Digging Hammers

We've been using these for years and they work great for digging/chipping.

http://www.estwing.com/g_rock_pick_pointed_tip.php

Well, arent those cute..Where do you get them, Victorias Secret?

I have three sledges and a framing hammer in the truck. The framing hammer gets used for 95% of the work. Get a $10 hammer from Harbor Freight and take the waffle off the head with a belt sander if you can't find a smooth peen.

Those with the fiberglass handles look possibly like the same company I had purchased a mattock from that turned out to be made in China. A big piece of the steel broke off the pick end while using it the first time. Worthless unless grandma is going to be using it in her flower garden.

Tractor Supply has a 42oz ball peen hammer with yellow fiberglass handle that is a hard driving tool. The ball helps counter sink rods in pavement.

We use a 3in wide chisel to dig in pavement, the material doesn't fly around near as much as when pounding with a mattox.

I really like that 4lb digging hammer you found.

B-)

Anyone ever hear of a surveyors maul. They were a full size about 8 lb. with a hammer on one end and a digging tool on the other, similar to the sod buster, but full size. Found what I thought was one once at a flee market, but turned out to be a mechanics hammer ( steel much too hard, made my ears ring ). They are great tool if you can find one.

I am thinking about something in the 2.5 to 5 LB range.

That also digs. Nice holes in crushed gravel roads, and pavement.

N

Estwing tools last a long time, I have an ax that must be close to 30 years old. Just be aware that ANY tool with a steel handle offers ZERO shock absorption, the Estwing ax jars your arm/elbow way more than a similar wood handle ax, they are good tools through!

All my sledge hammers are a fiberglass handle style, can't remember the brand, BUT they have a lifetime warranty and they did replace the eight pounder due to hitting a few rebars and gouging it to the center core, replaced no questions asked. The three pounder is 18 years old and going strong and really it must be close to 15 years since the replacement on the big hammer and going strong, so I would recommend a fiberglass handle as a good alternative to the steel for longevity and comfort.

SHG

My first day on a survey crew I was handed a nearly new 3lb wooden handled hammer that was already down to half thickness on the handle near the head due to missed rebars. I saw the Estwing hammers at the equipment store a few weeks later and bought a 3lb short handled drilling hammer out of my own pocket. The thin profile of the shank near the head makes it nearly impossible to damage the handle with a missed shot at a rebar. These days I keep a short handled 3lb, long handled 4lb, rock pick (pointed tip), and rock pick (chisel edge) in the chariot.

The 3lb sees the most use, the 4lb is saved for pins and stakes in extremely hard soil or gravel, the pointed tip rock hammer is good for digging in asphalt or packed gravel and the chisel point rock hammer is a light weight multipurpose tool when I want to travel light through the woods (shovel stays in the truck).

I use an Eastwing brick hammer with a square head and a flat blade. Great for shallow digging, driving 60 penny mag nails and driving rebar. I use it for 98% of my driving work. A 3# engineers mallet does the rest.

20 ounces, just does not seem like enough.... 36 ounces would be alot better. And estwing, that was maybe 40 ounces with a hammer, and a pick on it, would be nice.
Nate