Is there a better way of driving/removing rebar?

Niacin · Post by **Niacin** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 4:29 pm

Hiyas,

This year we had seven or eight pieces of rebar that we had to drive into the playa to secure our tower, and such labour in the sun really did kind of suck, and tore up my hand a little bit.

I remember reading about a Playa Rebar Gun, or somesuch, that was a really clever amalgamation of a power hammer and another bit that actually sank the rebar in...does somebody have a link? Next year's structure, if it comes off as I have it in my head, would need three or four times the rebar, and I'm really kind of lazy.

Cheers,
Max

III · Post by **III** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 5:16 pm

if you have trouble driving in and removing rebar, you can get the dpw to do it for you, especially if you have a lot of it.

charming russian · Post by **charming russian** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 8:49 pm

yo max. unles u travelling with madmax crew of welders n such the best way to drive rebar into mother playa is a hammer. rool of thumb being the bigger hammer u've got the better. now as far as getting rebar out, there is a nice trick that u can try. take two rebars and tie em together with any still wire at one end so uyou have a semblense of tweezers. when pulling rebar out of the playa , all u do is place your tweezers around it and then squize the long ends together you should have a fairly good grip on the rebar you've got sticking out of the ground. then do as Archimides and just start pulling using the long of your tweezers as a lever. good luck next year

precipitate · Post by **precipitate** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 8:53 pm

Or just use vice grips. And gloves.

Remark · Post by **Remark** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 5:40 pm

Get a small (6" or so) piece of black iron pipe with a capped end and put it over the rebar and start pounding away. Lot less vibration, easier to "aim" the rebar, and a bigger target.

"But I need it candy caned...." Pound the rebar in, grab the pipe and bend. It's just rebar.

Vise grips and gloves for removal.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:50 am

Skyhawk · Post by **Skyhawk** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 9:33 am

http://www.litebrite.org/rebarhammer/

mmm.. demolition hammer goodness..

Niacin · Post by **Niacin** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 10:15 am

Skyhawk, Camp LiteBrite's rebar hammer is exactly what I was thinking of. Thank you for posting the link.

Cheers,
Max

p'rick · Post by **p'rick** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 12:25 pm

great stuff. my right thumb is still a bit numb from the nerve damage i caused by pounding rebar into the playa. the thumb was dead all week. very strange experience.

jw · Post by jw » Mon Sep 29, 2003 5:59 pm

Hey! we got the best Stakepuller to pull all your rebars out of playa. In fact some of your men have purchased them & told us they worked great!! We customize to fit any rebar, it is best you let us know what the dimentions are. take a look at our web site at www.stakepuller.com & look at the demo. The small one is what you would need. any questions?

J.w.

Papa Bear · Post by **Papa Bear** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 10:43 pm

jw wrote: The small one is what you would need. any questions?

We had one of these this year. Worked like a dream. Good thing too, as I'd estimate we had nearly 200 rebar stakes among the large structures alone.

The only downside is that we couldn't figure out a way to pull rebar that was driven in at an angle without bending it up in the process. In our case, it wasn't really an issue, but your mileage may vary.

Another tip if you use one of these: bring along a piece of wood to put under the base (fulcrum) of the puller. Much more effective that way.

Skyhawk · Post by **Skyhawk** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 9:09 am

perhaps a modified or home built stake puller. a large plate with a pivot on one side and a few steel "teeth" on the other to prevent slipping. add a long steel rod to the pivot, with the rope or link to pull on the rebar. with a bit of fiddling, you could work out an angle to yank out the tilted rebar without bending (or only a little bit)

ok.. on readin that again, I fear it might not make any sense. Anyone understand? anyone out there both understand and could draw it out for everyone?

jw · Post by jw » Tue Sep 30, 2003 10:41 am

Take a look at our web site & you can see it! it will pull the pin out at an angle.no problem.. JW

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 1:45 pm

what about pulling those goddamned t-stakes?

