Any suggestions for hammer drills, rotary hammers and so
on to use for driving ground rods? I see there are SDS Plus and SDS Max
versions. Interchangeable bits?
I've been using a pipe welded into a sledge hammer head for
years to drive the rods. It works, of course, but it's a bit
hard on old hands.
I did see a video of a guy driving a rod with a sledge. He drilled a
hole in a board then slipped the board over the rod at an angle. That
took the wiggle out of the rod when he hit it.

Dean Hoffman wrote:

Any suggestions for hammer drills, rotary hammers and so
on to use for driving ground rods? I see there are SDS Plus and SDS Max
versions. Interchangeable bits?
I've been using a pipe welded into a sledge hammer head for
years to drive the rods. It works, of course, but it's a bit
hard on old hands.
I did see a video of a guy driving a rod with a sledge. He drilled a
hole in a board then slipped the board over the rod at an angle. That
took the wiggle out of the rod when he hit it.
Hi,
Use water as hole gets started. Depends what kinda soil.

On 04/05/2015 05:36 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:
Dean Hoffman wrote:

Any suggestions for hammer drills, rotary hammers and so
on to use for driving ground rods? I see there are SDS Plus and SDS Max
versions. Interchangeable bits?
I've been using a pipe welded into a sledge hammer head for
years to drive the rods. It works, of course, but it's a bit
hard on old hands.
I did see a video of a guy driving a rod with a sledge. He drilled a
hole in a board then slipped the board over the rod at an angle. That
took the wiggle out of the rod when he hit it.
Hi,
Use water as hole gets started. Depends what kinda soil.



That's how I used to do it...with water.


Last summer though I had my wiring brought up to current code. (Take or
leave the double meaning.)


The electrician drilled a hole with an auger bit then let a sledge
hammer do the rest. He managed to get an 8 footer in with a sledge
hammer....then put in a 2nd one.

"Dean Hoffman" wrote in message
...

Any suggestions for hammer drills, rotary hammers and so
on to use for driving ground rods? I see there are SDS Plus and SDS Max
versions. Interchangeable bits?
I've been using a pipe welded into a sledge hammer head for
years to drive the rods. It works, of course, but it's a bit
hard on old hands.
I did see a video of a guy driving a rod with a sledge. He drilled a
hole in a board then slipped the board over the rod at an angle. That
took the wiggle out of the rod when he hit it.

Depending on the soil, you might try this if you don't have too many to
drive.

Scoop out a hole about the size of a beer can, maybe only half as tall.
Then just push the rod down by hand as far as you can, which will probably
only a few inches. Then pull it up. Repeat and the rod should go down
another couple of inches. Keep doing this. Don't pull the rod all the way
, only up several inches. The deeper the hole, the more you can pull out
each time. When you get about half the rod down, pull it out and fill the
hole with water.

I thought this was a joke from a fellow at work. I just had to try it. I
put in 4 rods this way. On the second rod I clamped a pair of Vice Grips on
the rod to act as a handle.

If there are lots of rocks it won't work, but if you don't hit any rocks it
works very well.

On Sun, 05 Apr 2015 17:26:55 -0500, Dean Hoffman
wrote:


Any suggestions for hammer drills, rotary hammers and so
on to use for driving ground rods? I see there are SDS Plus and SDS Max
versions. Interchangeable bits?
I've been using a pipe welded into a sledge hammer head for
years to drive the rods. It works, of course, but it's a bit
hard on old hands.
I did see a video of a guy driving a rod with a sledge. He drilled a
hole in a board then slipped the board over the rod at an angle. That
took the wiggle out of the rod when he hit it.

Buy, borrow, or rent a T-Post Driver. Available at any farm related
store, Tractor Supply, Menards, even Walmart has them for about $20 in
their web store. This is the easiest and safest tool to use. But it will
leave about 20" sticking out of the ground, because otherwise the tool
would be going into the soil. But once you only have 20" left, a sledge
hammer works fine. I'd never try a sledge overhead. Too dangerous!
You'll still need a step ladder to get it started if it's 8' or longer
rod. I have this tool for t-posts on my farm, but I have driven many
ground rods with it too. Easiest method I ever used!

Photo:
http://www.premier1supplies.com/img/...dium/446_1.jpg

"Ralph Mowery" wrote:
"Dean Hoffman" wrote in message
...

Any suggestions for hammer drills, rotary hammers and so
on to use for driving ground rods? I see there are SDS Plus and SDS Max
versions. Interchangeable bits?
I've been using a pipe welded into a sledge hammer head for
years to drive the rods. It works, of course, but it's a bit
hard on old hands.
I did see a video of a guy driving a rod with a sledge. He drilled a
hole in a board then slipped the board over the rod at an angle. That
took the wiggle out of the rod when he hit it.

