http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZBNgx9shY4&feature=related
This Bobcat mixer bucket caught my eye on YouTube. This would come in real handy on large projects to speed construction. I’m posting it here to show how to mechanize projects such as the lightweight geopolymer earthbag system that I’ve been describing the last few days.
Source: Aplec Group
Amazing, I have never seen a Bobcat concrete mixer attachment before. Great idea.
Here’s a article that covers quite a few sandbag machines: http://www.earthbagbuilding.com/articles/machines.htm
But it’s important to note that most of these machines are not ideal for earthbag building, because they fill bags on the ground instead of the wall. It’s far better to fill the bags or tubes on the wall so you don’t have to move them.
The most practical machine in the article above would be the large tube filling machine. You could probably build a modest sized earthbag house in 1-2 days using this machine.
I wonder if the Bobcat could reach the top of a wall to pour a bondbeam? It might take 20 trips, but it sure beats heaving the crete up one story.
I don’t think a Bobcat would reach, but you could use it to lift materials part way. For the bond beam, you could put buckets of concrete inside the Bobcat bucket and save a lot of work.
This is great. I have looked at some different systems like this one called the Bucket Bagger. Price for a new one is about $4-5,000. http://www.bucketbagger.com/index.html
That’s a different system. It doesn’t mix concrete. And I’m not sure it would auger moist, clayey soil. Almost no one builds with pure sand except Eternally Solar (they use different bags) and so this machine probably would’t work for earthbag building. However, I like the extruder exiting the side and so maybe you could set up a larger auger and get it to work.