Getting Serious About Making Bricks

So there are several things that I learned from laying up these adobe bricks. First off just because you put 4 1/2 buckets of material plus water into the mixer don’t expect to get that much out. Our mixer is a 3 1/2 cubic yard mixer so it’s not a very big one. I have to be careful not to overload it. I have been using 2 buckets of sand, 1 bucket of chopped hay and 1 1/2 buckets of clay subsoil. However I only get three buckets full of adobe mix when it comes out of the mixer. A word of warning about the adobe mix, it is heavy so be prepared. I started using my hand truck so I wouldn’t hurt my back.

I also learned not to lay up the bricks any farther away from the mixer than I had to. Walking back and forth so many times and carrying the mix takes a lot. Also be prepared to bend over and be on your knees a lot while laying up the bricks. I have laid down a total of 109 bricks so far, so I really know how sore you can get.

OK so you saw the bricks that I laid up on the last post. I have figured out that one batch makes a consistent 20 bricks with 1 or 2 extra if I add just a little more material.

This is all bricks I was able to do by the end of the second day, a total of 109. At the top of the picture you’ll notice that the bricks I had laid up the first day was already turned on their side. Due to the low humidity and warm temperatures here in Arizona these smaller bricks cure fast.
So here are the bricks cured and stacked. I finished stacking them this afternoon. I need to make about 150 more of these bricks but, I will do it over several days instead of in one day. I had to take several days of recovery after laying all of these up. So be aware that you will feel it when you’re done so give yourself time.