Sledgehammer weight for pounding rebar

[Sundial]

Is a little 2 pound sledgehammer heavy enough to pound rebar into the Playa? Or do I need to go a few pounds heavier?

[ygmir]

Is a little 2 pound sledgehammer heavy enough to pound rebar into the Playa? Or do I need to go a few pounds heavier?

2 lb and sledgehammer, seem contradictory.....well to me, anyway. But then again, maybe it's what I do........haha

any hammer is better than none, and the heavier, the harder it hits. Up to the point your strength will accommodate.
I'm a slight man, so probably won't use more than about 8 lb or so.
Some depends on the shape of your stakes, too.
A "candy bar" stake, can't take a super hit from a big hammer without bending more. A good straight shaft, with a usable size head, can take quite a pounding.........................

[plantmandan]

Any sledgehammer should be fine for 1/2" rebar. A short handle is easier to use and pack. If you have any doubts, go outside and practice. And remember to have a plan for covering your rebar and removing it from the ground on cleanup day.

[skippy3k]

Up to the point your strength will accommodate.

I think this is key. A heavier hammer doesn't necessarily make it easier to pound in rebar. If you are wiped out by the second rebar stake, then the heavier hammer won't help you pound in the remaining 15 or whatever. However, if you find yourself hammering in a single rebar for 10 minutes screaming "for gods sake, go in!", then you probably have too light a hammer.

[Bob]

A two or three pound sledge is fine, so is a heavy carpenter's framing hammer, or a rigger's hatchet.

The rig ax will be better for the dust zombies, for sure.

[lemur]

i had the face of a framing hammer break off while pounding rebar into the playa..

id wear eye protection if i was doing that again.

[Ugly Dougly]

Before you pound that stake, think about how you are going to remove it.

[BBadger]

I'm a lightweight and a 3lb small sledgehammer worked fine on our 5/8"-diameter rebar driven in 20". Bring vise grips to remove as all the forum threads concerning the subject suggest.

[dragonpilot]

And before you loan out your hammer, tie a 500' length of cord to it and your wrist...or you'll eventually never see it again. Or just bring a spare. Or don't loan it out.

[CapSmashy]

I'm a slight man

**snort**

[MikeGyver]

I'm bringing a short 5lb and a long handle 10lb, the 10lb for the 3' straight bars and 5lb for the short candy caned ones. As Ygg said once you bend them you gotta pay more attention or you'll just bend them over instead of going into the ground. But it all depends on what your comfortable swinging for an hour.

[CapSmashy]

I use either a 5 pound baby sledge or my full sized 10 pounder for stakes. We use Bad Dawg's T-Stake Blaster 2000 to pound them in. It weighs in around 40 pounds if I had to guess, but it sure can make fast work out of driving t-stakes.