Block Machines
We bought our block machine with the help of a friend. At first, I was convinced we would have a real moneymaker. After all, a machine can produce up to 600 block per day, or, up to 900 tabicon, which are solid brick size concrete blocks used for footings, building a base for columns, etc.
The alternatives to the machine are to pay the going rate for blocks at 5 pesos each — or around 50 US cents. The other option was to make solid blocks by hand with a simple eight dollar form- producing around 150 block a day for a 16 hour workday. Sixty five block can be produced out of a bag of cement with a machine compared to only 50 by hand.
We took the first machine that came to us to Itztaltepec where Araceli’s family live so that we could share the profits. They are poor, so we put up US$500 for sand, cement and to pay the person who was going to run the machine.
We ran into a host of problems, including electrical issues and the form for making concrete block having a space in the middle. The people in
Oaxaca are old school. No one will use the block because they are not solid. They are convinced that if they use them, the block will break.
We thought next to get another form for the tabicon which they use a lot in that region and which only just got made after a year and a half. This set us back another US$100.
The next problem that surfaced there in Oaxaca was that no one seemed to know what mix to use. So, the blocks they make fall apart as they are drying. As it turns out, they are not using enough small gravel for the blocks to bond.
The second machine we bought is for our use at the land in Betania to make our own block and tabicon for the buildings we are erecting. This time we were a little smarter.
We had to erect a shed for the machine, one with storage to keep the bags of cement out of the weather. The shed turned out to be a chore for the spot that we elected to put it on as it was level when we started but after building a new road, which had to be raised up by the 30 dump truck loads of gravel, it no longer was. Where’s my sense of depth perception? I sure wish that I had paid more attention when I took my high school physics class ‘cause I find I need it every day here in Chiapas.
Once the shed was built and the machine moved into place, we discovered a small electrical service problem on the property which would need to be upgraded. A 220v service from the street to where the machine is located would have been about US$2000 because we need to buy a transformer, which the electrical company does not provide, and a pole out in front.
I then figured we would be better off finishing the first building and getting a large 300 amp service on to the land. Not having the money for the wire, transformer, etc. I had to wait until I next went to the
U.S. to get a 220V generator, which I got from Lyle Ball’s Home Recycling in Des Moines. Only trouble was that it was designed for 220 or 110 and the 220 part didn’t work, which I didn’t find out until I got back to Mexico. So it had to get repaired.
Finally, we got both the generator and the block machine running. So – “We’re ready to Rock and Roll?” Not hardly. Miguel was working for us at the ranch, at the time. We had sent him off to learn how to run the machine for a week-long class with the Hernandez brothers who not only made the machines but also ran a block business selling block and tabicon to the tune of 4 to 5 thousand a week.
Miguel, a supposedly star student, couldn’t get the sucker to work right. He wasted six bags of cement using a thin sand that didn’t have anything to adhere to. Finally, he went to the sand and gravel pit after I threatened him and found the gravel he needed. What he didn’t tell me was that he went and talked to the Hernandez brothers and got one of them to go with him to the sand pit. At last we could make block and tabicon. Miguel started and got a couple hundred of each produced then he stopped. He told me he did not have enough tablas, or the wooden trays that go into the machine to transport the blocks while they are still wet. So we took another week, 9 dozen boards and cut and assembled another 100 tablas.
I took off for two days to be with Araceli for a short vacation and when we came back, Miguel had disappeared. It seemed he was on his way to “America” as an undocumented worker. He had saved his money and now figured since he had worked for me, he knew enough to work for anyone in the U.S. He neglected to give me back his keys, or even tell me that he was leaving.
While all the above was going on, construction on the workshop was starting. Two of the laborers, Margarito and his brother, turned out to be wonderful at making block and tabicon They were paid by the bag so that they cranked out 1400 or 1500 tabicon or block each day.
So with someone to make the block, the machine running right and sufficient electricity what more was needed to be successful on the money side of things? A truck to deliver the block … which is what I am working on now. We sell small quantities of 100 to 200 blocks once a week to the people in our community who haul it by wheel barrow. We also have enough block finished for the workshop and the new house. From now on, it’s for money.
