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Driving 2' long No.4 Rebar into glacial till

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(@dmyhill)
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Glacial Till is much like concrete...but you cannot set smaller nails, they will not hold.

Does anyone drive rebar into this type of soil? What do you use?

I looked at old posts about rotary hammers, but I am concerned with the rebar "pretzeling".

Thanks,
David

 
Posted : November 11, 2014 7:46 am
(@kent-mcmillan)
Posts: 11419
 

> Glacial Till is much like concrete...but you cannot set smaller nails, they will not hold.
>
> Does anyone drive rebar into this type of soil? What do you use?
>
> I looked at old posts about rotary hammers, but I am concerned with the rebar "pretzeling".

If you use a 5/8" bit to drill the hole, a #4 bar should drop right in without a fight. The longest 5/8" hammer drill bit I have found is 22", so you'll have to tolerate 2 inches of the rod sticking up or shorten it if the hole bottoms out on hard rock.

 
Posted : November 11, 2014 8:04 am
(@norman-oklahoma)
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> I looked at old posts about rotary hammers, but I am concerned with the rebar "pretzeling".
By delivering thousands of relatively small blows, rather than a few heavy blows, the jack hammer is actually less prone to bending the rod than the sledge is.

 
Posted : November 11, 2014 1:06 pm
(@ridge)
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It will probably be difficult to drive or drill anything straight into that stuff.

 
Posted : November 11, 2014 8:12 pm
(@kent-mcmillan)
Posts: 11419
 

> It will probably be difficult to drive or drill anything straight into that stuff.

It probably depends upon the gradation of the rock material mixed in with the granular material in the till. If there are lots of hard rocks with sloping faces, yeah, trying to drill through them probably will be an unhappy experience.

 
Posted : November 11, 2014 8:19 pm
(@dmyhill)
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> The longest 5/8" hammer drill bit I have found is 22"

http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-HC2109-37-Inch-39-Inch-SDS-Plus/dp/B00B4T1GC2/ref=cm_sw_em_r_dp_LcIBub1JJBPTT_tt

BTW, in my search I found the one above: 37" (usable).

 
Posted : November 20, 2014 9:17 am
(@dmyhill)
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> > It will probably be difficult to drive or drill anything straight into that stuff.
>
> It probably depends upon the gradation of the rock material mixed in with the granular material in the till. If there are lots of hard rocks with sloping faces, yeah, trying to drill through them probably will be an unhappy experience.

I know that me and my sledge hammer has been an "unhappy experience" so far.

 
Posted : November 20, 2014 9:19 am
(@kris-morgan)
Posts: 3876
 

> > I looked at old posts about rotary hammers, but I am concerned with the rebar "pretzeling".
> By delivering thousands of relatively small blows, rather than a few heavy blows, the jack hammer is actually less prone to bending the rod than the sledge is.

Agreed. The harder the soil, the more you have to "love" it in. Works with soil cement and rods and asphalt and nails.

 
Posted : November 20, 2014 9:22 am
(@norman-oklahoma)
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Why not use No.5 rods? Small difference in diameter, over half again more surface area. Will take a greater beating.

 
Posted : November 20, 2014 10:38 am