Men are indeed crying as that about sums up today (if you don't get the Roy Acuff and Jimmy Dean reference, look it up). Isaac and Dan spent about all day breaking rocks. Ever seen this done by a chain gang in an old film about the south? Yep, it's about that good a time. Isaac was even singing to boot, when you could hear anything over the jackhammer. The crushed rock ended up filling the rubble trench foundation nicely. It's nearly self-compacting by our standards. Having spent the last several weeks in CO finishing up a patio at Scott's over a base of several inches to feet of manually compacted 3/8" minus structural fill, this is kind of a breeze. It's the really big rock in Dan's kitchen giving us fits. When I say really big, I mean 15-20 tons of boulder above grade. It's so big, we can't even talk about it after we finish the day. I've spent about 10 hours on the jackhammer on this gran massif, only to make a small dent in the toe. I tried using the rotary hammer to drill a series of holes along which to split a section. Wishful thinking, indeed. I burned up a good German bit without getting more than 3" into the "sandstone." So it was back to the jackhammer, which has already burned up a rather pricey breaker bit. I have a new strategy, though a costly one. I'll rent a 14" gas-powered demo saw to score the rock, I hope on a 4" X 12" grid, and jack out the stone between my saw kerfs. I tried a diamond blade on a 7 1/4 saw to see how it cut. The stone was pretty intimidating with a 13A electric motor, but the demo saw should have more power. When I took the hammer to the cuts, the stone came out as predicted. This method is going to cost a small fortune in rental fees and probably two very expensive blades, but I'm convinced it will work. Such is life when you can't get heavy equipment and a 500 lb hammer to the job site. In the end, it will all be worthwhile, or so we tell ourselves. The good news is that this appears to be the only rock of its size with which to contend. If I were making suggestions, I'd of course suggest making sure you can get big equipment into your building site. That said, however, the cash we'll spend dealing with these problems would cover an excavator and operator for all of two hours or less. This isn't enough time to even dig an exploratory hole around here, so we will come out ahead in the end, so long as no one gets injured. As of yet, there's only so much one can get hurt by when using hand tools of this sort. It's relatively safe, if tedious. So that's the secret to the shoestring budget. If you want to do something like this, either you feel "lucky" or you have some real skills, patience, and a good team. Two out of three ain't bad. As to luck, my dad taught me a valuable lesson about luck as a kid in a little gambling experiment. I lost it all in a matter of minutes. Ever since, as he would describe some escapade by or with his brother, Dad would turn to me and ask: Do you feel lucky? The answer, one could always assume, is no. I can go into the theology of luck, but I'll spare you. Suffice it to say, it isn't something I count on in my understanding of Divine Providence. Etymologically, Providence seems to have little to do with stupid risks or presumption. "For Life" is what God built into the machinery, though ease is often a sign of impending doom. This whole problem, like any building project or climbing assault is evidence that the best plan is not just a solid idea worked out in advance. Rather, those will not succeed without the long investment in human capital: a broad base of skills, an adaptable spirit, and a great living bibliography of creative people and ideas. That rock will move. Deo Volente, Dan and I will be around to see it. If not, God will make smooth the high places, even that one that juts out awkwardly from under Dan's dining room table.
5 Comments
Pete Mathewson
6/12/2012 07:05:27 am
This is probably a ethically/ecologically incorrect concept, but never forget the phrase, "Better living thru chemistry". Mr. Nobel created a solution to your problem and you can probably find an out of work powder monkey somewhere close at hand.who can knock that rock down to a point where y'all can shove it thru your sifter.
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Lance
6/12/2012 01:24:20 pm
You can Thank the Patriot Act and a whole host of other nonsense from both parties for that non-possibility, Pete. Ron Paul 2012
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Pete
6/13/2012 11:25:59 am
Hmmm...hard to believe that no one on the frontier there has a license for dynamite. Folks been ripping stumps out with that stuff since it was invented. If you do have to score and crack that rock don't waste your time with Big Bad John, go for John Henry.
Lance
6/22/2012 01:26:21 am
Well, then you have the expense. It isn't that there is no one here who can do it, it's that it will cost thousands. Dynamite doesn't cost that much on it's own, but you tack on insurance, licensure, etc. to the overhead equation, and it is as good as pure prohibition to us.
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Yoel
6/23/2012 01:55:42 am
Make your own :)
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