Removing Sidewalk to Nowhere

[bigpete]

The lady who built my house had a 30 foot sidewalk installed that lead to an above-ground pool. The pool mercifully removed before we bought the house but I've lived with, mowed over, and aerated around the sidewalk for about five years and finally conceded to remove it or have it removed.

I know my little 2210 w/ loader will be very capable of removing the rubble and clean-up, but it won't be any use as far as breaking up the concrete. I've asked my neighor with a solid Ford 8N to come by with his back blade tomorrow to see if he can break it up a bit, but I have my doubts. I will break down and call someone with a TLB within a day, but thought I'd check with the TBN crowd for any advice or time-saving tips.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MossRoad]

A cicular saw with a dry masonry blade.
A dust mask.
A large sledge hammer.

Make a 1 inch cut across the sidewalk in manageable pieces.
Then make a second pass to 2 inch depth. One whack with a sledge hammer on the crack and it should snap into nice pieces with straight edges that can be used for stepping stones in the garden.

I did this to a 4 inch thick slab at a little league. I was surprised how fast the dry blades cut through concrete. Just takes a minute or two.

 

[bigpete]

Did I mention it was reinforced? I broke up a little on the end and got into the reinforcement and stopped for the time being. I will try an abrasive concrete wheel for my circular saw. Thanks.

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue">Did I mention it was reinforced? </font>

Nope /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[DavidJ]

I agree with using the saw to cut into the walk. Be aware that if it has reinforcing steel in it you'll have to saw through the steel to get the pieces apart. Still not a big job just something to watch for. It'll probably be #6 wire if it has any.

 

[GregJ]

Pete,
I bought a cheap air chisel at HD a couple of years ago and it works remarkably well. If you could chisel a break point across the top of the walk and then get under it with your loader, you could probably snap it one section at a time. With your loader, you would probably be able to expose the mesh and then cut it. Of course this approach requires air. If you don't have a compressor, this would be a pretty expensive solution. If you do, as I remember the air chisel was only around $30.

Greg

 

[mrcaptainbob]

Rent one of the gas powered concrete saws. Tell them you suspect there's rerod in there. The dry blade should cut through it okay. I was really amazed at how easily it cuts concrete. We snapped a chalkline on a 30 foot run of 4" and used the blade to put a control seam down the middle. I walked the thing along with great ease. It was cutting about 1 to 2 inches the whole 30 foot length. The mason told me to sink the blade at the ends. I'm still impressed with how easy it was.

 

[Cdash]

Ditto!! Rent a gas powered saw to cut it up into chunks that are manageable with your loader. An 8 hour rental or a days rental will be worth the time you spend with a circ saw. The gas saw will run through the concrete like butter.

 

[herbenus]

I'd rent an electric jackhammer unless you're sawing it to re-use the pieces somewhere else.

 

[mytoys]

I'd use dynamite...but then i always tend to overdo things /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif