Breaking up a large rock

[PineRidge]

About a week back they were busting up large rocks on Dirty Jobs. They made it look pretty easy to do using a drill and wedges pounded in the holes.

 

[Ken_CT]

I used Dexpan to break up some large rocks, and it worked well. Don't rush it, after pouring wait at least 24 hours. You may still need to jack hammer after it splits. Good luck & work safely.

Ken

 

[dillo99]

Well I finally got a chance to stop over at my neighbors with the Dexpan idea and I see all this equipment lying around. He knew a guy with a jackhammer who came over to break up the rock. My neighbor said there were four of them at it all day today and they only got about 1/2 of the way through it. They plan to return all day tomorrow.

I think Dexpan would have been much easier! Oh well.

Thanks again all.

 

[ELMO67]

I don't know why anyone would want to drill 1-1/2" holes, dump in Dexpan, and wait HOURS for a rock to split when smaller holes could be drilled ( easier), and feathers and wedges could be tapped in ( gently), and the rock split in MINUTES instead. Done this way, if the drill pattern is thought out, there might be some nice usable pieces left over instead of a bunch of rip rap.

 

[Renze]

You said the rock was 6 by 4 feet. That's 1,80x1,20 meter. with a density of 2,5 it would weigh about 9,5 ton. So it would take only 2 or 3 tractors (depending on their weight and the incline of the construction pit) to drag it away.

My personal choice would have been to dig a hole in front of it, then push the rock into the hole. If you dig close enough, you dont even have to push hard

 

[Harry c]

I'm an ex-pipeliner. Done miles of ditch through all kinds of rock. Dynamite is the tool of choice but occasionally not usable due to location of houses, foundations, high pressure gas lines etc. In the absence of an excavator mounted breaker the best tool is a "90 pound pavement breaker" with a bull point (also called a bull_ _ _ _) bit. The bullpoint bit has a sharpened point much like a nail. Simply chip off a piece at a time. Hard work but gets it done. The breaker requires a large wheel mounted air compressor, usually Diesel powered. Both are available at rental yards. Wear your ear plugs, safety glasses and hard toe boots. If they didn't work they would've stopped making them years ago.

When people refer to "Jackhammers" there is often confusion as to exactly what type hammer they are referencing. There are 2 types of pneumatic hammers. One type called a rock drill, turns as it impacts. This is used to drill holes for pre-splitting or loading of explosives. The other type is a breaker which impacts with no rotaion. This is used for breaking rock, or when equiped with a flat blade that looks like a shovel, cutting asphalt or concrete.