Homemade Wrecking Ball

[movindirt]

Hello All,

Wondered what you all have used in the past as a substitute for a wrecking ball? I have a few ideas of stuff I could use, but not sure if it would hold up. I don't mind building something...but maybe there would be an easy way that I have overlooked.

How heavy would it need to be to be effective on a 8" thick poured concrete wall?

I have a basement to tear out and I don't know if it would be worth buying a wrecking ball for just one job.

We would be swinging it with a Cat 215.

Thanks!

 

[Fastdirt]

If you could get a big chunk of footing out from underneath the slab on the daylight side you could use it in some fashion by dropping it. You might be able to chain it up and swing it. Big granite boulders are effective too, but can break sometimes. Having a thumb really helps with those methods. Not sure what else you could do. I tried renting one locally, but nobody has them. I called big local demo companies with little luck, but I did find a big demo company willing to rent me theirs. Try calling around. I did buy a 4,000 lb. wrecking ball last summer. It paid for itself pretty quick. It's great to have around. I would rent mine to someone if they left me collateral of equal value. Trying to make one is just going to be tough. I'd think you'd need at least 1 ton of mass to be effective. Maybe others have ideas, like huge heavy equipment parts to drop or swing at the wall.

 

[lumberjack]

You could make a weight out of thick plate and large all thread. The metal supplier could cut the layers out of 2"+ plate and burn the holes for a few pieces of all thread to hold the laminates together.

 

[pondo]

Counterweight off a forklift. Price would be scrap from responsible forklift shop and it has vent holes for the rad that would be great for putting heavy chain thru.

 

[AlldayRJ]

Big old engine block full of concrete? I would call local demo guys first though to borrow one

 

[wrangler]

I used a 2 foot diameter rock for my basement wall demo.Used a small piece of 1/2 inch plate with 3 holes and welded a U on it to attach it.Drilled holes in rock with hammer drill and put in 3- 5/8 x 4 inch hilti bolts.Used a 8 foot piece of chain to swing it with a backhoe.Not sure of the type of rock but was not a limestone.Just some colored stone native to central Saskatchewan,Canada.It demoed a few basements before it cracked. Once you make the hook plate it only takes minutes to attach it to another rock if you have a good hammer drill.try to start with a stone with no cracks and check it after using it for a while.I only used it in basements so if it broke it only falls in the hole.

 

[mitch504]

With an 8" wall, I would just catch it on the edge and break it with my 215C. Everybody remember, a 215 is a lot bigger than a 315.

 

[CM1995]

With an 8" wall, I would just catch it on the edge and break it with my 215C. Everybody remember, a 215 is a lot bigger than a 315.

Mitch beat me to it.

 

[movindirt]

Thanks for all the replies and ideas everyone, really appreciate it!

Fastdirt: Our machine does have a thumb on it, so dropping something is an option. Haven't called too many places yet, haven't seen many around.. Your video is what got me thinking of using one. I like how it really seemed to crumble it for easier loading.

lumberjack: good idea, the steel guys here are kind of pricy though

pondo and silversuper: I wondered about that, do you think the cast iron would be strong enough (not to brittle) ?

wrangler: interesting idea, don't know if our rock would be strong enough though. That was my theory to, if I build something and it breaks, it would be contained in the hole and not flying around above ground

mitch504 and cm1995: That was kind of my original thought, dig behind it and pry around, but wondered if the rebar would prevent it from breaking into manageable
size chunks? Haven't done any poured walls, just block walls and flat work, those break up nice

Thought about welding some old 10.00x20.00 rims together into a cylinder, plating the bottom, and filling it with concrete, but not sure if it would have enough weight. Need some extra-heavy, extra-strong concrete Thanks again everybody!

 

[Dualie]

i seen a guy swinging a propane tank filled with concrete

 

[FSERVICE]

the best "homemade" wrecking ball iv saw was a elevator counter weight!!! just have to have something big enough to swing it!! the only problem with homemade stuff is keeping the chains/cables attached... don't want to loose that thru the neighbors house yes I saw that counter weight fly off several times!!! worked great its still being used today

 

[Wolf]

So what did you end up doing, and how is the demo going? Got any pictures of it to post for us? Thanks.

 

[movindirt]

Hey guys, sorry, haven't been on here for a couple days.

Some sort of steel tank filled with concrete is what i'm leaning toward, just not sure if i can get enough weight in a small enough area. Guess i'm leaning toward that because i have that stuff laying around. Might call a local guy with a junkyard and see if he has anything heavy laying around, but he cycles through pretty quick.
Haven't done anything with it yet, mainly because of fixing other stuff That job is a ways off yet so it'll be last minute probably Will post some pics when we do something with it though. Thanks alot!

 

[2005kes2005]

Be careful the swing drive on a 215 is touchy- not like an old 225
Old excavator counter weights work great: I use a 225 counter weight on a 330 c

 

[jowmore]

why not use a hydraulic hammer,must be someone nearby willing to rent one.

 

[mitch504]

Yeah, if I was going to use a wrecking ball with a 215, I'd use it as a drop ball. Swinging into anything with a 215 is dicey. The swing gear is the weakest thing on the old girls, and rebuilding one would run more than the old girl is worth. The parts to fix my 215C 6 years ago would have been $16000. I found a used swing gear and put it in for about $6500.

 

[movindirt]

Hey guys, actually do have a hammer for the mini-ex, its kind of small though.
Kind of funny that you guys mentioned the swing gear, actually just fixed 2 gears in the assembly last week. Ended up redoing the seals on the bottom, and some bearings. Had about 1000 in Classic parts, about a third the price of regular :thumbsup It was kind of funny, the little gear was missing two teeth, on opposite sides. The big gear was missing 10 teeth, all in different spots? Hopefully the new ones will last a little longer
I thought I'd probably swing a ball with the stick, in and out, like in fastdirt's video.
On a side note, I have the shop manual, parts manual, and hydraulic schematic if anyone ever needs pics of anything. They are for the 96L series. They came with the machine when I bought it, have come in handy.
Here is a pic of our machine from last summer, it's a 1980, 9600 hrs on the meter when it broke

 

[Fastdirt]

Man that 1980 Cat looks good, the gear not so much. Glad you got it fixed. I'm just ready to look on this thread and see you swinging a creative chunk of iron on that demo job..... and by swinging, I mean back and forth. Not side to side

 

[Turbo21835]

Be careful the swing drive on a 215 is touchy- not like an old 225
Old excavator counter weights work great: I use a 225 counter weight on a 330 c

Ive used some old crane counterweights as well.

 

[TJ1979]

Also a fan of counterweights. Most effective thing I've used