I'm building a 7.5 by 4.5m cabin in the woods and I can't get a readymix truck anywhere close for the foundation pour. How difficult will it be to mix the concrete on site for the 600x 300mm strip foundations?

Posted By: VictorianecoHow strong are you to mix all that and barrow it in?

it's either barrow the dry stuff in or barrow the wet stuff in.

Powered barrow dry and mix and pour straight into trenches. I would do pads, I'm square holes to same depth with beams, steel or wood between them and build on that.

Or just ram the pad holes full of dry graded aggregate well consolidated, incorporating squares of steel fabric at vertical intervals to restrain 'bursting' (outward flow of aggregate resulting from vertical load). A shed will sit happily on that; can be packed up level if nec after a year. That's how Ben Law founds his pole buildings - full details in
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roundwood-Timber-Framing-Lloyd-Kahn/dp/1856230414/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413063964&sr=1-1&keywords=ben+law+roundwood

I know someone who used some ponies once to carry building materials into a difficult location.

sounds funny, but when you think about it, in certain circumstances, like trying to transport stuff through woods or tricky slopes, they are ideal.

You haven't answered the question of how close a truck can get. Pumping concrete 100 metres is routine, they can go further.

Friend got 6 or 7 m³ pumped about 70 metres with no hassle. Don't know what he paid but it was all done in an afternoon and a lot less hassle than barrowing it on to an awkward site.

Rachel Shiamh (at one time of this forum) used a donkey to help get materials on site for this house: http://www.quietearth.org.uk/strawbale.htm

The distance is about 150m. I agree it could be pumped but the cost would be quite high and my time is free. The powered barrow makes moving materials to the site easy, then all I have to do is mix and pour as a continuous operation. My mixer is about 1/3 of a metre cubed.

I've just levelled the site and dug the foundations by hand so moving the materials, then mixing should help me get fit!

I've realised that a mini digger would be so useful for loading materials and digging but I'm finding it hard to justify buying one.

Posted By: willie.macleodany farmers or stables with a bobcat, small dumper (these can be dirt cheap and shouldn't lose any money) or small telehandler?

we have a few guys locally who do groundwork, but all of them tell me they are too busy to do a one day job! The plot I have has a lot of sloping ground and I soon realised that to build anything I'll need to start by levelling off, so I've also been looking around the various actions for second hand plant prices are still quite high compared to a few years ago, mind you a hike in interest rates and a general election may put paid to that.

At the moment I'm working on the small stuff around the garden, outbuildings to store tools, equipment, wood etc and a cabin in the woods in which to live during the build. The problem I'm finding is that all my old contacts have given up self employment and gone working for larger firms or the local college, so are no longer available, those left are booked up months in advance. Hence the reason why I'm hand digging and pouring the small foundations myself. If I have to do the main house foundations myself I'll definitely need at least one more part of hands and an excavator of some sort.

Yes and my neighbour has a small tractor I could borrow, why?

There are PTO mixers that will fit a trackers, some are even self loading. Even if not self loading, you can load the mixer then drive the trackers to the building site while it mixes.