Best way to split 3'-4' boulder?

   / Best way to split 3'-4' boulder? #41  
It sloped down on the tree side so is longer than it appears.
I’m going to say it’s egg shaped, 5’-6’ long, by 3’-4’ at widest

Yep, thT's the guestimate I was using. I then squared it down to get my weight.

James idea about a rollback is spot on. My Son would have it loaded in 15 minutes.
 
   / Best way to split 3'-4' boulder? #42  
I'd check with a few landscape/garden centers to see it they would buy it. Around here they sell these and use them in their custom jobs. They have the equipment to pick up, move, deliver with ease. There's a small flower/garden shop that just popped up on a corner lot, and they have a few of these for sale. Last time I was there a guy just bought one and was skidding it up onto his trailer with a winch. It's not ROCKet science. ;)
 
   / Best way to split 3'-4' boulder? #43  
Shove it to a desired location and bury it.
Just leave it.

If it has to be split: a 1/2 in. SDS rotary hammer drill with feathers & wedges will work well. Split into flat slabs & use for landscaping or sell. An angle grinder with a dry cut rock blade would help score a break line.

Olympus pictures 068.jpg
Olympus pictures 067.jpg
 
   / Best way to split 3'-4' boulder? #45  
I'm with the try to sell it crowd as a first choice. Is there a rush to get it gone by a certain time?

Looking at the picture, it looks like it's on the outer limits of what I've moved/carried in my loader bucket. I'm always on the look for large rocks so I can use them as a "wall".

(I put some tree sections down the roadside to block off access into woods....some yahoo tied up the the end of tree, pulled INTO road, blocking the road but he could now traverse into the woods all he wanted.

Big rocks like that tend to frustrate some of the dunderheads we have around here.
 
   / Best way to split 3'-4' boulder? #46  
If I were to try to sell a nice rock like that, it would probably split it's self as soon as I moved it.
 
   / Best way to split 3'-4' boulder? #47  
If I were to try to sell a nice rock like that, it would probably split it's self as soon as I moved it.

Just lay the split half on the ground and then it’s worth twice as much.
 
   / Best way to split 3'-4' boulder? #48  
I agree with the other two that mentioned it, feather and wedges, or wedges and shims (depending on where you are from). They have been used for a long time, just don't get small ones for a boulder that size. I don't split boulders, but I was splitting large rocks with the ones I bought. Drill, insert, tap down the line - crack and done.

Here is a link for you : Wedges & Shims

I am not claiming that their stuff is the best, but I bought two carbide chisels off them that were fantastic. I wouldn't use steel ever again. When I went to a dry stone class the instructor used their stuff too.
 

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