THE ORIGINAL DIGIMAN · Post by **THE ORIGINAL DIGIMAN** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 1:58 pm

Bob wrote:<img src="http://www.sonic.net/~bullnose/rebar.gif">

toooo smooth as usual.

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 3:05 pm

Use your teeth.

Then your dentist will have no trouble affording their own burningman trip (like they do anyway!)

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 8:27 pm

I constructed a very handy little tool some years back that I use on a regular basis for various tasks. Seems it would work very well for pulling rebar on the playa too (or any other stuck object for that matter). I took a standard size pair of vise grips and removed the knurled adjusting bolt. Then welded it onto the end of a ½" dia. rod +/- 24" long. On the end of this I welded a ½" X 2 X 2 plate perpendicular to the rod to act as a stop plate. Then I drilled a 17/32" hole through a piece of 2" dia X 4" solid round stock. Slip the rod assembly up through the hole and thread back into the vise grips.

In my case, since I use it often, I built a dedicated tool that hangs in its own spot on the shop wall. I would think that a simpler version could be made with a piece of threaded rod +/- 24" long and a double-nut stop at one end. And surly there’s chunk of something laying around with a hole through it that could act as the hammer mechanism. Look at the scrap yard. And remember to file any sharp edges!!! Just remove the adjuster bolt from you vise grips, thread in this gizmo and Presto!!! Instant adjustable, vise grip slide hammer.

rodent · Post by **rodent** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 8:31 pm

C4 plastic explosive...

A million household uses

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 9:17 pm

I just opened the nail V in a wrecking-bar/crowbar with a grinder. It's just like pulling nails only larger. For larger bars or fence post I have used 2ft.of tow chain and a two ton floor jack. You might have to smack it around with a sledge hammer to get it to go your way.

diamondblast · Post by **diamondblast** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:10 am

[quote="rodent"]C4 plastic explosive...

A million household uses :)

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)[/quote]

I love c4, it's so strong and easy to use
i was trained in the navy, but they never let me have fun with it :)
I hope you'll have fun

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:01 am

Pounding rebar - big sledge and lots of helpers. Pulling straight rebar - attach vice grips, twist until it breaks loose, then pull. Candy caned rebar - slide hammer with hook attachment. Easiest pulling I've ever experienced.

32 pieces of rebar for a structure sounds like a hell of a lot - are you sure you need that much? Maybe something else might work just as well, or maybe it's so hard because you're using pieces too long or too thick.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:14 am

Dork, you might want to check the date on the op.

Post by **mdmf007** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:31 pm

Makes pounding stakes easy

[youtube][/youtube]

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:49 pm

It would have been nice to see more of the machine and less of the bottom of the stake (and the two guys' legs). The close ups of the stake going in made for a rather dull video.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:11 pm

BAS wrote:It would have been nice to see more of the machine and less of the bottom of the stake (and the two guys' legs). The close ups of the stake going in made for a rather dull video. :roll:

That's not what you said about the "movie" last night!

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:43 pm

I plead the 5th!

hsdavis · Post by **hsdavis** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:06 am

Not to beat this subject into the ground

but, if you make a nice point on the bottom of the rebar, then is will go into the ground straight without causing the underground bends that just won't come out. I have also found that a sharp V on the top instead of a candy cane bend makes for a much more solid hit with a hammer. This perfect bend can be achieved by heating red hot with a torch. The V top also gives a place to solidly vice grip for removal. If all else fail, then pour some water around the base and keep working the rebar out.

SonOfUgly · Post by **SonOfUgly** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:25 am

have not used rebar out there

fence post and a fence post driver did work nice

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 10:08 am

I used the screw in auger end type anchors last year, and, they worked great. not hammering

Screw in, screw out.

now, who can argue with that?

Jordan 10-E · Post by **Jordan 10-E** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 10:21 am

To remove simply knock the side of the rebar with a hammer a few times to break and loosen up the soil a bit and then pull and twist with a pair of vice grips. No special tools required.

Is there a better way of driving/removing rebar?

Is there a better way of driving/removing rebar?

removal of rebar

Re: removal of rebar

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