http://www.terrabuilt.com/index.asp



Wonder how much it costs. Neat idea!

That thing is cool. Do you know how much they cost?

Contacted them. I'll let you guys know if I get a response.

Now that is a neat idea. I'll bet it's a pain to feed, though. Imagine how much dirt and cement you have to have standing by in order to get that 4-5 brick/minute production rate going.

But it's a hell of a product, if it does what it says it does. You could build almost anything with it, as long as you had soil to feed it.

It's funny that they show a 7.62x39 bullet after hitting it. Screw that; I wanna see what the brick looks like. I don't care what the bullet looks like.

Wonder how much gas it chugs just to make those five bricks.

and we come full-circle, although with a little technical advantage . . . .

lot of historic and pre-historic structures were built using earth as a base material in bricks or blocks made on-site. some of them are still around today.

frye

Looks like there's a diesel version also.
Make your own fuel, make your own bricks. Seems like a good idea. I bet it adds a lot to the cost though.
I won't be able to check my email to see if I got a response until I get home. I told them to feel free to join the discussion here, but it doesn't look like they have so far.

Well, no contact from them today. I called them when I was leaving work, the guy on the phone said he had seen my email, and had turned it over to a guy named Winston Johns (sp?). I proceeded to ask him a bunch of questions, but he only replied that he would let Winston talk to me. He said he didn't know why I hadn't been contacted already either by phone or email, but that he would find out why and that there would be an email, at the very least, waiting for me when I got home.
Well, I'm home, and there's no email.
So far, I'm not particularly impressed with the service.
I'm kind of disappointed, they have an interesting product that all the guys here, and where I work, want to know more about.
We'll see what tomorrow brings. Maybe they were just having a bad day.

So, I talked to the guy. Turns out he was just busy, he seems like a nice enough guy. He was very knowledgeable, and helpful. He's sending me some more specific info by email. Specs on the blocks and machine, price list, etc. He said that by adjusting the mixture, you could make the blocks for just about any purpose you need them. Including underground, and up to two stories high. They're supposed to withstand a 200mph wind, and a mild earthquake.
The bad news is, you aren't gonna keep this thing fed with out some heavy equipment. You have to have a open top mixer that can be machine fed, a crusher if you have rocks, and a minimum of 6 men to operate it (8 would be better).

He said the one that makes 8x4x12" blocks, in gas or diesel, is about $38,000.
You have to attend some training to learn how to operate it properly, and probably about $70,000 for equipment (including their machine) to get started.

I think it's very interesting, and I can see a lot of applications for it in a place where everyone's standing around looking for something to do (i.e. cheap labor).
But unless you live in an area that is interested in alternative construction, and plan on running a construction company, I can't see getting your money out of it.
I kind of wish they would make a slower model that could be used by a couple guys, in a more residential application. I think they could sell them.

thanks for all the info, andy.

it sounds like that thing is completely geared towards professional contractors, not the average homesteading joe. it is pretty neat though.

it would be nice for them to downsize it to the point it would be cost effective for an individual to buy and use solely on his or her own property or pass around a small group of people.

frye

Yeah, now all I have to do is find 20-25 guys to go in on it with me.

Absolutely. Even if it only kicked out one brick every couple of minutes, it would still be a hell of a machine for an individual homesteader.

Of course, if any of us were serious about making our own bricks from materials on-site, we could just do it ourselves without a machine. The old-school way.

*edit*

By the way, I've been thinking more about that AK bullet they showed. A few weeks ago when I was out shooting with El Jefe, we were shooting one of my AKs at a target near some rocks. These are solid pink granite boulders. We fired both the M44 and the AK at the rocks just to see what kind of results we could get, both in terms of bullet/jacket shrapnel and rock chipping.

We retrieved the AK bullets (these were Monarch 762x39 FMJ, 123 grain) from the ground nearby. When they hit the granite, the jacket splayed out and left a nice lead spattering. The jacket that was left behind was totally flattened, and you could barely see the round tail in the center of the flattened mess. This was at a range of about 50 yards, closing in to 25 yards.

By that standard of evidence, I would say that anything solid enough to stop a 7.62x39 bullet would leave the jacket completely flattened. The pictures they show above look like the bullet may have indeed punched through the brick, or at least done some damage. Had their brick been impervious to the bullet, it would have flattened the jacket all the way out at the range they tested. I get the feeling there is a reason they show only the bullet, and not the brick instead.

