Grtechguy wrote: I ended up getting one from Home Depot and sent the inhouse child labor units to hard work.
It's only child labor if you pay them, otherwise it's just 'chores'. 
Grtechguy wrote: I ended up getting one from Home Depot and sent the inhouse child labor units to hard work.
It's only child labor if you pay them, otherwise it's just 'chores'.
I'd recommend renting a jackhammer, or if you have enough work to be done, buy this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/15-amp-120-volt-professional-breaker-hammer-kit-68147.html
I bought it a few years ago (use your 20-25% off coupon), and it's gotten a ton of use. I've used it extensively, and my father borrowed it for about a year and broke up some huge boulders by drilling with a hammer drill and then using it.
It's worked very well for everything I've used it for, and it's definitely paid for itself many times over. The best part is I paid about $280 for it, and could likely put it on Craigslist for about $200. My intention was to use it for one project and put it up on Craigslist, but it's proven useful enough that I've kept it (with my wife's support). We recently extended some downspouts and fixed the drainage around our garage. I had to dig a trench by hand that went down 28", was about 2' wide, and was about 35' long. As I was digging, I hit several huge pieces of concrete that without the jackhammer, I never would have been able to take out.
I think rentals are something like $80 for the day. Depending on how much you have to break up, the rental route might make sense. Concrete is a pain in the butt to break up, though, I would never do it by hand. I've used a jackhammer to break up a hearth, a re-bar reinforced concrete patio, and a stone fireplace. Any of those projects would have taken at least 20 times longer breaking everything up by hand. Maybe I'm a wimp, but I've found a jackhammer to be well worth the money I've paid to use them.
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