Portable Cement Block Machine Heading To Haiti

Portable Cement Block Machine Heading To Haiti AG WORLD “I built it to help the people in Haiti rebuild their schools and churches It’ll turn out concrete blocks at the rate of 3 per min ” says Chester Fisher Augusta W Va about his portable cement block making machine The trailer-mounted machine measures 16 ft long by 7 ft wide and weighs about 4 000 lbs “It lets anyone make high quality blocks right on the job site It works fast and can be easily moved around ” says Fisher Fisher has been doing missionary work in Haiti for the past 30 years He started a nonprofit mission organization called Fisher’s International Missions “We take medical teams into many countries including Haiti and we build churches ” he says He first built an 8 000-lb drilling rig to help Haitians dig fresh wells But then the earthquake hit Haiti and a lot of buildings went down “It was like everything had just disintegrated – I rarely saw anything that looked like a block ” says Fisher “The type of block used in most of the buildings was totally inadequate ” According to Fisher one reason for the poor block quality is that there are no inspectors in Haiti “People were cheating on the cement used in the blocks Even after the blocks set you could often pull them apart with your bare hands I don’t think 100 000 people would have died if their building materials had been made properly ” Another problem was the blocks weren’t always uniform in size which made the buildings unstable “I decided we weren’t going to build any more churches until we could get a machine that made better blocks ” he says Fisher’s onsite machine will also reduce the number of blocks lost during transport “The roads are so rough in Haiti that about 15 percent of the blocks break up and can’t be used This way workers can pull the machine onsite and make blocks right at the job site ” He hopes to ship the machine to Haiti next May “It’ll go to a gentleman who will keep 4 families busy making blocks to sell for a living When anyone needs a church or school built they’ll move the machine to the job site and make the blocks there ” says Fisher He says a lot of thought went into building the machine “I first had to build a miniature model It had to be built heavy in order to survive Haiti I want it to last 20 to 30 years ” The cement mixer holds 3 wheelbarrow loads of aggregate Power is provided by a Yanmar 32 hp diesel engine which drives a double hydraulic pump Control valves are used to raise and lower the mixer; to rotate the mixer; and to operate a vibrator that mixes the cement before it’s poured down a chute and into the molds “If the operator wants he can also use it to make the mixture for the building’s foundation Once the foundation is done he can make the blocks ” says Fisher A big “steering wheel” on one side of the machine is used to rotate the cement mixer into position so the cement and aggregate mixture can be dumped down a chute and into the block mold The rig is equipped with a 50-gal hydraulic oil reservoir and a 50-gal water tank The water is used both to make the block and to clean up the rig when done “I painted the inside of the mixer with the same stuff that’s used in pickup bedliners so the cement won’t stick to it ” says Fisher “It works perfect ” Before building the machine he went to Cumberland Block a local block making company to observe their process The company donated the block mold which is worth about $10 000 “It’ll cost us about $10 000 just to get the machine to Florida on a ship and out of customs We don’t have the finances in our mission organization to make this happen ” By the time the time the block-making machine is completed Fisher says it will have cost between $20 000 to $25 000 so he’s looking for donations “Middle River Church of the Brethren is our partner in our work Financial donations can be sent to Middle River Church of the Brethren Haiti Mission Fund at P O Box 17 New Hope Va 24469 ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Chester Fisher HC 71 Box 188BB Augusta W Va 26704 ph 304 496-9841; www Fishersinternationalmissions org

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