Where is the steel core? It looks like it's lost its core. That's what AK and Mosin rounds look like when I fire them into a sand bank. However, I usually find the steel core a bit deeper in the sand, by itself.

Why do you assume it was steel core ammo?

I've made bricks with a Dalrac press like this one -


This was back in the '90s. I was part of a crew of volunteers building a straw bale house for the Spokane Habitat For Humanity program.

Clay was dug from Mica Peak, near Spokane where a commercial brick plant operates to this day. We found some really beautiful yellow clay.
I don't remember the exact mix we used.
We had 10 -20 volunteers on any given day on the job site, and the idea was to make enough brick to build a brick on sand floor for this house.

It works, and can produce some beautiful results, but let me tell you that this sure is a labor intensive way to make brick.
We managed to turn out some 400 sound bricks. Just enough to pave the exterior entrance way to the house. We wound up pouring a concrete floor inside the house.

Better late than never. The GreenMachine, can be and was developed for everyone to afford. The problem is, like everything else "greed" has gotten in the way. If you are interested in an affordable machine designed by the same man, the Impact 2001A manufactured by AECT in San Antonio is priced at approx $26,000.00. We are currently working on a design for all to afford. The CEB Machines were never supposed to be for the elite, but greed is the American way. I will keep you posted when manufacturing is complete and the price is affordable to all. Tell me what price would be realistically acceptable. What are your primary interests for the CEB machine? Houses, landscaping, etc...

Interesting. Thanks for the info, wishn4. I actually live in the San Antonio area, and work in the city every day. If anyone on this board is interested in finding out more about the machine, I could go check it out for them if they want.

To answer your questions, I still don't know that $26,000 is affordable for the common man. I think the interest we have here on this board for such a machine is for any practical purpose on a homestead. Home building would be the obvious primary use, and then landscaping and other uses. But at the cost of the machine itself, it quickly becomes obvious that the payoff isn't there for one homestead. This machine would only pay for itself if it were passed around between quite a few homesteads, building many houses in the process.

As for an "acceptable" realistic price, I don't know about the others, but my personal opinion is that it would have to be $8,000 or less for a common homesteader to be interested.

I do not know if its greed. That may not be totally fair to call it that. No-one with half a mind is in the "Starvation Business". Chances are the people who created this equipment are out alot of time and money years before they ever saw any kind of return. I for one cannot automatically call someone greedy for wanting to sell something for what they think its worth.

Now with that being said, Tobus is right. If the machine costs too much money your average homesteader will probably just go with CMU/Cinder Blocks. Yes they may not be as environmentally friendly, or able to be manufactured on site. But the cost is low and at around $1.25 ea, its tough to beat.

Still wishn4, welcome to our forum! I personally look forward to any input or ideas you have on the subject. If you have a similar product like the Green Machine, feel free to start a new thread on it. I know I would be interested.

Thank you for the welcome. Thank you for your input about pricing. Realistically, under $10,000.00 is what I asssumed the response to be. The analogy on greed was well done. The gentleman who holds the patents on the GreenMachine, Impact 2001A, and the 3500 Machine, all manufactured by AECT of San Antonio gave 42 years of his life. Blood, sweat, and tears(how cliche). He was a building contractor for 45 years in New Mexico. His original designs were intended for the average homesteader at an affordable price. If there is a serious market for a machine which will produce perfect block, but at a slower rate and slightly more labor intensive(not fully automatic), realistically it can be done.

I will keep you updated.

Like a homesteader could ever afford eight to ten grand??

I started out with five grand in my pocket. This money was used for the down payment on my land and the remainder had to be streached as far as it could. Now way I was gonna blow what little coin remained for some fancy tool.

I'd recomend the Dalrac mudbrick press, which as I posted above I have actually used.
It's slow and turns out only one brick at a time, but it's fun to use, and the press will last forever, makes great bricks, and costs only $895 Australian dollars. Even I might be able to afford that If I wanted to build out of brick.


http://www.dalrac.com/

Yeah, I cannot see shelling out $8k to $10k for a machine to make bricks, when the whole point was to save cash by making my own bricks out of indigenous materials. I mean...$10,000 would buy a shit load of brick.

AA