Sometimes the rock wins

[bcp]

My sloping driveway section (about 200 ft) had a few rock tips poking through the gravel. Before getting a new load of gravel I decided to take them out. Using the box blade scarifiers, all was well. All the known ones came out, and about as many new ones the scarifiers discovered.

Here are the losers:


About 50 feet past the sloping part was a rock, less than a square foot showing, sticking up about two inches. Yesterday I started digging around it, as the box blade did nothing to it. One end was finally exposed, about 30 inches deep, but it was still too solid to move with a chain. I started clearing away more gravel cover and the rock kept getting bigger and bigger the deeper I went. At the point shown in the photo below, the exposed part of the rock measured four feet wide and five feet long. I still hadn't found one edge and end. They kept sloping down at about 45 degrees. About that time I decided it could stay there.

It took only a couple of minutes to fill the hole, as I had kept the dirt in the loader buck and a wheelbarrow.

Here is the winner:



Bruce

 

[gregfender]

Like I always tell my students, "sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes the nail.". You could always try a little dynamite...lol.

 

[Marveltone]

I'd leave it too!

Joe

 

[joshuabardwell]

You gotta be careful pulling rocks out of your driveway. You'll end up taking out the base layer!

 

[deerseeker001]

i have a few of the peeking up around the property.

 

[k0ua]

Just knock the 2 inches off that sticks up with a sledge hammer and go on. You got some nice footing for the driveway there.. Wont wash out

James K0UA

 

[Sysop]

Looks like you're collecting a nice start to some stone retaining walls or flower planters around someplace. I think you made the right call leaving the big one where it was. Perhaps where you dug around the top it will see some additional moisture collection and freezing and perhaps break naturally before it ever becomes exposed again.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Ah so!, Another Chinese rock. Other end come up in Tiananmen square. Best leave lone and work around unless you have dynamite or big hoe ram.

 

[Coyote machine]

Time for a bigger tractor!:thumbsup:
Seriously though, as suggested take a stone chisel and chip a line around the 2" protrusion and then whack it with a sledge hammer. Wear eye protection, then rebury the rest for another day.

 

[zanfirico]

I second the chisel idea. Channel your inner Michelangelo and bury the rest. Perhaps it's bedrock

 

[creekbend]

Rocks and Boulders carried and deposited by Glaciers long ago, appear all over. It seems that You encountered one of these remnants.

 

[bcp]

I've tried the sledge hammer and a pick. Reminds me of hitting a good anvil with a hammer. The sledge just bounces and rings. No freezing here to amount to anything.

There are a few other big ones around above ground, several nearby about 6 feet across, with some 10 and 15 foot ones up the hill a bit. I imagine there must be more like that buried. None of the others in the driveway were over 2 feet, so that's what I expected here.

I'll probably just put down another couple of inches of gravel and forget about it.

Bruce

 

[xring100]

Had a good size one in the field i was getting scared too. Hard to tell but the trench is about 30 feet long and bottom was about 3.5' deep i started digging down on the flat face



Solution

 

[Ariens Ken]

Dynamite is the way to go. If it's too hard to get, I guess a big jackhammer might work! Lol

 

[Bob77064]

Just knock the 2 inches off that sticks up with a sledge hammer and go on. You got some nice footing for the driveway there.. Wont wash out

James K0UA

That's what I did to some big rocks in my yard.

 

[bcp]

I also found some large ones along the fence line. Some were as big as a VW and half buried but others I could handle.



Bruce

 

[Ed of all trades]

I second the chisel idea. Channel your inner Michelangelo and bury the rest. Perhaps it's bedrock

Can't be a bed rock, it don't have a pillow.:laughing:

 

[Renze]

If you really want it gone, take an oil drum, cut both endcaps out, place on rock and burn, BURN for a day, maybe two. Then wipe away the ash and pour cold water on it, the thermal expansion difference will cause it to crack. It works the other way around too, everytime i torch a plate of steel too close to the concrete shop floor, concrete chips splat up against my goggles... not just the cement but even the pebbles in the concrete break in half !

 

[vtsnowedin]

I also found some large ones along the fence line. Some were as big as a VW and half buried but others I could handle.

View attachment 337738

Bruce

Ayup that is a good sized stone.

 

[turnkey4099]

I second the chisel idea. Channel your inner Michelangelo and bury the rest. Perhaps it's bedrock

What's wrong with you guys? Perfect reason to buy a skid steer with a jack hammer attachment!

Harry K