[Cob] mixing cob with a rotavator / rototiller

[Robert Alcock]

Ed,

Coincidentally, this weekend we had our first experience of mixing cob 
with a rotavator (rototiller).
I'd wholeheartedly recommend it for producing house- or wall-sized 
quantities of cob.
I did a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation comparing this with 
mixing by foot on a tarp, and I reckon it is ten to twenty times faster 
- though that may be an underestimate, since we are novices with the 
rotavator. See photos and read more about it at 
http://www.abrazohouse.org/?p=183.

Robert
abrazohouse.org

> Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:42:53 -0500
> From: Henry Raduazo <raduazo at cox.net>
> Subject: [Cob] Cob Washington, DC area
> To: coblist at deatech.com
> Message-ID: <2063F54E-919D-44E2-BAAA-7BD4B9335D58 at cox.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
> 	I was wondering if anyone is interested in a small cob workshops in  
> April comparing machine mixed cob to cinderblocks? I would like to  
> compare relative speed and cost for wall construction. We will be  
> using a lawn mower to chop straw into short mixable pieces and using  
> a rototiller to mine and mix clay with sand, straw and water. The cob  
> will then be picked up with a dirt fork and moved to a block  
> foundation on wheelbarrows.
> 	Participants in this study will get a two hour lecture on cob, a  
> copy of The Hand Sculpted House and lunch in exchange for 6 to 8  
> hours of hard work and some practical experience in wall building.
> 	The workshops will take place at my house one mile from the Mount  
> Vernon Estate.
>
> Contact,
> Ed Raduazo
>
> raduazo at cox.net
> or Ed @ 703-360-2316
>
>
>