Kobalt Cement Mixer

Hello everyone in today’s post I want to review the Kobalt Cement Mixer (Kobalt 4-cu ft 0.5-HP Cement Mixer) I recently bought in and so far have poured over 100 bags of concrete with.

For anyone considering buying a cement mixer, we will cover basic specifications, the competition, a large project I did and how the mixer performed and the verdict.

Basic Specifications:

The Mixer drum is 4 cubic feet, which allows you to mix 2 80-pound bags easily, and from my experience a bit more. I found it able to handle 3 60-pound bags. Right now, as of Feb 2024, its priced at around $399. When I bought mine, it was cheaper, and I believe on sale about $299. It has two handles, one in the front for tilting forward and easily dumping the concrete when mixed, and also a rear handle for moving around. It’s easy to start with a green button(on) and red button(off). Just remember to start the engine, let it warm up a bit and then add water and concrete.

The Competition:

Yardmax has a mixer that is 4 cubic feet. I liked the large wheels and design of the Kobalt mixer better so decided to go with it. Its design allows it to move around easier and also dump the concrete easier. When I was shopping for mixers, I seem to recall the price was the same for both. Today the Kobalt brand is about $100 more. It should be said that Yardmax has a mixer similar in design to the Kobalt, but the Yardmax is 5 cubic feet and a little more expensive (YARDMAX 5-cu ft concrete mixer 5-cu ft 0.75-HP Cement Mixer).

The Project:

My project was simple. Extend our patio out. We were planning on getting a gazebo, and with the Gazebo being 16*12 long, we would need to extend our patio. Originally, I planned on just pouring some 2*2 concrete squares that the posts could sit on (picture below). Soon though I realized that we needed to extend the whole patio

So, I got digging and extended the area.

After digging around 4-6 inches, I dropped in a thin layer of gravel and on top and tamped it compact. Next, I added wire mesh on top of the gravel.

Now came the important question: How to get a mixer to pour the concrete?

I looked into renting one, but since I didn’t own a truck or anything that could transport the machine from Lowes, I realized it would just be more cost effective to buy one.

I had around 85 bags to pour and planned to do it all in one long day.

After much debate and looking through mixers, I decided to buy the Kobalt.

There were several things I liked about this mixer , however this mixer also has some weaknesses.

I ordered the mixer from Lowes, and it came brand new with no issues. Assembly was fairly easy, and I would generally say it’s a one man/woman job.

Portability is a bit of issue, but it is a concrete mixer and not meant to be moved from place to place easy. You can pick up the back handle on the mixer, tilt it forward and roll it around fairly easy. I was able to get it in my shed with no issues.

After I ordered 85 60-pound quikrete bags from Home Depot and moved them to the back, I got ready for what would be an extremely long day.

I was working alone, so I would have to mix the concrete and also finish it while the concrete was mixing in the drum. This was no easy task as I wouldn’t have much time to finish and edge the concrete and also mix the concrete.

As I began the job, I realized that the mixer had one thing from the start I didn’t like: The Drum was too high off the ground. I stand 5’8 and I’m pretty strong, but I found incredibly difficult to lift the 60-pound concrete bags and dump them in the mixer. My first 5-10 bags, I struggled pouring them in and often missed getting it in the mixer. As a result, I decided to pull up an old wheelbarrow, dump the cement in there, and then shovel the powered concrete into the mixer while adding water from the hose. I didn’t measure either as I had to work quickly, but I was able to mix and pour without issue and this got the job done.

Toward the end of the day, I had to really hustle as I was running out of daylight. This did make the concrete toward the end pretty rocky, but still I’m satisfied with the result.

The Kobalt Cement Mixer I would say overall is a solid product. The drum had no issue handling multiple bags. The engine appears solid and even after getting it wet (which I would avoid doing), it still ran solidly. It has a handle which allows you to move it around fairly easily. One of the best features, is the ability to tilt the drum and pour the concrete easily inside the stakes. One can set up just outside the stakes, mix the concrete, and dump it without issue.

The Verdict:

I think that the Kobalt mixer is a solid buy. I was able to mix 85 bags in one day and extend my patio with no major issues and the machine was capable of handling the job. If I had help, I probably could have finished quicker and also poured more cement bags. There might be other options, but this mixer is good for fairly large concrete jobs where a hand mixer won’t do it.