The Versatility of Hydraulic Hammers

The Versatility of Hydraulic Hammers

A good hydraulic hammer needs to be reliable, durable and powerful. The versatility of these hammers makes them a great piece of kit, essential to any demolition project and much more.

What is a hydraulic hammer?

Peckers, hydraulic breakers, hydraulic hammers, whatever you call them they are an essential attachment to have for your excavator. Designed to be used in heavy-duty industries like demolition, construction. quarrying and mining, their primary purpose is to break down concrete, rock and other hard objects into smaller more manageable pieces. They work by using a piston and chisel or point, to create a powerful impact on the surface they’re breaking.

When are they used?

Demolition / Construction
Hydraulic hammers come in a range of different sizes. In demolition and construction you can expect to see smaller hammers being used to break up concrete slabs, foundations and walls. They can also be used for breaking down rubble for re-use as a low-cost aggregate. On the other hand, larger hammers are used to help demolish large structures such as multi-story buildings as they can quickly and precisely break through concrete. If you’re working on a sound sensitive site the PRODEM range of breakers have a cushion dampener to reduce noise.

Mining & Quarrying
Having become increasingly regulated due to environmental restrictions, drill and blast as a primary breaking option is sometimes not possible. On sites like these, large hammers have become a favoured alternative for primary breaking. On sites where blasting is allowed, the hydraulic hammers still have their use breaking down debris into smaller pieces.

Road Maintenance
In road construction and maintenance hydraulic hammers are often required to help break asphalt and concrete surfaces that need to be built on or repaired.

Doubling as a post driver
With the addition of bolt on removeable brackets and a cup, the breaker becomes an efficient post driver. The brackets can be side mounted for extra height and control, or top mounted for standard use. This is ideal for speedy work on larger fencing projects or where the ground may be hard.

What should you look for?

Given the type of work and amount of duress the hammers work under, they need to be strong and reliable. Using good quality, well made attachments will serve best and be more productive and economical overall. Cheaper alternatives are often less efficient, more likely to break down and can prove difficult to find parts for.

Our attachments are known for their quality, durability, and reliability as well as for being competitively priced for customers in the plant hire, construction, civil engineering, demolition, and recycling/waste sectors.