Blocks per mould cycle
Four standard hollow blocks.
No DramaChinaIndustrial sourcingContact
QT4-15 block making machine
Four blocks a press.
Fifteen seconds a cycle.
The most quoted machine in the category and the most misquoted. What it does, what it costs, what it cannot do, and the number in the brochures that is arithmetically impossible.
The claim that cannot be true
The brochure says 1,000.
The machine says 960.
Four blocks per cycle at fifteen seconds caps the machine at 960 an hour, before a single pallet change, mix batch or shift break. The published figure of 8,000 pieces in 8 hours is 1,000 an hour. It is not aggressive, it is impossible.
A separate listing for the same model claims 2,880 an hour, three times the ceiling, presumably for a smaller block without saying so.
This is why we do the arithmetic on every quote before it reaches you.
Claim reviewQT4-15
4×3,600÷15
Physical ceiling960 / hr
Vendor headline 1,000 / hrNeeds correction
Realistic net, 70-85%670-820 / hr
The specification
Against the 400 × 200 × 200 mm standard block.
+
Forming cycle
15 to 20 seconds, as stated by manufacturers.
Type
Stationary hydraulic vibropress, pallet-based, usually PLC controlled.
Typical pallet
850 × 550 × 20-22 mm. Machine-specific, not a standard.
Class weight and power
Around 3,000 kg and around 11 kW for the machine and its immediate feed.
Voltage and frequency
GAP — set by your destination and written into the specification the factories quote against. Never left for a factory to assume.
FOB China, same model code$20-40k
The 2x spread is steel mass, hydraulics, electrical protection and mould hardening, all hiding inside one number
Installation and commissioning5-10%
Of machine cost, and rarely in the quote
Foundation and power~30%
Again on top. On a $20k machine that is $6-10k nobody mentioned
Price band from vendor listings for the same model code, checked 20 August 2026. Installation and foundation percentages are from a manufacturer's own published project experience. Duty and freight are destination-dependent and confirmed with a broker in your country, never estimated by us.
Before you pay
What we check on this machine specifically.
Overcurrent protection on every motor
Panels in this class often wire motors straight to contactors, so a fault burns the motor or the contactor.
A press-count mould warranty, in writing
No Chinese vendor we found publishes one. Ask anyway and see what happens.
Dimensional consistency across a sample run
Height variation is what gets a batch rejected, and it comes from the feed shoe seal.
Pallet dimensions confirmed before order
They decide your racks and curing chamber permanently.
A sample pressed from your material
On their machine, filmed. Not a demo block from their standard mix.
Spare parts
What wears, what it costs, and how fast it arrives where you are.
We would rather say so first
When a QT4-15 is the wrong machine.
You need more than ~800/hr sustained
Go up the range. A QT6-15 or QT8-15 costs more and stops you running one machine at its limit all day.
Your mix is not sand and aggregate
A vibropress compacts a stiff near-dry mix and demoulds instantly. Lightweight or fibrous materials can absorb vibration rather than compact under it. Prove it with a sample first.
You have an existing line
Pallet size is machine-specific. A different pallet does not share your racks, chamber or handling.
Start with the machine
Thinking about a QT4-15?
Send the quotes you have. We decode them, run the arithmetic, and tell you where the price spread is really coming from.