Customer Reviews

Bruder Mack Granite Cement Mixer

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My 2 1/2 year old son loves trucks. He studies the way it works and plays with it for hours. He dropped some coins in it and I thought we would never get them out but when we spun the mixer the coins came out. It turned into a game.

I bought this truck for my daughter's 5th birthday. She'd seen it in the Bruder catalog that came with her younger sister's Man garbage truck, and talked about it for weeks after Christmas, so we didn't hesitate to make it her 'big' birthday gift.

I tried it out a bit when it arrived and was immediately impressed with the spinning drum. I put in a few marbles, and discovered that - as advertised - the drum can be cranked in one direction to mix the contents, and the other direction send the contents down the chute. Like our garbage truck, the inside of the drum is a simple Archimedes screw-type design. The chute comes with two snap-on extensions which can be stored on either side of the truck and can be easily attached/detached as desired.

Of course, my daughter's fondest desire was to make 'real cement' (ie. a water/sand mixture) and send this down the chute to, she says, make 'perfect sand castles.' So after unwrapping this truck, playing around with it indoors with marbles, shoving the cab full of her Playmobil people (which are really a quite nice fit, if slightly out-of-scale with the truck), she demanded an outdoor trial.

You actually can, technically, fill the drum with sand and water, this is true. And it will, if you don't dilly dally, come down the chute when turned in the correct direction. But, the drum is not sealed and this created a bit of an issue. Sand and water will dribble out on the part where the drum rests on the bed up by the cab, creating friction on the spin of the drum. This can be gotten around somewhat by manually turning the drum, rather than using the crank, but even then the drum is difficult to turn and she found this a bit frustrating and demanded my help on a few occasions. No big deal. This friction, I will add, also strips the blue stripes around the same area of the drum which are a vinyl-type appliqué. Not that this has ruined the truck's appearance or anything. It's a very small area. But.. I'd rather hoped that this truck might fare better as an outdoor plaything.

The second issue is that I've not yet found a way (and this could just be me being overly cautious or missing some obvious detail) to fully open the drum. It seems possible, but every time I attempt it, I think forcing it might break something. This becomes an issue when our curious three-year old stuffs Calico Critters, Playmobil people, wrapping paper and other large/oddly shaped objects into it. Of course, turning the drum is futile if the object is too big to go down the chute, so a grown-up has to turn the truck upside-down and try to wriggle the object between the obstacles to get it out. A little annoying and tedious.

All the same, the kids do love it. They are mostly content playing with it indoors, and my five year old is pleased with the objects that do work well in the drum: small rocks and marbles. She's also thrilled with having the doors to the cab open, being able to look at the engine compartment and simply zooming the truck to and fro. It's a massive toy, but it is very nicely made of sturdy, safe ABS plastic, and is attractive, realistic and superbly detailed. Most of the parts are durable enough for the 4+ set, save for the rearview mirrors. There also appears to be no water tank on this variation of the truck, so the people referring to that may be referring to another truck by Bruder.

For the price we got it for (it was a pretty drastic discount after Christmas) I think it was a fine deal, and will see lots of play - even if not the precise sort of play my daughter hoped for. I've come to the conclusion that Bruder trucks are really better indoor toys, after having bought this - our second one.

Country of origin: Germany

This is one of my son's favorites. This truck is beautiful, well made, tough and with a lot of nice details. The materials and assembly seem of superior quality which you can tell by the look and feel of the tires, the windscreen, hood, etc.

I bought this for my (then) 3 year old granddaughter and she hasn't stopped playing with it since! It's held up to heavy sandbox use and a clumsy grandpa falling on it. Highly recommended.

We bought this product for one of our eight year old twin grandsons as a Christmas gift. Jack had seen it this past summer at FAO Schwartz and insisted on it as a gift. He loves it! He and his brother put jelly beans in the mixer and run it to have them come out the mixer into their mouths. It is a durable product which is important in their house of four pre-teen boys. And, I am impressed by the savings we received by buying it from Amazon.com. For youngsters interested in trucks this would be a great buy.

I purchased for a three year old - he plays with it - but it is a little big for him, right now. I think I purchased more for me - as we have the Semi with the flatbed, front end loader, dump truck, and tractor that is all Bruder. All have held up very well to the outside mulch bed, and the living room. Nice they can be washed off and not worry about rusting. If a part does need replaced Bruder sells it - like an autoparts store! I would recommend this line of toys to anyone.

For the price, this truck should be more durable. The first hour the chute extension broke and the hose came off. This was what my grandson wanted, well actually he wanted a Concrete Pumper Truck but they do not seem to make them. He has hundreds of trucks, tractors, cars and trains and is very gently with his toys, so he was dissappointed when the truck parts did not stand up.

Out grandson is very interested in trucks, tractors, and cars, any anything large or small that has wheels and makes a noise. We got this for him for Christmas and he was so excited from the first time he pulled it out of the bag. Very durable and interesting for him to play with and spend time imagining. Highly recommend

This is a gorges Burder cement truck! It's got lots of detail and my son loves playing with it every day!

This is an awesome cement mixer! You don't see toy cement mixers too often so this is a unique gift for any kid who loves construction toys. It's durably made and is good for playing with inside or outdoors. I think the crank is the best part, as you turn it you can either bring stuff into or out of the back of the truck.