Where Can I Get a Small Batch of Concrete Without a Ready-Mix Truck?

The Gap U-Cart Fills

There is an awkward middle ground in concrete. Below about a quarter yard, bagged mix from a home center and a rented mixer is fine. Above two or three yards, a ready-mix truck makes sense. In between — a small slab, a set of steps, a shed pad, a mailbox base, a fence line of post footings — both options are bad.

Bagged mix at that volume means mixing forty or sixty bags by hand while the first batch starts setting, and the finished pour is only as consistent as your water measurement. A ready-mix truck means paying a short-load fee that often costs more than the concrete itself, plus a minimum you do not need, plus a truck that has to reach your pour.

U-Cart is the answer to that middle ground. Moore Rental Service batches fresh concrete into a tow-behind trailer at the Arlington store. You hook up, haul it to your job, and pour it directly from the trailer. A full yard is $260 — less than most short-load fees on their own — and there is no minimum beyond a quarter yard.

The trailer haul system rents for $15, and extra cement can be added a quarter sack at a time for $6.25 if you want a richer mix.

Towing, Timing and Pouring

• You need a proper tow vehicle. A loaded U-Cart trailer is heavy — concrete weighs roughly 4,000 pounds per cubic yard. You need a vehicle rated for the load and a working hitch and lights. Confirm your setup when you call.
• The clock starts at the plant. Fresh concrete has a working life of roughly 90 minutes in mild weather and considerably less on a hot Texas afternoon. Have the forms built, the subgrade prepared, the rebar or mesh set and your crew standing by before you pick up.
• Prepare everything the day before. Forms staked and squared, ground dampened, tools laid out, screed board cut to length. Pickup day is pour day, not preparation day.
• Have enough hands. One person hauling, at least two placing and screeding. A yard of concrete moves fast and does not wait for you to find a second wheelbarrow.
• Return the trailer clean. Rinse it out at the end of the pour, before the residue sets. Concrete left to harden in a trailer is a chisel job for somebody.
• Do not pour in the wrong weather. Avoid pouring onto frozen ground, and in high summer pour early in the morning so the slab is not flash-setting under a 100-degree sun. Keep it damp while it cures.

How Renting From Moore Rental Service Works