patb86•1d ago

Don't waste your cash on cheap mortar mixing paddles

I learned this the hard way after I bought a $12 paddle from a big box store. It lasted about 3 mixes before the stem started wobbling like crazy. Then I dropped $45 on a decent mixing paddle from a supply house that has a solid steel core. That was 6 months ago and it's still straight as an arrow. The cheap one left me with uneven mortar that cost me time on a job. How many bags of mix did yours hold up for before it went bad?

2 comments

2 Comments

mary_wells1d ago

...and something else nobody talks about is the shape of the paddle itself, not just the build quality. I bought a cheap spiral paddle once that was supposed to be for mortar, but the blades were too wide and it was churning air instead of mixing. Just spinning in the bucket barely touching the bottom half. Ended up with dry clumps on the bottom and wet slop on top. Got a narrower, steeper angled paddle from a masonry supplier and it actually pulls material down from the top and forces it through the blades. Night and day difference. The cheap one wasn't just weak, it was poorly designed for the job.

avery_foster311d ago

Honestly, that's a solid point about the shape, but I gotta gently push back on one thing. The blade width isn't really the main issue there. A cheap spiral paddle that's too wide will still churn if the stem is flimsy or the angle is off, but the real problem is usually the blade pitch not being steep enough. I've had wide paddles that worked fine for mortar because they had a good twist to them that actually pushed material down. The clumps at the bottom you mentioned sounds more like the paddle wasn't long enough for the bucket depth, not just the width. A narrow paddle might seem better, but if it's got a shallow angle, you'll still get that same dry mess. Tbh, I've seen guys swear by the exact opposite and get perfect mixes just by changing the paddle length.