Ancient methods for building stone walls?

[Bull Moose]

I saw a thread here that offered some great detail on using some expanding compounds or feather and wedge to split large stones. I was impressed by the knowledge and helpfulness of the responders.

My project is one of production as well as personal fulfillment.

I am building a dry river bed that serves as drainage for excessive water during heavy rains. The trench is roughly 195' long and ends in a rock garden. The rock garden is about 45' x 20' and uses a mixture of pea stone, #2 and #3 rounded stone over the soil. This (should) allow the water carried by the trench to percolate back into the ground without flooding or causing excessive dampness.

The final touch I wanted to add to this project was to include several large landscaping stones, as well as a natural stone retaining wall. The wall is planned for 25' x 3'.

Here's the catch. I want to do it all as naturally as possible and under the power of just my wife and I.

Every pound of dirt is shovel dug. Every plant was grown and transplanted in. Every rock dug out by hand. No rental equipment. No chain saws, no augers, no trenchers. (I admit to using a gas mower, but it is an old push mower for my 1.5 acres). Every other aspect of the project I was able to figure out. This last step though is tricky.

I can have several tons of large quarry stone delivered. Once at my home I need to

1. Cut the stone into rough blocks to build the wall
2. Move the stone blocks to the wall site
3. Assemble the wall

So here is the question. Is it possible to do these 3 tasks without using ANY power equipment at all.

I know I can use a hammer with feather and wedge to break off chunks. How do I start the hole though without using a drill?

I know that the final stone blocks will be much lighter than the original chunks, but how do I move the chunks around to work it in the first place?

I know that the chunks will break off along natural "fault lines" with the grain of the stone, but how do I smooth the stone down enough along the face to make an attractive looking wall?

 

[zzvyb6]

I bought a used Makita concrete saw with a diamond blade. Its a wet cut process, so you need a hose attachment from a tank or pressure supply. This is for dust control as much as for keeping the blade elements cool. I make an initial cut 3/8" deep along the axis I want to slice off a section from. Put a steel cold chisel every 6 inches and tap each lightly, one at a time until a slice pops off. Old school would have you insert wood wedges instead and soak them in water to expand them. But that's why God invented gasoline. If you are opposed to using a motorized saw, get Mom to pedal her Schwinn at 600 rpm with the blade press fitted to the spokes. (Watch for the rotation arrow so you get it going in the proper direction. No reverse on that bike. That ought to get the stone cutter up to 6000 rpm (recommended).

I believe the ancient Egyptians and Aztecs used a Stihl saw, but that was for limestone. Keep in mind that the most famous pyramid in Egypt amounts to a big block of cut stone every minute for 30 years, non-stop.

I'm soon going to start working on a beautiful pink & grey granite block that the SO thinks ought to be my gravemarker. In this case I want the finished product to be the block (cube), not the slices taken off it to produce shear walls.

...

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Very interesting.

If you don't have a problem with using a hammer on the stone then I don't see why you would have a problem using a hammer drill to do the holes. You can get the hammer masonary drills at the box stores or online.

Back in the day we used to drill hundreds of holes in concrete with hammer drills. Let me clarify, hammer drill = hammer and hand held drill. Same principle as a chisel with a twist, pun intended.

I don't know if you're a fabricator. If you are or your wife is, lucky lucky you, then you could fabricate a dolly mechanism that could move rocks much bigger than they're bringing you to handle. I made one for a telco contractor crew where one man could manipulate, load and unload on a tilt trailer, plus move to wherever, all by hisself a seven hundred pound box of drill stem.

Anyone with an ounce of git up and get along can handle a six cubic foot wheelbarrow full of concrete, four to five hundred pounds, and that weight is evenly divided between the wheel on the front and the two legged helper in control at the back. The same person could move comfortably half again as much or more by moving the weight where the wheels are on the side and pick up sixty to eighty percent of the weight.

If you have a bud or know someone who does weight verification for large scales like you see at a weigh station for trucks then they might have a dolly do like I'm describing. The reason I say that is I almost had an accident when a I saw a weight certifier with a dolly like the one I'd built for my bud the telco contractor.

