I have a need to pour about 3-4 yards of concrete in an area unreachable direct from a mixer truck due to the terrain and other factors. A pumper truck would be the easiest way of course, but overkill for such a small pour. No one in my area has a crane bucket I can borrow, rent, or steal, so I am going to modify a 55 gallon drum to serve as a bucket. I'll post later how it went, but my drum mod will stiffen it, provide a way for the crane to pick it/rig to, and maybe also allow for semi-controlled dumping.
Rather then just burn two holes in the top of the sides and using shackles in the holes to rig to, my "plan" is to roll some 3" x 1'" flat bar, same dia. as the drum, into two half circles, with flanges on the ends so once around the drum they can be bolted or welded together. Not at the top, but just above halfway up. Then drill some 1/4" holes thru the curved flat bar and drum, maybe a dozen, to secure them to each other and distribute the forces. THEN, holesaw thru this now secured to the drum curved flange for a length of 2" pipe to slip clear thru the drum, and project out both sides a few inches. Then I'll weld some flat bar to the pipe ends, burn some holes in that, and then shackles and wire rope slings up to my hook, which will be well above head height. In theory, and depending on how much mud we dump in (I'm thinking about 3/4 full) maybe this will allow a couple guys to have some control over the dump process, as I hover it a foot or so off the ground, maybe they can grab the bottom and tilt and pour. We have the poles plumb now but they could be knocked off kilter if a drum of concrete fell in the hole. The best part of this plan is that it removes me from the other scenarios we postulated: hand mixing bagged mud, wheel barrowing down a hill, and others. This way allows me to sit in the air conditioned cab, looking important, while others do the grunt work.