Breaking up small concrete slabs (5m x 5m)

[SteveAndBelle]

SteveandBelle,

I work for an earthmoving company on weekends here in Ipswich. If you are thinkning about getting a bobcat in let me know and I will pass on the company details. I don't quote prices but the boss would contact you and discuss it.

Sounds great Bluegum. PM me your company name & number or just reply with the details however I suppose that would be classed as free advertising. PM me if you don't want to risk it.

Thanks mate !

[woodsprite]

Sorry SilentC - didn;t see your very excellent idea about machinery - you were first, I was second! Up in these here parts the tip people charge about $50.00 a ton to dispose of hard waste/builders rubble etc. But you would probably need to pay that anyway, regardless of who takes it out of the yard to the tip- and I'll betcha there would be a few trailer loads of busted concrete if you did it yourself with the Falcon and the trailer!

Of course you could sneak it away at night by the boot load and just 'put' it somewhere....

[silentC]

Sorry SilentC

Apology accepted!

Of course you could sneak it away at night by the boot load and just 'put' it somewhere

A shopping bag full in the bin every week. Would only take about 4 years to get rid of it

[scottyk]

I have just carried out aboout 50m2 of concrete removal on my place.
Mine was all about 100-150mm thich and had no reo in it, so my foolproof method will only work for concrete with no reo.
Hire a skip to put it in, I paid about $300 for 6m3 one for a fortnight. Then dig under the corner on the slab and get a good size fullcrom and a plank and lift the corner (as described in earlier reply). Then get the sledgehammer and hit the corner furthest away from the lifted corner. Work your way back towards the corner being lifted striking blows in such a way to give yourself small bits to pick up. The weight needed on these blows is very light due to the slab being lifted and is unsupported making it very week. Then just buy one carton of beer, tell your family friends that its ready to be drunk as soon as the skips full of the bits of concrete......easy!
All this may vary depending on the strength of the concrete and if it has reo in it then.......good luck
Let us know how you go
Scotty

[dreinoga]

Hey Guys,

I was and am in the same boat, I decided to go the GCM route and bought one from Bunnings, $350 and I am not looking back.

Works great, come with a 1 year warrenty, so make sure you get all the use you can out if it in the first year.

Works a treat, and I have now found that you can get spade bits for it as well, so all that hard clay etc that was a pain to dig out is easy as pie.

The only trouble I think you will have is finding stock now, as I cant seem to find them at Bunnings any more.....

Those ones on Ebay look like the same thing, but easier to take back to Bunnings if you have issues I think, and with a high impact tool its prob a good idea

[Bleedin Thumb]

Dont buy a secondhand kanga type hammer. They have a hard life so if someone is selling one it means .

1 They know something you dont ie its on its last legs or
2. Its been nicked from someone
3. They may not have a need fro one anymore (unlikely).

I just put my Hitachi in for a service got quoted $500 to repair so I told them to throw it away.

I vote the bobcat but my elbow doesnt tollerate sledgies anymore.
Also be aware that most of the have 4 hrs minimum hire plus float (1-2hrs) so the sums arent as good as first glance (around $400 minimum) tipping fees on top (cheaper than skips) .If you plan the job right you can get the machine to do other things to fill in the 4 hrs. ie get him to backload soil from the tip and spead it over where slabs were or bring mulch in for gardens

[SteveAndBelle]

All done !

Called up GWT Earthmoving based in Ipswich (thanks Bluegum) and arranged for them to come around and deal with it.

Cost me $300 all up for the job & the disposal which is a little bit higher than I was expecting but WOW what a great job ! A driver and a bobcat dealt with the slab in just over 20 minutes and even raked & swept the area to get as many of the smaller 'rock' sized bits as possible. I also got them to take away a big pile of pallets (9 of them in total) I've had floating around for a while and they took another 10 minutes to load onto the truck.

So, in about 30 minutes everything was done and the truck went to the tip. The truck came back about an hour later to load up the bobcat and then left soon after.

$300 is $300 I know but it sure saved my back, sanity & a heap of time doing it myself so although it's not the cheapest outcome I still think it's well worthwhile.

I highly recommend GWT Earthmoving, very neat & tidy indeed.

[Bleedin Thumb]

Good to hear that it went well. I think $300 is very reasonable, well done. As you say about your back, somethings are not worth the pain.

[Bluegum]

Glad it went well then Steve. I will let the boss know you were happy with the out come of it all. I broke up a 3 x 2 m slab at home 3 years ago with a jack hammer wish I had of used a bobcat as I was sore for a few days after it.