Wards Cement Mixer

I aquired an old Montgomery Wards small mixer that sat for thirty five years in the farmer nieghbors field. Hr has since passed. When I asked the kid about it he was not aware it was there. Anyhow the kid gave it to me. It has a 24" mixer drum that I need to come up with a electric motor. I have a 1/4HP 1765RPM motor but that seems small to me. My question is what do you folks have on your mixers? Thanks, Sam

Sam, I recently found a nicely kept and not seemingly too used, most of the original paint was still in the barrel, though the owner showed me a sizeable patio his father poured with it, was kept greased, and under cover etc. was a craigslists find, $100, it is a 3.5 cubic feet capacity mid 60's sears, with a 1/2 HP 110 volt motor on it, still has the original motor, if that gives you any clue for these old ones, don't know much about them, but needed one for some masonry work, no more mixing by hand at least !

Just like the one in the link to the auction below, which appears to have the original motor too.
Sears Mixer

1/2 hp sounds about right. Got a Wards about that same size with a 3 hp B&S pulls it fine.

I went to HD and got a 1/2 HP open Evaporative Cooler Motor,mounted it on my Mixer with a 2" Pully on the Motor shaft,covered it with a piece of Inner Tube split lengthways and wired down around the Motor to keep mud,water and dirt out, that was 6 years ago and it still works good.I think the Motor cost around $30.00 back then.Not fancy,maybe not proper for safety,but it works.

If you can find a two speed motor . Use the high speed 1750 RPM for cement, and 725 RPM for morter.

Yeah, we still have one - Wards, I'm sure. Dad bought it in the late '40's, used it to pour all the concrete for our 35x60 barn. 12" walls, 8' high, all floors, even a concrete manger - curced and all. Seems as though he had a 1/2horse on it. He had motor covered with bottomless basoline can with screen over the openings on the top. Tried to keep sand, gravel, cement and water off'n motor.

1/4 is plenty, the mixer turns so slow you are geared way down, have a 1/3 on mine and way more than needed

I have a old 1/4HP motor I will try. It is the correct frame size. Guess I will install it then load the mixer with sand and try it. Thanks to all

Your mixer probably came with a minimum of a 3/4 horse, 1725 motor.
I've got three round-drum mixers. Using one right now, doing my basement floor. Two are big and sound like your's. One is a Wards and the other a Gilson Brothers. Both have drums approx. 25" wide in the widest part, 25" deep, and the opening around 17". Both have drums that turn around 30 RPM. The Wards has a 3/4 horse/1725 RPM, and the Gilson a 1 horse/1725. With a full load, I wouldn't want a smaller motor than the 3/4 horse.
I usually put a 3/4 bag of Portland with the 1-2-3 ratio - and the full load is probably around 400 - 450 lbs.
I also have a large mortar- only mixer with paddles. It has a 9 horse Wisconin gas engine with a gear-reduction drive - and it gets a workout.
Also got a little Sears one wheel concrete mixer. Has a little 12" drum by 24" deep and even that has a 1/4 horse electric motor on it.
These old mixers are very heavy and built like farm tractors. To my surprise though, I went to Home Depot a few days ago to buy a pallet of Portland. They've got brand new mixers with tiny little motors on them. Tiny by physical size, anyway. Their small mixer that has a 225 lb. total load capcacity with a 1/2 horse electric motor, and their bigger model has a 500 lb. mix capacity and has a 3/4 horse, 1725 RPM motor.
Here are some photos of my old clunkers.

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You will soon know if it will do the job. One trick I have used is to help the barrel get started by pulling on it when I turn the motor on. No idea how big the motor is on my mixer--but it is big enough with that little bit of help. Good luck!