Sticker Shock

We constantly are trying to find a way to do things better and/or less expensively.  If we can find a way to do both, that is great.  We have been in this dilemma for a while with houses.  Do we continue to build wood houses and help more people, or do we build block houses, which is a better house, for the same price and build fewer houses because the block one takes longer?  But if we can build a block house for the same price in the same amount of time, then that would be much better. 

We have been talking about a pressed earth machine for a while.  A machine that would make blocks out of dirt.  A couple of weeks ago, Marc, Trey Morgan, Bobby Moore, Randy Allen, Rickey Husband, Steve Tucker and others got together and decided it was time for the block maker.  Some research on this had already been done and the money for the machine was put together.

Friday, Marc, Bobby and I drove to San Antonio.  Rickey met us there.  We saw a demonstration on the smaller machine.  The one we did not think we wanted.  Dirt was loaded and in just seconds blocks began coming down the conveyor.  This thing can make up to 300 blocks an hour.  In an eight hour day that is more than enough for one house.

Then we went on to the big boy, the one we thought we wanted.  This one can make up to 480 blocks in one hour and the blocks are slight larger.  It is also a more complicated machine.  Something that definitely needs to be considered in Honduras.

We went to San Antonio to buy this machine.  When we sat down to discus details like price, we had a big sticker shock.  The machine was $20,000.00 more than we thought.  Other companies make a similar machine for the price we wanted, but we also know this manufacturer makes the best machine. 

We left without purchasing any thing.  We went to the river and had Mexican food and talked about other options.  A "plan B" was formed.  We will have to wait and see if that works or if we go to "Plan C."

Terri