[TowerTalk] Moving big rocks

[Grant Saviers]

Steve,

Several alternatives as these are about 1+ tons.  For smooth boulders 
the following have worked for me;

If you can get a tractor/dozer nearby with a winch it is easiest to skid 
them along with a chain wrap on the rock.

If there is a hardpoint available, attach come-alongs or a chain fall to 
the chains and skid them by the armstrong method.  A piece of plywood 
under the rock makes it much easier to skid rocks on most dirt.  You 
might be able to use your truck hitch as a hardpoint if the rock is 
really up on top of the ground.  It's a toss-up as to which will move, 
block the wheels, set the brakes.

Levers and blocking.  At 1 ton you can move them an inch at a time with 
a 36" long crowbar under one corner.  Use a steel plate for the fulcrum 
point.  It's slow but works. 

Break up the rock with splitting feathers.  You'll need the feathers and 
a good hammer drill to drill the pilot holes.  You might find these and 
some expertise at a local gravestone, quarry or stone sculptor. Reading 
the rock grain so it splits easily is an art.  Breaking up the rock 
might make the moving harder though.  My contribution to this approach 
was to drill and hammer in feathers where the sculptor told me to.

Get a blaster to drill and dynamite, although these are on the small 
size for this big gun approach.  The most fun to watch.

If they are solid/granitic rocks the jackhammer probably won't work, 
they are just too hard.

Grant, KZ1W



K7LXC at aol.com wrote:
> Hiya, TowerTalkians --
>  
>     I need to do something about 2 big rocks sitting on  top of a new tower 
> base hole. They're about 5x3x2 - looks like about a cubic  yard each. It's 
> not very possible to get a piece of machinery to move  them so we'll have to 
> do it by hand. Should I drill some holes and then  split the rock or would 
> a jackhammer work? Any other methods to try? Tnx.
>  
> Cheers,
> Steve     K7LXC
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