On Jun 5, 6:34 pm, "Steve B" wrote:
I need to remove a strip of caliche about forty feet long, eight feet wide,
and in thickness from zero to 12 inches. I have some ideas on how to go
about this, but would like to hear from anyone who has worked with caliche
before.

My ideas a jackhammer with a spade bit, or drilling honeycombs with a
star drill on a rotohammer to a standard plane of depth, and then breaking
the honeycombs off. A layer of sand, then a layer of pavers will be put
over the remaining caliche.

I had my brother in law try ripping it with claws on the back of his
backhoe, but the stuff is too tough.

We have a layer about 28-32" deep that's roughly 8-12" thick here and
while it is certainly hard when completely dry, not so bad if a little
("little" being the operative work here ) damp.

Certainly nothing a good-sized backhoe couldn't handle, though.
Sounds to me like "bigger hammer" time--a D7 ought to be about
right!

For a relatively small area if it is totally dry, try setting out a
yard sprinkler and put a half to maybe an inch of water on it and let
it set overnight. Setting corner posts couldn't get through it if dry
w/ post-hole diggers so routinely carried water -- dug to layer top,
poured in a half bucket of water and come back next day--piece o'
cake...

--