| Above and Below: Here's all there is to producing | | | | the same frame. And when that hopper is filled with |
| cement bricks with the MMI machine.Well, that's | | | | concrete mix (called "mud" in the trade) or real adobe |
| pretty good. But MOTHER staffers Travis Brock and | | | | mud and then run across the ganged-up individual |
| J. Weiland recently watched a brand-new, | | | | molds .it automatically fills and levels them off, all at |
| super-simple, block machine near Austin, Texas kick | | | | once! |
| out an incredible 3,500 concrete brick machine in just | | | | As the accompanying photos show, the heavy steel |
| one hour! | | | | frame that is the backbone of the Mold Master is |
| That's right. 3,500 3" X 3" X 9" concrete bricks in only | | | | mounted on three wheels. And a single lever on the |
| 60 minutes. And the straightforward apparatus that | | | | rear of the frame raises and lowers it so that the |
| spewed out all those construction blocks has no | | | | gang-mold can be dropped to the ground for filling . |
| motors, no gears, no hydraulic systems, and no other | | | | and then lifted high enough to clear a fresh batch of |
| complex hardware. In fact, it's entirely manually | | | | bricks as the machine is moved on to another |
| operated! And with the production capacity that it | | | | "squatting" spot. Furthermore, as the Mud Mule is |
| has, this little machine is far more than just a unique | | | | towed along, it automatically rolls out a long strip of |
| combination of steel and wood . . . it's a rather | | | | plastic for batch after batch of the fresh blocks to |
| fantastic small business all neatly packaged and | | | | cure on. (Devilishly clever, these Austin boys!) |
| mounted on three wheels that, if you like, you might | | | | WHAT IT MAKES |
| even just hitch up to your car and tow home! | | | | If you decide to feed one of these little brickmakers |
| FILLING A NICHE | | | | with truckloads of concrete from a ready-mix plant, |
| This amazing piece of equipment is the brainchild of | | | | two people can supply all the man- or womanpower |
| Jack Dameron and David and Daniel Dennis, all of | | | | you'll really need to operate the brick machine. And |
| Austin. Together, the three men are Methods | | | | those two people won't be limited to the |
| Manufacturing, Inc . . . . and they've been calling their | | | | manufacture of just concrete bricks or (when the |
| compact 500-pound machine the "Mobile Maker". | | | | Mold Master's hopper is filled with real mud) adobe |
| David, however, says that MMI is changing the | | | | blocks. Simply by changing its molds, this versatile |
| brickmaker's name to "Mold Master" in the States . . . | | | | piece of equipment can also turn out artificial rocks, |
| and it's already becoming known as "Adobero" (Mud | | | | stepping stones, patio tiles, and possibly even |
| Mule) in Mexico, where the machine is also being | | | | concrete fenceposts. |
| marketed. | | | | None of the items produced by the MMI machine, of |
| It was Dameron who originally sparked the trio into | | | | course, are the energy-intensive "fired" ceramic |
| developing the Mold Master. Jack had been working in | | | | bricks, etc., that you sometimes see used in |
| one end or another of the concrete brick and adobe | | | | construction. Instead, they're all molded from colored |
| block business for roughly 20 years, and he was well | | | | concrete (a "3-1/2 bag mix" with no aggregate larger |
| aware of the need within the trade for just such a | | | | than pea-sized-ask any concrete man what that |
| contrivance. | | | | means if you don't know-works well). The bricks, |
| Not that MMI's Mud Mule is the first piece of | | | | blocks, etc., can be made in almost any color you |
| equipment ever developed for the manufacture of | | | | choose (earthy tones are very popular) and are |
| concrete bricks or adobe blocks. It's not. A number | | | | frequently used as veneer on wood-framed, |
| of other machines and production methods, in fact, | | | | ranchstyled dwellings. |
| have been devised for the fabrication of such | | | | Although the MMI brickmaker has only been in |
| construction materials. | | | | production for a few months, MOTHER's staffers |
| Invariably, however, all the other machines and | | | | have already seen it profitably employed by small |
| production methods have fallen into two very | | | | businesses in at least three ways: |
| different categories: | | | | 1. Balcome Brick-of Cedar Park, Texas-used a tractor |
| 1. extremely slow and backbreakingly labor-intensive | | | | and grader blade to level off a two-acre "yard", |
| setups in which wooden molds are loaded from | | | | contracted with a local ready-mix outfit for concrete, |
| wheelbarrows, leveled off with shovels, and then | | | | rolled up a Mud Mule, and began to manufacture |
| picked up and moved by hand, or | | | | concrete bricks. Although Balcome's Mold Master |
| 2. highly automated, complicated, difficult to maintain, | | | | regularly cranks out 3,500 of the building blocks per |
| and expensive fullfledged production lines. | | | | hour when it's being used, the work crew that |
| RELATED CONTENT | | | | operates it also spends a fair amount of time every |
| The Owner-built Adobe House | | | | day just turning and stacking the curing and cured |
| Latest installment in series on how to construct a | | | | bricks. Still, Balcome's daily output averages 12,000 |
| clay home, including uniform building code requi... | | | | units, and the yard's total production is sold wholesale |
| Country Lore: Hold Hoses Securely | | | | to a single buyer for $75/thousand. MOTHER's Travis |
| Use bricks or concrete blocks to keep soaker or | | | | Brock estimates that, after all expenses, the |
| irrigation hoses in place.... | | | | company is easily netting somewhere between $200 |
| Bricklaying for the Do-It-Yourselfer | | | | and $300 a day. |
| A master mason teaches the art of rick wall building.... | | | | 2. MMI's own test production line is set up somewhat |
| Small-Scale Hydropower: An Inside Look at Making | | | | differently. There, three men both produce all the |
| Renewable Energy | | | | concrete (with a small mortar mixer) that is run |
| Hydropower is a major source of renewable energy, | | | | through one of the Mold Masters, and operate the |
| and it's not just big dams that are supplying all. | | | | brickmaking machine too. The yard turns out |
| Making Jerky | | | | between 4,000 and 5,000 bricks a day (on an |
| Jerky is a classic camp and trail food, and by making | | | | irregular basis, since this is a test facility), which are |
| it yourself, you can experiment with meats an. | | | | sold directly to housing contractors. Instead of |
| It's easy to see how the non-labor-intensive, | | | | charging the going retail price of 11d to 12d a unit, |
| uncomplicated, easy to maintain, inexpensive, and | | | | however, MMI bids on complete houses and supplies |
| fast Mold Master fills the niche so nicely between the | | | | all the bricks that are needed for a building at one |
| traditional extremes of "too laborious" and "too | | | | predetermined price. Profits for each day's run, Travis |
| complex". As MOTHER staffer Travis Brock puts it, | | | | estimates, are probably in the neighborhood of $200. |
| "The Mud Mule strikes me as an ideal example of the | | | | 3. At least one contractor in the Austin area has had |
| kind of intermediate technology so many of us are | | | | yet anotherand for him, better-idea about how a Mud |
| looking for. It's just right for use in a small, | | | | Mule should be used. He's bought his own and he |
| decentralized, but very profitable enterprise." | | | | manufactures-right on site-the block machine he |
| WHAT IT IS | | | | needs for the two houses he constructs each month. |
| The MMI machine is a marvel of simplicity. It consists | | | | He figures that this saves him approximately $400 |
| of little more than a many-pocketed wooden mold | | | | per dwelling and he's very pleased with the whole |
| mounted in a heavyduty steel frame. A | | | | arrangement. |
| hopper-designed to roll back and forth-is mounted on | | | | |