Mud mixer covers three different machines at a rental counter, and picking the wrong one loses a morning. A handheld paddle mixer at roughly $25 to $50 a day blends drywall compound, thinset and grout in a bucket. A mortar box mixer at $75 to $150 a day turns out sand and cement by the batch for a bricklayer.
Bucket mixers for compound, thinset and grout
This is a low speed drill motor with a paddle on a shaft. Speed is the specification that matters: compound and thinset need slow revolutions so air is not whipped into the mix. Paddle shape follows the material, a helix for heavy thinset and an open cage for compound. Yards stock the mixer and the paddle as separate items, so name the material.
Box mixers for mortar, stucco and plaster
A box mixer is a horizontal trough with paddles on a shaft, gas or electric, sized from about four to twelve cubic feet. It mixes sand and cement without tumbling it, which is what mortar wants, and tips out with a lever straight into a wheelbarrow. One of these keeps a pair of bricklayers fed all day.
A rotating drum is for concrete, not mud
The tilting barrel mixer on the same lot tumbles stone and cement together and is the wrong tool for mortar or plaster, which need paddles working the material rather than gravity dropping it. If someone hands you a drum for a stucco scratch coat, ask again. The wrong action gives a mix that never comes right and wastes bags.
Cleaning is a line on the ticket
Every mixer comes back with the material set inside if it is not washed out within the hour, and yards charge for that, often more than another day of hire. Rinse the trough or the bucket before the material stiffens, take the paddle off and clean the shaft. Fuel policy on a gas box mixer is the other line to check.
Questions people ask about mud mixer rental
Can I mix drywall mud with an ordinary drill?
A standard drill will run a paddle through thin compound for a few buckets and will burn out on a full pail. The rented mixers are geared low with a big motor and a side handle for exactly that reason. For a single small patch a drill is fine; for a house of taping, hire the mixer.
What size box mixer keeps one bricklayer going?
A four to six cubic foot machine is comfortable for one or two bricklayers on standard block. A crew of three or a heavy pointing day wants nine cubic feet or more, mostly so nobody stands waiting on a batch. The limit is usually how fast the sand and bags reach the machine.
Electric or gas for indoor work?
Electric, without exception, unless the space is genuinely open to outside air. A gas engine indoors puts exhaust into the room you are working in. Electric box mixers want a dedicated circuit and sometimes a heavier supply than a domestic outlet gives, so check the plug type when you book.