Cob cost of hydraulic ram (or manual unit?)

[Don Stephens]

Why the hydrolic ram instead of a manual unit?  One of my clients and I
have made many bricks ~ 4" x 5 1/2"x 11 1/2" and pavers ~ 2" x 5 1/2" x     
11 1/2" (with a wood insert in the chamber) with a hand cinva type ram
unit borrowed from a friend who imported it from somewhere in South
America a number of years ago.  It does a nice job and when you get the
rhythm going a three person team can crank out 90 to 120 bricks an hour
with it. One mixes, one fills and one swings the handle.

To do ~ 90 per hour, mixing is by hand and very quiet and zen-like, for
120 a rotatiller on a soil-cemment mixing "floor" was used - not so
zen-like!  I"ve also used a hydralic unit which popped out 2 per minute -
120 per hour but the limiting factor again seemed to be the mixing.  

Having used both, we were much more impressed with the manual unit - of
course we weren't building the empire state building with it!  The bricks
from the hydrolic unit ~ 2 parts clay/6 parts sand/2 parts cement, tested
at 2800 psi; those made by hand at 1500 psi - more than enough for most
purposes.

We are now considering a second manual unit (to be co-owned by a group of
us in the inland chapter of the EcoBuilding Guild here in Spokane Wa USA)
and would be interested in hearing from others who have experience with
various designs (I understand there are several companies selling
variations of the old "original" cinvas) before deciding on one. - What
kind was it, where did you get it, how much did it cost, how much for
shipping and how well did it work? Thanks!