Large boulder must go

Trafficman · Mar 21, 2011

KTM010,
PA Hayseed has the idea. Small holes 1/2" - 3/4", drilled 3" - 4" deep, 6" - 8" apart around the rock at least half the circumference, connect with a cold chisel line, put 2 pieces of L shaped metal and a wedge in each hole, start tapping each wedge in one tap per hole at a time. Tap, next hole, tap, next hole, etc., you could split the world. A stonecarver friend showed me with granite for steps. This was the technique used to rough cut blocks for carving. 1 - 4ft x 4ft x 6ft block became 12 - 4ft x 2ft x 1ft steps. Clean straight lines too. The Homeowner was very pleased. Each step was still a 4 guy move. Thank gawd for my BX FEL & BH, saved our backs. HTH

T-Man.

dcyrilc · Mar 21, 2011

Trafficman said:
KTM010,
PA Hayseed has the idea. Small holes 1/2" - 3/4", drilled 3" - 4" deep, 6" - 8" apart around the rock at least half the circumference, connect with a cold chisel line, put 2 pieces of L shaped metal and a wedge in each hole, start tapping each wedge in one tap per hole at a time. Tap, next hole, tap, next hole, etc., you could split the world. A stonecarver friend showed me with granite for steps. This was the technique used to rough cut blocks for carving. 1 - 4ft x 4ft x 6ft block became 12 - 4ft x 2ft x 1ft steps. Clean straight lines too. The Homeowner was very pleased. Each step was still a 4 guy move. Thank gawd for my BX FEL & BH, saved our backs. HTH

T-Man.

Yep. I watched a show on that a year or two back. It's amazing what you can split with just a chisel and hammer and not even drilling the holes. It's all about technique.

Transit · Mar 21, 2011

Are you sure it is lime stone and not granite? Some granite is so hard it takes pro equipment.
If you have lime stone it should react with acid, vinegar will do.

Jay4200 · Mar 21, 2011

In all honesty, if you just start bashing that thing with a good sledge hammer, you'll have it reduced to FEL-ready rubble in 20 minutes. Think Cool Hand Luke.

JayC

Swamp Yankee · Mar 22, 2011

Reminds me of the joke about the old New England farmer who had a big granite boulder in his hay field. His son wanted to prove himself, and told the old man he could get rid of the rock with the judicious use of dynamite. The old man hemmed and hawed, and eventually gave in.

Well, the son wanted to be sure, because the last thing he wanted was to do only half a job in front of his demanding father. He drilled a number of holes and packed that boulder with dynamite. When he touched it off, the rock shattered, and you could hear smaller rocks landing all around the farm for half a minute or so.

The son looked at his old man, who did not appear happy. "What's the matter Dad? The rock's gone like I said."

"A yup," said the father, "But I used to know where it was."

beenthere · Mar 22, 2011

Transit said:
Are you sure it is lime stone and not granite? Some granite is so hard it takes pro equipment.
If you have lime stone it should react with acid, vinegar will do.

I agree...doesn't look like limestone. Granite I could believe.

Glad to see the fire trick work for you.

PA hayseed · Mar 23, 2011

ktm010 said:
This was a long winter we never got a break from the snow, so no progress on the rock, untill today. I still can't believe how well this is working.:thumbsup:

If you have any plans on doing any stone work at all in the future (steps, firepits, benches), be careful how you break the rest of that up. Look for the lines in the stone and it will tell you how to cut it up into nice usable pieces. A hammer and chisel, some feathers &wedges or shims &wedges (they call them different things in different areas)will work nicely. A carbide chisel vs. a steel chisel works better.

Glad to see you are solving your problem using techniques devised many years ago that do not require power tools or explosives. There is a real nice video of a guy splitting stones on youtube with about a 5lb hammer and two to three chisels and a wedge. I am still trying to teach myself a craft that is dying here in the U.S. It is frustrating working a piece straight just to have it blow out towards one side at the end of it. Man I wish I had that thing in my yard. I see a lot of useful material there.

Most likely you just want it out of the way.

thanks for the pictures.

ktm010 · Apr 3, 2011

I did save all flat faced rocks for future use, and this is the end rock is gone, total cost $0, plus lots of junk wood burnt up

Ranger Rick · Apr 3, 2011

I hate to be stupid but was it just the fires that broke up the rock? Did you spray water on it once it was hot to get it to break? What ever you did it seems to be very simple and easy on your back as opposed to the jack hammer that you started with. Congratulations.
Rick