Both deliver concrete on site. The difference is where you can take them — and how much you need per day. For Canadian operators on remote farms, northern sites, or urban construction, here's the straight breakdown on which tool actually fits your job.
A skid steer cement mixer attachment is a drum-style batch mixer that mounts on the front of your skid steer via the standard quick-attach plate. The drum — typically 3 to 10 cubic feet capacity — is hydraulically driven, rotating continuously to mix the load. You load dry material (cement, aggregate, sand) and water into the drum, mix, then tilt to pour. The skid steer can then reposition between pours, drive across the site, or work across terrain a dedicated mixer truck can't reach.
These attachments run on the skid steer's standard auxiliary hydraulic circuit — no high-flow required in most cases, which means compatibility is broad. A mid-size skid steer producing 15–18 GPM can run most drum mixer attachments without issue. The drum is your entire batching plant: portable, self-contained, and as far off-road as your skid steer can go.
Drum capacity of 3–6 cubic feet is the most common for skid steer-mounted units, with some heavy units reaching 9–10 cubic feet. That translates to roughly 0.1–0.35 cubic yards per batch. Small batches are inherently inefficient for large pours but excellent for small, precise jobs where waste is expensive — fence posts, anchor bolts, small footings, and step pours where you need exactly what you need and no more.
Canadian-distributed brands include TMG Industrial, Boss Industries, and various imports under private label from farm equipment dealers. Quality varies significantly between manufacturers — look for steel drum construction and a hydraulic motor with a rated duty cycle for continuous operation.
A volumetric mixer is a self-contained concrete production unit that carries dry materials (cement, aggregate, sand) and water in separate compartments and mixes them continuously on demand as concrete is dispensed. Unlike a transit mix truck (which arrives with pre-mixed concrete already blending in the drum), a volumetric mixer produces concrete fresh at point of delivery — no time pressure, no hydration starting the clock before the truck even arrives on site.
Volumetric mixers in the Canadian market range from trailer-mounted units that can be towed by a pickup truck (for small contractors) up to full truck-mounted rigs with multi-cubic-yard capacity. They're road-bound: you need a solid, accessible surface to operate the trailer or truck version. For urban construction sites with road access, they're an efficient alternative to ordering ready-mix — you control the mix design, you eliminate minimum-order charges, and you can stop and start the pour without waste.
Volumetric mixers produce concrete at rates from roughly 1 to 6 cubic yards per hour depending on unit size — far beyond what any drum attachment on a skid steer can match. For high-volume work, the economics flip decisively in the volumetric mixer's favour.
| Factor | Skid Steer Drum Mixer | Volumetric/Continuous Mixer |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity per batch | 0.1–0.35 yd³ (3–10 cu ft drum) | 1–6+ yd³/hr continuous |
| Remote site access | Excellent — goes where the skid steer goes | Road access required for trailer/truck |
| Capital cost (CAD) | $3,500–$9,000 attachment | $80,000–$250,000+ (trailer to truck) |
| Operator count | Single operator capable | Typically 2–3 operators |
| Mix design control | Manual — operator mixes by eye/measure | Precise — computerized volumetric metering |
| Best pour volume/day | Under 1 yd³ | 3–20+ yd³ |
| Site terrain | Rough, off-road, muddy, sloped | Flat, firm, road-accessible |
| Batch freshness | Mixed on demand, poured immediately | Mixed continuously — very fresh |
| Cleanup | Simple — rinse drum on site | Washout system required |
| Fuel/power | Skid steer hydraulics | Dedicated engine (diesel) on unit |
| Ownership profile | Farm/acreage, small contractor, remote operator | Concrete contractor, high-volume construction |
| Scenario | Best Tool | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Remote farm — fence post row (30–60 posts) | Drum Mixer | Drive the skid steer down the fence line; mix per post; no road access needed |
| Northern site — cabin foundation pour (<0.5 yd³) | Drum Mixer | Self-contained, portable, doesn't require road access or minimum order |
| Urban residential — driveway pour (3–5 yd³) | Volumetric Mixer | Road access available; volume makes volumetric economical; single setup |
| Large commercial slab (10+ yd³) | Volumetric Mixer | Volume and speed requirements exceed what a drum attachment can deliver |
| Single operator, no helper available | Drum Mixer | Skid steer operator can mix, drive, and pour solo |
| Budget-constrained operation, own a skid steer | Drum Mixer | $4,000–$8,000 attachment vs $80,000+ for dedicated volumetric equipment |
| Multiple large pours per week (concrete contractor) | Volumetric Mixer | Throughput and consistency requirements exceed drum mixer capability |
| Mixed farm use — some posts, some slabs, some foundations | Drum Mixer | Versatility of skid steer platform; attachment covers the full range of small farm pours |
The skid steer cement mixer attachment dominates in the following conditions — all of which are common across Canada's rural and remote landscape:
The volumetric mixer becomes the better tool when the job outgrows what a drum attachment can deliver:
Setting fence posts across a quarter section is one of the drum mixer's defining use cases in Canada. The skid steer drives the fence line — sometimes across wet spring fields or rough pasture — mixing a small batch per post or per cluster of posts. Ready-mix trucks can't follow. A volumetric mixer trailer can't either. The drum attachment is the only practical tool for this work. Similarly, setting anchor posts for bin circles, corrals, or water lines on Prairie farms is ideal drum mixer territory.
Cabin foundations, outhouse pads, culvert headwalls, and similar small pours at remote northern sites are where the drum mixer has no real competition. Northern Ontario, the Yukon Highway corridor, BC's backcountry — anywhere a ready-mix truck doesn't go, the skid steer with a drum mixer is the solution. Operators bring bags of cement, pre-mixed aggregate, and water; the skid steer does the rest.
BC's fragmented terrain — short driveways, creek crossings, hillside sites — often puts the remote access advantage of the drum mixer front and centre even on relatively small properties. Concrete work at a BC acreage is rarely large enough to justify volumetric mixer economics, and the terrain often prevents road-bound equipment from reaching the pour site anyway.
Southern Ontario and Quebec's dense construction markets are where volumetric mixers make commercial sense. Urban infill, residential subdivision development, and commercial slab work with reliable road access and consistent large-volume pours are the volumetric mixer's home terrain. Contractors running multiple pours per week on accessible sites will find the throughput and consistency advantages of volumetric equipment justify the capital cost.
Drum mixer attachments for skid steers typically require standard auxiliary hydraulic flow — 12–20 GPM is adequate for most units. This means compatibility with a wide range of machines, including older models and smaller compact track loaders. Confirm the attachment's required flow against your machine's actual aux output before purchasing.
Some higher-capacity drum units (8–10 cu ft) may require higher flow to drive the drum at rated speed under full load. Check the spec sheet, not just the nominal rating — drum mixers running underpowered will mix slowly and inconsistently.
Find skid steer drum mixer attachments with capacity specs and Canadian availability.