Manual Block Moulding Machine vs Mobile Machine

What a manual block moulding machine actually is

A manual block moulding machine is a mould box with a lever or a tamper. The operator shovels the mix in, compacts it, and releases the block onto the ground or a pallet. Nothing is powered, so nothing sets the pace except the people doing the work.

That gives it three real advantages: no electricity or diesel, no minimum site, and a capital cost far below any powered machine. It also has one hard limit — every block in the day's output passes through a person's hands, so output rises only by adding people.

A hand block moulding machine and a manual block moulder are the same class of equipment under different names. Buyers reach this page through all of them.

What a mobile block machine does differently

A mobile block machine does the compacting with a vibration motor and the cycling on a timer, so the operator's job changes from making the block to feeding the machine. On our range the cycle is 45 seconds on the R2-45, R3-45, R4-45 and RD2-45, and 35 seconds on the R4-35 series. That is what turns output from a function of headcount into a function of the machine.

The blocks it produces are vibrated blocks: the mix is compacted by vibration rather than by hand tamping, which is what holds density steady from the first block of a shift to the last.

"Mobile" is literal here. The 45-second models mould on a chassis carried by pneumatic wheels, so the machine can be towed to the material instead of the material being carried to the machine. The R2-45 weighs 200 kg and can be repositioned by hand; the larger models move on their wheels.

The comparison that actually decides it: labour against output

These two machine types are usually compared on purchase price. The comparison that decides the outcome is labour against output, because a manual machine's cost is mostly people and a powered machine's cost is mostly capital.

• Manual — no power supply, no minimum site, lowest capital cost; output limited by headcount, and every extra hand is a recurring cost.
• Powered — needs power (mains or diesel) and a yard, higher capital cost; output limited by cycle time, and the cycle runs at the same rate all shift.
• The switch — happens when demand is steady enough that the labour cost per block stops falling and starts repeating every month.

What the powered end of that comparison looks like on our range

These are the published factory figures for the mobile models, on an eight-hour shift:

• R2-45 — 1.1 kW, 45-second cycle, 200 kg. About 3,600 standard bricks or 600 hollow blocks per shift.
• R3-45 — 1.1 kW, 45-second cycle, 300 kg. About 8,000 standard bricks or 1,000 hollow blocks per shift.
• R4-45 — 3.7 kW, 45-second cycle, 750 kg. About 12,000 standard bricks or 1,800 hollow blocks per shift.
• RD2-45 — 8 hp diesel, 45-second cycle, 250 kg. About 3,600 standard bricks or 600 hollow blocks per shift, with no mains connection at all.

How to choose

The route that fits depends on what the blocks are for and what the site already has.

• Blocks for one project, small quantity — a manual machine is a rational purchase. We do not make one, and we would rather say so than sell you a machine you do not need yet.
• Blocks for sale — the constraint moves from capital to labour. Compare the machine's cycle time against your peak weekly demand rather than against your capital budget.
• No mains supply on site — the diesel RD2-45 is the model built for that, and it produces at the same rate as the electric R2-45.
• The machine has to move — choose from the 45-second mobile models. On this range mobility and the fastest cycle do not come in the same machine: the 35-second series is the fixed-yard end.

Common questions

• Can a manual machine make the same block? It can make a block of the same nominal size. What differs is density consistency, because hand tamping varies from block to block while a vibration motor does not.
• Is a small powered machine worth it for one project? Usually not, unless the project is large enough that buying blocks would cost more than the machine — in which case the machine also has resale or continued use afterwards.
• What is the smallest powered model? The R2-45, at 1.1 kW, 200 kg and about 3,600 standard bricks per shift. It is the entry point of the mobile range.
• Can a mobile machine run without electricity? The RD2-45 can: it is driven by an 8 hp diesel engine and needs no mains connection.

Where these figures come from

Every output, power, weight and cycle figure on this page is the published factory figure for that model and appears on the model's own page, linked below. Nothing on this page is an estimate, and no figure is given for a manual machine, because we do not manufacture one and would not publish a number we cannot stand behind.

Models referred to: R2-45 · R3-45 · R4-45 · RD2-45

Related reading: How to choose a block making machine · Portable block making machine guide

RENFA MACHINERY manufactures block making machines, concrete moulds and construction equipment in Zhengzhou, China, and supplies buyers in Nigeria and across Africa. We do not manufacture manual block moulding machines, and this page does not claim otherwise.