Depending on the soil, you might try this if you don't have too many to
drive.

Scoop out a hole about the size of a beer can, maybe only half as tall.
Then just push the rod down by hand as far as you can, which will probably
only a few inches. Then pull it up. Repeat and the rod should go down
another couple of inches. Keep doing this. Don't pull the rod all the way
, only up several inches. The deeper the hole, the more you can pull out
each time. When you get about half the rod down, pull it out and fill the
hole with water.

I thought this was a joke from a fellow at work. I just had to try it. I
put in 4 rods this way. On the second rod I clamped a pair of Vice Grips on
the rod to act as a handle.

If there are lots of rocks it won't work, but if you don't hit any rocks it
works very well.

I started right away with the water.

Greg

Any suggestions for hammer drills, rotary hammers and so
on to use for driving ground rods? I see there are SDS Plus and SDS Max
versions. Interchangeable bits?
I've been using a pipe welded into a sledge hammer head for
years to drive the rods. It works, of course, but it's a bit
hard on old hands.
I did see a video of a guy driving a rod with a sledge. He drilled a
hole in a board then slipped the board over the rod at an angle. That
took the wiggle out of the rod when he hit it.


I use a rotary hammer with an SDS Max ground rod driver attachment. Conditions in my area are rocky and shale. Very difficult to drive a rod in even with a power tool. I found that alternating between the rotary hammer and sledge hammer works best for these conditions.

I remember many years ago doing a service change. I had two rods to install, I had the rotary hammer set up, but the soil was so loose I was able to push the rods in half way.

Harbor Freight has cheap SDS Max rotary hammer and I think it is on sale this month.

I never tried water.

On 4/6/2015 5:03 AM, gregz wrote:
another couple of inches. Keep doing this. Don't pull the rod all the way
, only up several inches. The deeper the hole, the more you can pull out
each time. When you get about half the rod down, pull it out and fill the
hole with water.

If there are lots of rocks it won't work, but if you don't hit any rocks it
works very well.

I started right away with the water.

Greg


Have you considered a twelve step program? You
can get help for your water problem, you know.

-
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On 04/05/2015 05:05 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:

Depending on the soil, you might try this if you don't have too many to
drive.

Scoop out a hole about the size of a beer can, maybe only half as tall.
Then just push the rod down by hand as far as you can, which will probably
only a few inches. Then pull it up. Repeat and the rod should go down
another couple of inches. Keep doing this. Don't pull the rod all the way
, only up several inches. The deeper the hole, the more you can pull out
each time. When you get about half the rod down, pull it out and fill the
hole with water.

I thought this was a joke from a fellow at work. I just had to try it. I
put in 4 rods this way. On the second rod I clamped a pair of Vice Grips on
the rod to act as a handle.

If there are lots of rocks it won't work, but if you don't hit any rocks it
works very well.

I did this last year for a ground rod for an antenna I was putting up.
I was not at all expecting it to work, but it worked exactly as
described, and was a lot easier than dragging out the ladder to pound on
the wiggling end of a ground rod (a lot quicker, too).

Jon

"John G" wrote in message
...

I use a rotary hammer with an SDS Max ground rod driver attachment.
Conditions in my area are rocky and shale. Very difficult to drive a rod
in even with a power tool. I found that alternating between the rotary
hammer and sledge hammer works best for these conditions.

I remember many years ago doing a service change. I had two rods to
install, I had the rotary hammer set up, but the soil was so loose I was
able to push the rods in half way.

Isn't there something in the code about putting the rods in sideways or
something if the ground is rocky and difficult to drive the rods in ? I
don't do electrical work for a living so not up on the codes. There are
some areas around the area I live in are almost all rock. I help keep up a
local ham radio repeater. A while back a new tower was going up and the
crew had a big power rod driver . Looked like a small air hammer except it
was electric. The thing worked well for about the first 4 feet , then hit
rocks and would not drive it any more. As this was not anything that needed
to be inspected, we quit trying to drive the rods in any deeper. The same
thing hapened to all 5 of the rode we tried to drive in at different places.

Per Ralph Mowery:
A while back a new tower was going up and the
crew had a big power rod driver . Looked like a small air hammer except it
was electric. The thing worked well for about the first 4 feet , then hit
rocks and would not drive it any more.

This is from somebody who has never driven a rod and, if their luck
holds up, never will.

Seems like there should be some sort of faux rod with a carbide tip plus
a tool to drive same. Drive the faux rod, pull it out, insert actual
rod....

