using a jack hammer

[micky]

An obnoxious contractor working for a neighbor left a ball of cement almost 3 feet in diameter in the woods next to my house.

They were separate blobs, not yet totally set, but they're all stuck together now, with a few small empty spaces where the blobs meet, partially.

I'm going to borrow or rent an electric jack hammer to break it up into pieces light enough for me to remove.

I've already tried a sledge hammer and a couple tiny chips came off but the thing didn't crack.

Questions: How do I do this? I can't hold the hammer sideways, and if the ball is

3 feet in diameter, I have to be standing 3 feet higher than the ground to make the hammer vertical. Can I stand on a ladder without being knocked off of it? That seems likely and the best plan, but I'm interested in your opinions.

If the extension cord is too long or not heavy duty enough, is it possible to damage the jack hammer or will it just not work well enough? I don't want to damage it. OTOH, I don't anticipate using it for more than 5 minutes at a time.

I thought about tying a rope to it and pulling it with my car, but the closest the car can get is about 40 feet, and as the ball rolls it will roll the rope off of it, every 2 or 3 feet or less. Is there a way to stop this?

And, there's a small hill going uphill just 6 feet from the ball. Every time the rope came off, the ball would roll back unless we were putting a 4x4 or bigger behind the bal, moving it every 3 inchesl. And would a 4"x4" be enough to stop a 3' ball?. I wish I could estimate the grade of the hill but it's always less than it seems, right? It's easy to climb but that's partly because it's only 6 feet horizontally. Well I should go look again but I guess it rises 2 feet in 6 feet.

I don't want to find the owner of the land to get him to remove it. A) The more he ignores this land the better I like it. What he'll likely do instead is put up 1 or more ugly signs saying No Dumping, signs I don't want and that won't work anyhow, B) Why should he remove it for me? I'm not entitled to use someone else's land. C) How would he do this? Just about anything he can do, I can do, if only I knew what the proper thing to do is.

[TimR]

Go back to the sledge hammer. It will work, just be persistent.

Or give it to a couple college kids with a case of cheap beer.

Do not stand on a ladder with a jackhammer, that's asking for trouble.

If you insist on using power tools, dig a hole insead. A 3 foot deep 3 foot wide hole is no big deal. If need be use the college kids and case of beer.

Roll the concrete (NOT cement) into the hole.

Stand next to it with your jack hammer ready to pound it.

then realize you're an idiot - you already solved the problem. Throw a little dirt on top and walk away, return the hammer.

[Taxed and Spent]

Does it freeze where you are? Sound like the concrete blob is somewhat "porous"? If so, add water and let the freeze do some of your destruction for you. Repeat as necessary.

[DerbyDad03]

Woods? Woods mean trees. Do the math:

Tree + Rope = Horizontal Jack Hammering:

Have you consider a demolition hammer instead of a jack hammer? I don't really know the strength of one of these, but they come in different sizes and can easily be held horizontal.

[DerbyDad03]

Option 2 for horizontal jack hammering: Rig up something like this support:

[philo]

Two possible solutions:

1) Not on your land so ignore it. In a year or two it will be overgrown and you'll have forgotten about it.

2) Obsess over it and keep a constant watch (keep a vid cam on it while you sleep)...write letters to your Congressman...but most importantly...don't let it out of your sight. Obsess obsess obsess, become /obese/ with your obsession!

I personally think #2 the best.

[Tekkie®]

micky posted for all of us...

I would call the contractor and give him one week to get it out of there. Threaten him with the AHJ especially after you place a no dumping sign in proximity. Less work for mother...

[micky]

You're the only one to directly address that. I think you're right.

That's a good idea, although whenever I've dug a hole of any size, it's full of big rocks and hard to dig.

I'll look into getting a couple kids to work for me.

[micky]

That's a great idea. I don't think I have time to work on it this fall anyhow. And I don't have to go and look every day, just watch the thermometer. And even if it takes 2 or 3 winters, I'd enjoy doing this.

I'm not sure how far into it those empty spaces go. In fact I can't figure out how they came about. This was cement or concrete used to replace or refinish (all of a sudden I can't remember which) outdoor masonry steps that the neighbor has since his front door is 8 feet or so above the street. It's grey and smooth, even the junk in the woods has no visible stones in it. And I thought wet cement was almost liquid like ketchup or very nearly hard. And unless there was some kind of elastic polymer added, if there is such a thing these days, it was never rubbery or like lasagna noodles that could be draped over the smaller ball.

