Large boulder must go

[tthopskin@yahoo.ca]

one thing this will work if you have temp that will freeze I like to lessen to the old timers some things make you laugh and some make seance back then they never had excavators so they would drill by hand holes in the rock then fill with water put in a wood plug over the winter it would freeze and pop the rock easy yes cheap yes work yes hope this helps Ontario if you try it and it works for you reply back

 

[picker77]

I bet you could pass a hat around (I know I'd chip in) to pay for loading that rock on a pickup or a trailer for them to cart home. :laughing:

I'd chip in if I could have a video of that thing being lowered into the bed of somebody's F150. It'd be a big hit on Youtube.

 

[jimmyj]

I'd chip in if I could have a video of that thing being lowered into the bed of somebody's F150. It'd be a big hit on Youtube.

:laughing::laughing:

 

[JFS2295]

I'd be careful with the explosives.

 

[Lil_FarmerJim]

JFS2295: LOL I darn near spit my OJ through my nose with that one.


I would go with feather and wedges and work on the vertical seams, they will pop open like a walnut with a just a little effort.

 

[picker77]

After looking at the Dexpan website, I'd bet that $100 worth of that stuff would easily and safely (and quietly) split that puppy into pieces small enough for a backhoe or even a good sized tractor to handle. Looks like good stuff, didn't even know it existed until the OP mentioned it--but we don't generally have rocks that size around my area.

When I was about 10 years old my dad decided to deepen a ditch with a sandrock bottom for a sewer line with plain old farmer grade dynamite, and for safety laughing he covered the bottom of the ditch with dirt and heavy 3x12 planking. I guess he figured if 1/4 sticks would work ok, then 1/2 sticks might work better. Once we collected all the planks from around the adjoining neighbor's places afterwards (luckily none went through anybody's roof and nobody got killed) it actually did do a pretty good job. Got everybody's attention, too, and of course I thought it was great fun.

 

[dcyrilc]

Put a big sign on it saying, private, do not remove, no trespassing. Then put a lock and chain around it. Should be gone by New Years! :laughing:

Ain't that the sad truth.:confused2:

 

[Lt CHEG]

I'd be careful with the explosives.

That's precisely why I wouldn't recommend C4 for this application. I'm not even saying that this rock warrants the use of explosives at all, but my previous post outlines what I would use to deal with the situation if I was going to use explosives (ANFO, emulite, slurry, etc.). Too high of a detonation velocity will result in all kinds of pieces coming off of the rock and flying away at very high velocity. I still like the idea of dexpan and a rental drill designed for drilling through rock.

Be careful and Merry Christmas!

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Put a big sign on it saying, private, do not remove, no trespassing. Then put a lock and chain around it. Should be gone by New Years! :laughing:

Yep...

 

[Renze]

Go back to the fire, but with a better technique.

The Romans used to dig vertical shafts through rock by building a fire and then quenching the rock with water. That whole rock is about the size of one of their shafts.

A friend of mine has been in Ghana for 3 years, as a construction supervisor. They also dug wells, by hand: They used the same technique: heating it for 2 or 3 days, then dump LOTS of cold water on it, all at once. It shattered rocks up pretty good. If the chunks were still too big to handle, they drilled holes in it with an electric hammer drill and a generator. Labour is cheap in Ghana so i dont recommend the drilling part, but making your burnpile around it for the next few months, will do miracles.