Demo Hammers for Hard Pavement

When I was working in much more remote places, and had to both break through pavement/rock/compacted gravel, as well as drive deep rod monuments, this unit was what we used. Not cheap, but no compressor or generator is needed and it's super fast at whatever you're doing...and darn near indestructible.

I have had one with a genset for a few years - I just upgraded to a Milwaukee M18 ( M18 FUEL 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless 1-9/16 in. SDS-Max Rotary Hammer) about $500 at Home depot without a battery which I already had - I bought a 1 inch bit and the chisel - it is easier to drill a few large holes first then break up the pavement between them

The genset and demo hammer worked well, but took up a lot of room and sometimes I left it back at the office - so this is more convenient?ÿ

I have used the cobra, but fuel spills never seem to clean up that easy

Long ago I worked for an outfit that had a Cobra Drill. I only saw it come out of the truck once.?ÿ .... Sure, it tore up pavement like nobodies business but it was such a production to get it in and out of the truck that we resisted doing it. It took up a lot of room in the van and was a lot of sunk money for a single purpose.?ÿ But if you are going to be busting pavement on a daily basis, go for it.

A good Honda Generator of sufficient capacity and one of these Bosch Hammers should do the job nicely. I've never used one on the job but it did tear up my basement slab in short order.?ÿ

Question:

What's the pavement covering that youre needing to get to in the first place?

My inquiring mind wants to know....

@jitterboogie Many of the subdivision maps in our area set centerline monuments in the roads. These are typically placed in monument wells with a lid, however, some of the time they just get paved over or were never preserved in monuments wells to begin with. This is the most typical reason I would be digging through pavement... hoping to find an old railroad spike or iron pipe that's been buried below 6" of pavement. ?ÿ

Nebraska:

You don't have to dig through pavement, looking for plat monuments, if there never was one there...

I bought a Chinese gas powered jackhammer through Amazon for $250. I got free shipping. I also bought a digging spade, a 5/8 inch pin driver, a chisel bit, an asphalt spade. The bits cost more than the jackhammer. The jackhammer weighs around 50lbs. I figured for $250 if it didn't work it was a cheap lesson. I drove nearly a hundred pins one day with a helper. He packed the whole day. It starts by the second pull everytime. I should have gotten a franchise to sell them. Everybody that sees me use it, wants one. I've not had any fuel spills at all. It fits very nicely on the back of my ATV with a couple of bungee cords holding it on. I got my $250 back 10 times. My competition are constantly asking to borrow it a some have purchased their own. A half hour digging bar job takes 5 minutes.

@tyler-brown

Understood.?ÿ Be wary of the ROW managers/Streets/operations people etc in case the spy you tearing open their sacred cow of asphalt.

As far as 6" below,that would be a hell of a find for an original monument, mostly due to the time thats passed, and most of the cities from the turn of last century have undergone multiple redevelopments,overlays etc and are likely several feet to even 8 feet or more below the surface now. Not trying to kill any dreams, just giving you a healthy expectation.?ÿ I've collected a stone in downtown Denver on Downing,with crap traffic control and having to pump out the cast iron pipe at which the bottom had an original stone with a chiseled cross for the win. Happy hunting and show us pictures when you find your grail.?ÿ A good 25-35lb work bar is adequate for 6 inches of asphalt, but if your Chiefs are asking you to bust through 6in or morof concrete, they are playing you with the old school " earn your position" games.?ÿ Get er done!!!?ÿ ;)?ÿ

Posted by: @jitterboogie

A good 25-35lb work bar is adequate for 6 inches of asphalt

Once you've used a demo hammer for a job like this, that bar starts looking like an awful lot of work.

A good beep from a Schonstedt works when they're that deep. That's crazy to dig down that deep.

Posted by: @skeeter1996

A good beep from a Schonstedt works when they're that deep. That's crazy to dig down that deep.

I've followed up on surveys that relied on a Schonestedt location.?ÿ Digging up the monument showed from a couple of tenths to half a foot difference in location.?ÿ That won't fly in my world.

@skeeter1996

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Where does one buy Chinese gas in the US?

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Just messin' with ya....

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I picked up one of these about 2 years ago. I use it for pavement, compacted dirt roads and frozen ground. Works great. Plus at $135 its budget friendly.

?ÿ

Got it at Home Depo?ÿ

@rkinnie How long are your batteries lasting you with continuous use?

I'm realizing now that we have been using older 2.6 Ah batteries for our rotary hammer but they have new 4.0 Ah batteries which might help. With continuous use we were only getting about 15 minutes of digging per battery. In some of the tougher spots of pavement that wouldn't get us very far.

@jim-frame

Fair. I just passed the midpoint of life amd agree that sometimes now power tools are my friend more than they used to be.

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????

@jim-frame

What if he put a marker at the beep? Would you dig down 6 feet to disprove his location?

Posted by: @jim-frame

I suppose the problem isn't the center of the magnetic indication being off, but for a deep rod the indication is so broad you can't really tell where center is. True?

Posted by: @skeeter1996

What if he put a marker at the beep? Would you dig down 6 feet to disprove his location?

The point isn't to disprove the beep location, it's to prove the correct location.?ÿ (Deepest I've gone so far is 4 feet.?ÿ I hope I never have to go any deeper!)

?ÿ

Posted by: @bill93

I suppose the problem isn't the center of the magnetic indication being off, but for a deep rod the indication is so broad you can't really tell where center is. True?

Narrowing down the center is one problem, but I think the lean -- however subtle -- of the vertical object can also project a misleading signature at the surface.?ÿ And more than one iron object can really confuse things (see map excerpt below).