[CRNG]

On Fri, 14 Oct 2016 12:03:32 -0400, micky wrote in

Would it be possible to post a photo somewhere?

[micky]

Also a good idea. Thanks.

I didn't know they had such things. I looked at HD rental several months ago but must have done a bad job of looking.

[notbob]

Yeah, you did. We jes call 'em electric jackhammers. No doubt Makita, DeWalt, etc, like the term "demolition hammer" cuz it imparts an image of greater destruction.

nb

[Taxed and Spent]

I thought some Jill got her panties in a bunch when she heard the term.

[micky]

This is good too. It's another reminder that I can use a rope to hold it up (I think there is a tree above it.)

I got started on this today because yesterday I got rid of those decorative blocks that some use as a border for their garden. Another neighbor used them several years ago and wanted to redo her garden so she hired someone who just threw the 30 old blocks in the woods.

Even when I caught him and told him he should remove them, he wouldn't. And even when I stood behind him on the stoop as he was asking to get paid, and the woman who hired him was in doorway hearing me ask "Did you know he was going to throw your old blocks in the woods**? Are you going to pay him before he removes the blocks from the woods?" I'm sure she paid him anyhow **The back of her house looks out on the same woods but she's old and she never goes down there. Of course she was a lot younger 25 years ago and she never went into the woods even then. In fact even my young n'bors never go down there! Even my next door n'bor whose log also adjoins the path into the woods never goes in. The woods are nice. There a stream that splits into two forks but much of the year one can step on rocks and get to the island in the middle without getting wet, and it's very peaceful.

So after a week of being angry, it suddenly dawned on me I could give the blocks away on Freecycle. 30 of them. I described them as best I could and gave a link to something similar at Home Depot and 6 people replied that they wanted them. And a woman and her sister came over yesterday and the three of us carried them out of the woods

So that's why today I turned my attention to the ball of cement or concrete.

For at least the third time, the next door n'bor, a man about 55, not the old woman. went the cheap way and got a poor result. 1) Within 3 months the steps were already spalling. I wonder what they will be like in a couple years. 2) He put up aluminum siding and one piece blew half-way off, which might be understandable, but also they attached his downspout, instead of using a pretty thing meant for that (like with fleur de lis on each end) they just folded some aluminum and used that. Same color as wall but still looks terrible. 3) He put up a stockade fence around his back yard and the pickets shrank so much within just a few years that you can see in between every pair of them.

He did put in a cement pad and build a kit-shed that I think turned out fine. I think that was done with his friends, not by hiring someone cheap.

[micky]

Not a bad idea but it's right next to the path I use to enter the woods. I've ignored a few things in the past and they were washed downstream or covered with silt (this area is underwater when it rains a lot), but this is 3 feet high and not much is growing around it. I think it's been a year and none of it is covered.

I'll work on that.

I can use a wireless camera or remote thermometer to know when the water I pour on it has frozen. If I get a motion-activated camera, it will turn on when the ice freezes and cracks the ball. I'll need a receiver and some sorftware... I have to think about this a lot. I think I need a bigger harddrive.

[Mike Duffy]

If you're not in a hurry, repeated applications of vinegar should soften it.

[micky]

I knew about electric jackhammers -- that's what I asked about -- but I didn't know there were smaller ones meant to be used horizontally.

That's what the url shows. It even has a handle in the middle to hold it horizonally, not one big handle at the top.

I also knew there were hammer drills, but those are far too small to break this up.

[micky]

I tried to get his name, and the homeowner said he'd get it for me, but he didn't, probably on purpose. He and the HOA president are the only n'bors I'm not on v. good terms with.

He'd also say he didnt' do it -- this one I didn't see -- even though the color of the steps and of the ball match. That might be enough, if I knew who it was.

[micky]

Yeah. I'll try to do that tomorrow. Good idea.

[micky]

I thought maybe you were kidding, but I see that works.

Of course, I think in this case it might take 100 years, so maybe you were kidding after all.

But it's good to know for other times.