??
--
Pete Cresswell

On Monday, April 6, 2015 at 9:57:30 AM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
Isn't there something in the code about putting the rods in sideways or
something if the ground is rocky and difficult to drive the rods in ? I
don't do electrical work for a living so not up on the codes. There are
some areas around the area I live in are almost all rock. I help keep up a
local ham radio repeater. A while back a new tower was going up and the
crew had a big power rod driver . Looked like a small air hammer except it
was electric. The thing worked well for about the first 4 feet , then hit
rocks and would not drive it any more. As this was not anything that needed
to be inspected, we quit trying to drive the rods in any deeper. The same
thing hapened to all 5 of the rode we tried to drive in at different places.

You hit rocks 5 times?

Don't think so.

You hit an underground storage tank, a sewer line, a gas line, a water line, and an electric power line.

Good thing you stopped when you did.

"TimR" wrote in message
...
to be inspected, we quit trying to drive the rods in any deeper. The
same
thing hapened to all 5 of the rode we tried to drive in at different
places.

You hit rocks 5 times?

Don't think so.

You hit an underground storage tank, a sewer line, a gas line, a water
line, and an electric power line.

Good thing you stopped when you did.

This was on the top of a hill. There are no underground lines of anykinds.
The power lines are all overhead. There is nothing on the hill to have a
storage tank or water line. The rods were driven in at places about 50 to
70 feet apart. When the hole was driven in for the base of the tower lots
of rock were hit with the back hoe.

On Mon, 6 Apr 2015 08:44:55 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

You hit rocks 5 times?

Try driving a rod in the ground in Las Vegas. "hard pan dirt" - rocks
everywhere.

Tool: (sample)

http://www.fentonrepair.com/Post%20Driver%20Hydraulic%20Self-Contained.jpg

On 04/06/2015 09:44 AM, TimR wrote:
You hit rocks 5 times?

Don't think so.

http://www.panoramio.com/user/2570631/tags/Point%20Six

The local ham 2M repeater is a little downhill from the weather radome.
Good luck hitting anything but rock on Point Six. Or most of western
Montana for that matter. They didn't call them the Rocky Mountains just
for the hell of it.

Dean Hoffman wrote:


Any suggestions for hammer drills, rotary hammers and so
on to use for driving ground rods?


You may want a cordless impact wrench instead of the hammer drill. Buy a good
brand name one. At least 18V.

Ralph Mowery wrote:

Isn't there something in the code about putting the rods in sideways or
something if the ground is rocky and difficult to drive the rods in ?


I've never heard of that. I do know you're supposed to bond all of the ground
rods (CATV, TELCO, AC, Alarm System, etc...)

G. Morgan wrote:
Dean Hoffman wrote:


Any suggestions for hammer drills, rotary hammers and so
on to use for driving ground rods?


You may want a cordless impact wrench instead of the hammer drill. Buy a good
brand name one. At least 18V.


Ahh. I happen to have one. I suppose a deep well socket and
something in the socket to protect the wrench?

Ralph Mowery:


You must live in New England. Rockiest soil
in the lower 48 states.

wrote:
Ralph Mowery:


You must live in New England. Rockiest soil
in the lower 48 states.

You've never been to Stone County Arkansas have you ? I managed to drive
mine with a small sledge hammer 7'4" before I hit a rock that I couldn't
punch thru . Just the other day I turned up a rock 4" thick and about 6" by
14" in a part of the garden that's been tilled several times . I think they
reproduce about a foot down ...

--
Snag

wrote in message
...
Ralph Mowery:


You must live in New England. Rockiest soil
in the lower 48 states.

No, the middle of North Carolina. I live between two towns that are about 5
miles apart. One is called Granet Quarry and the other is called Rockwell.
No kidding on the town names. They are about 40 miles up I 85 from
Charlotte. Also there is a town called Faith. about the same distance
away. There are several quarries around here where granet is or was mined.
I think where my house is must have been filled in a lot. I did not have
any problem sinking 4 ground rods with the push and water method. There is
a small creek behind the house that does have lots of big rocks in it.
Around here itis not a mater of rocks in the ground,but the whole place is
almost on one big rock.

"G. Morgan" wrote in message
...
Ralph Mowery wrote:

Isn't there something in the code about putting the rods in sideways or
something if the ground is rocky and difficult to drive the rods in ?


I've never heard of that. I do know you're supposed to bond all of the
ground
rods (CATV, TELCO, AC, Alarm System, etc...)

Found this in one of the code places. I know in some places around here
that 2 rods must be installed I think 6 feet apart. Yes, all ground rods
from every one must ge bonded together. I have several rods and have put in
a couple for my radio tower. All the rods are bonded together except the
one at the tower which is about 6 feet away from the other rods.

(G) Ground Rod Electrodes. Ground rod electrodes must be installed so that
not less than 8 ft of length is in contact with the soil. Where rock bottom
is encountered, the ground rod must be driven at an angle not to exceed 45
degrees from vertical. If rock bottom is encountered at an angle up to 45
degrees from vertical, the ground rod can be buried in a minimum 30 in. deep
trench. Figure 250?"102