Backhoe Attachment for breaking bedrock
- Thread starter ransonjd
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downsizingnow48
Elite Member
My brother in law recently used this stuff. It expands in a drilled hole and cracks the rock. He used it to remove a rock ledge from a basement he was enlarging under a 19th c Victorian house in the foothills.
Ecobust USA Type 2 (5 F to 77F) 11 Lb. Concrete Cutting & Rock Breaking Non-Combustive Demolition Agent - - Amazon.com
Ecobust USA Type 2 (5 F to 77F) 11 Lb. Concrete Cutting & Rock Breaking Non-Combustive Demolition Agent - - Amazon.com
buckeyefarmer
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My dad used dynamite, back when the local hardware store sold it.
LouNY
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I see that you are in NY, is your bed rock shale, granite or a limestone.
Shale will sometimes peel up from one direction but be almost impossible in any other.
A rock saw on a ditcher would work on most any, and will leave a nice cut to work in.
Drilling and blasting also works well but will leave a bunch of jagged pieces.
Shale will sometimes peel up from one direction but be almost impossible in any other.
A rock saw on a ditcher would work on most any, and will leave a nice cut to work in.
Drilling and blasting also works well but will leave a bunch of jagged pieces.
radios1
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also, the OP lives in New York, which has different codes than Florida or Georgia!..
4570Man
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When I dug the ditch for power to my house the utility company agreed to let me fill the ditch with concrete if I fails to get the 3 foot depth. I managed to get the 3 feet all the way across but it was surprising.
Spiros
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Ran into this years ago in Birmingham, AL. Much easier to drill and blast plus it's more fun!
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BrokenTrack
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That is too bad that you hit bedrock. When it is unexpected and halfway into a job, that is really frustrating! I am so sorry, I know the frustration of wanting to finish a job and can't due to circumstances out of your control.
But bedrock always fascinated me.
Being a welder by trade, I used to work construction, driving piles among other things. Test bores meant nothing, we might sink a pile in one spot and go down 4 feet, then in another sink it down to 120 feet before we hit bedrock, and it might only be 20 feet apart!!
On my own land, my well proved bedrock was 40 feet deep, but a mere 200 feet away it is on top of the ground.
In my gravel pit, back in 1969 they dug with a front shovel, but the bucket then was only 5/8 of a cubic yard. Whenever they hit "bedrock" they would move over and dig in another spot, making the location today pockmarked by craters. But having gone back in with excavators and loaders of todays, some machines hitting 5-6 cubic yards in size, we have found these outcroppings of bedrock were just massive boulders. In construction we had to pound the pile 2 feet into the bedrock to prove it was indeed bedrock and not just a big boulder.
But bedrock always fascinated me.
Being a welder by trade, I used to work construction, driving piles among other things. Test bores meant nothing, we might sink a pile in one spot and go down 4 feet, then in another sink it down to 120 feet before we hit bedrock, and it might only be 20 feet apart!!
On my own land, my well proved bedrock was 40 feet deep, but a mere 200 feet away it is on top of the ground.
In my gravel pit, back in 1969 they dug with a front shovel, but the bucket then was only 5/8 of a cubic yard. Whenever they hit "bedrock" they would move over and dig in another spot, making the location today pockmarked by craters. But having gone back in with excavators and loaders of todays, some machines hitting 5-6 cubic yards in size, we have found these outcroppings of bedrock were just massive boulders. In construction we had to pound the pile 2 feet into the bedrock to prove it was indeed bedrock and not just a big boulder.
I spent some time yesterday with the excavator operator. We found that while you can't get the excavator through the smooth areas, if you find a crack, you can slowly rip into it. The rock comes up in large, thick slabs.
He got a jackhammer on a bobcat after I left, and apparently was able to cut about 50' in a few hours with a helper. He opened a wide trench with the excavator, drove the bobcat down the trench with the jackhammer, and then cleared the trench with the excavator. The jackhammer cracks the rock enough that the excavator can get hold on it and rip it out.
Thanks for all the ideas. If my luck holds out, we should be through the rock today.
I've attached some photos of the trench and the bedrock after ripping it out. I think it's shale, which was probably a lucky break.
He got a jackhammer on a bobcat after I left, and apparently was able to cut about 50' in a few hours with a helper. He opened a wide trench with the excavator, drove the bobcat down the trench with the jackhammer, and then cleared the trench with the excavator. The jackhammer cracks the rock enough that the excavator can get hold on it and rip it out.
Thanks for all the ideas. If my luck holds out, we should be through the rock today.
I've attached some photos of the trench and the bedrock after ripping it out. I think it's shale, which was probably a lucky break.