Cob: Re: Cob Machine

[SANCO Enterprises <Paul & Mary Salas>]

Sojourner wrote:

> "SANCO Enterprises " wrote:
> >
> > The machine I designed and constructed does all of those things you mentioned and
> > much more. The machine mixes and pumps the earthen material out of a 2" hose.  The
> > process is identical to conventional cob only you don't have to handle the material
> > unless you want to.
>
> And how much does this machine cost?

I have built one proto-type machine that has remained unchanged from its original design
and has performed extremely well. Everything on the machine except the valve control body
was salvaged materials with a total cost of about $1500 and 60 hours of labor.  This
could be reduced even further if a hydraulic power pack at 80 hp with a 25 GPM pump were
assembled and available.   For this project I made the trailer, axle, mounting brackets,
fabricated the engine to hydraulic pump drive and adapter, as well as all the hydraulic
tank and fuel tank.  In a production environment, these could be sourced out as off the
shelf items. The labor could easily be cut to less than 40 hours.  The key to this pump
system is a cavity pump (Robbins-Meyers).  They are very expensive when new, however I
purchased my first 6" pump on a sealed bid auction for $160 and the second 8" pump last
month for $25 (value is over $5,000). A person with average welding and mechanical skills
could easily build one of these machines.

If this machine were constructed using all new components I estimate the cost to be about
$25,000. My desire is that if Phase II of the USDA SBIR is awarded that the pump design
be made a part of the grant and become public property.  My attorney thinks otherwise,
however it will be my decision as to what becomes of the machine.


Paul Salas
SANCO Enterprises, LLC
Albuq., NM