Think of two handles coming back like on a wheel barrow. Imagine them coming out of a big staple, one on each side coming out of the middle of the down leg. At the bottom of the down leg think of a wheel. So what you have is a piece of pipe bent in a U and then turned open side down. A good axle and wheel assembly on the outside of each leg. You then have two handles coming back, steering sticks if you will.

All that is left to do is figure out the cradle system that works for your situation. What I did with the telco dilly do was run out an arm with a hook on it out the front. The operator would walk up to the box of drill stem, eighteen inches square at the end and four foot long. The handles were lifted up so the arm out front with the hook on it would engage a receiver at the far end of the box.

Once it was engaged then the handles were pushed down until a chain between the handles and the hoop could engage a hook on the other end of the box. When the handles were brought back up to travel height the box was suspended about six inches off the ground. The bulk of the weight was on the wheels with enough weight at the steering stick end to give control but not so much as to make the operator do heavy lifting.

If you click on my "life is good" you will find a story about moving four hundred pound rocks down a steep incline and making a staircase with them. I had help so I didn't have to get too creative. It sounds like you're going to have more fun than I did.

 

[mrutkaus]

man do i know nothing about this, but i'll answer!!

there was a film on one of the science channels a few years ago about a guy in michigan who alone, using pivots and levers and maybe wedges, moved and lifted gigantic like twenty ton concrete blocks; it showed it on tv.

he also and this was shown, moved by himself across a field a rather large one story barn.

check it out, pivots and levers.

as for the drill starting a hole in rock, don't you use use a star pointed chisel type drill and a sledge, like john henry, the steel driving man.

and then there is heating the rocks with a fire and putting water in holes/cracks to split them.

think mayans, think egyptians!!

pictures!

mike

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Double doggone darn, you do have some good questions.

If you do a search for masonary hammers you can find out more than you want to know at twice the price you wanted to pay. I have some links to some really interesting fellas that make it all look easy somewhere.

Working stone is good for the soul. That's because it's dumber than a rock and you have to really think to outsmart it. The rock will tell you what to do if you just listen with your eyes. The most important thing when doing it by hand is to remember itty bitty bites will work a lot better than great big chomps. If you watch a mason working stone you'll see he doesn't hit hard so much or often as he hits smart. He'll look at it and then a tap here along with a tap or two there and voila! Minimum violence, maximum effect.

Do take pictures and keep us informed. It sounds like you're doing what most of would do if we had the time.

 

[Egon]

Hammer drills and feather and wedges will work. Be prepared to spend some time though.

Check out some INTERNET sites and you'll find some specifics on splitting rock.

I have split a few rocks using an impact drill, feathers and wedges and an angle grinder with a stone cutting blade in it.

 

[jimmyj]

I also saw the story about a guy who moved all the rock manually but I can't remember if he was in Michigan or Winnipeg. It was amazing. Archimedes apparently said something along the lines of "give me enough levers and I will move the world."

 

[dillo99]

Here is the link to the guy in Michigan. You may get some tips from the way he moves stone around - all by hand. Cool story.

YouTube - Man Moves Huge Blocks!

 

[ccdck20hst]

Certain size and weight pieces can be moved by hand power with a good hand truck with a 600 lb plus capacity. I have two hand trucks (each cost less than $45 and have large air filled tires to ease rolling resitance and so as not to sink in) and used them extensively when making a 148' long X 3 high X 2'6 (wide at the top) stone wall. The goal in part was to make the wall sturdy enough to walk in it without a problem. I acheved that. When I was not using my tractor, I had good luck slidding large rocks up the metal tub handles of the hand truck onto the wall. You would be surpised how big a rock you can move with a hand truck using the levrage of the lip to tile the tuck backwards before rolling it. The fun part about this is that it is noise free and very satisfiying becaeu you darn well know what you are moving when you do it by hand. At times I was concerned about bending the axels but I always figured better to break the hand truck than to incurr a medical bill. Good luck and have fun.

 

[2manyrocks]

There's an old Garden Way Publishing Book on building stone walls. I can't remember the exact name, but it pretty well explains the manual way of working with stones. Think pry bars, stone sleds, hammers, chisels, good gloves...