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cracking rock

P

Plowboy1

Member
Years ago we use to burn the bigger rock (boulders) to get them cracked into smaller pieces. Built big piles of brush around them. There use to be torches for burning rock, i think they used diesel for fuel. Does anyone know if one of these large propane torches will get hot enough to crack a big (4' or 5' dia.) rock?
 
I imagine if you used a couple or 3 of them it would but it would be expensive. I'd use the brush pile method.
 
We built a large fire around a big granite rock once. When it finally burned down,the rock had not cracked anywhere. We threw a few bucket of cold water on the rock but that didn't cause any cracking either. We finally dozed out a deep hole and buried it.
 
Just what wayne in TX said. there are a number of chemical solutions available just for that,
Drill holes and pour it in, or if in a colder climate, drill and fill with water.
 

I was told this by an old man many years ago. There was an old grist mill on a river. To make a channel through rock to carry water tothe mill, they first blocked the river off the proposed route across the rock. They then put a lot of wood on the route burned it most of a day. They had a low dam across the river. After the fire was out they turned the water onto the hot rock which washed a lot of rock chips away. Don't know how often they repeated the process.

KEH
 
We're over in Mass.. Quite away to carry a rock that maybe weighs about 20 ton. ..... But your welcome to it!
 
Thank you all for the ideas. I have looked into the chemical crackers and hope to try them someday. I just figured those torches are pretty handy. Maybe i'll just give it a try for the fun!
 
Only certain types of rock break well from heating/cooling. We have some cracking compound (Bentonite) we use after drilling but its slow, you have to wait a day. In hayfields if its big enough to need cracking I've taken to drilling and jackhammering off the top 12" then fill back in over top. The really big ones don't heave nearly as bad as the ones you can drag out.
 
drill a few holes and fill them with water - they'll freeze and expand.

Where in mass plowboy?

Sutton here.
 
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