.