I, too, have run many, many bags through my mixer and luckily found that I did something right for a change. Before you use it for the first time (or, in your case, as soon as you can), spend about an hour and put a very good coat of paste wax (like you would for your car) on the inside and all over the outside of the mixer. Sounds crazy, but after using it for a full day with lots of dry time in between, at the end of the day, it cleans up to Like New in about 2 minutes. Secondly, for every couple of hundred bags put a good coat of axle grease along the open holes of the gear drive. I swear that this little effort will make you smile every time you use it after that.
Had mine for over 10 years. It's mixed thousands of bags and it's kept on truckin just make sure you wash it good and keep everything wet when you are using it
Yes sir it did! Had it in storage for a couple years. Got a little hard. I tell you what though. Once I got it loosened up/I poured it it’s been just fine. Mostly used as a quick fix for the grain bin.
These were just some hard pieces of cement that were in the bag. The cement mixer did break them up nicely. I think it was also a good testament to its reliability. Thanks for the comment!