The breaker

A breaker is the generic term for the power tools used to break out concrete and hard standing areas or driveways particularly in the construction or repair of block paving driveways and patios. Other common names in use include jack hammer, pneumatic chisel, impact breaker or a Kango ( which is more a brand name in the same manner as a hoover refers to a vacuum cleaner).

The use of these power tools is a great deal quicker and less labour intensive in time and manpower compared to digging out a driveway by the old method of a pick and shovel. The range of tools has grown making the work including repairs considerably easier. Breakers come in all shapes and sizes from small hand held drills to the larger machines designed solely for the purpose of breaking out concrete. These can be electric or pneumatic hand operated tools or the larger hydraulically operated plant machinery used by commercial contractors.

It’s the small hand operated electric or pneumatic tools that are mostly used by block paving contractors to install driveways. At Block Paving Maintenance we use an electric breaker. As they are probably the most versatile they can be either 110 or 240 volt thus can be suitable for commercial or domestic paving contracts and don’t necessitate the need to drag around a large compressor as the pneumatic compressors require.

An electric breakers power is rate by the motors power in watts. The impact rate in rpm is the rate the chisel tool is struck or hammered by the internal machinery. Whilst the weight of the breaker bears on the point of the chisel striking the surface to be broken.

There are a range of different chisels or bits to give these machines the flexibility to engage in different tasks.

• Point or moil point - general breaking point for hardened concrete.
• Flat chisel – chiseling weaker concrete. 
• Flat tip or spade - for chiseling straight lines and breaking out larger sections in soft material like asphalt.
• Gauge - for breaking out channels for ducting.
• Rake or scrabbler – for finishing / preparing hard surfaces.

Breakers can be heavy tools to use and care has to be taken in using them. Personal Protective Equipment should be worn when being used this should include ear and eye protection along with boots and gloves. Vibration caused by the machine after prolonged exposure can induce a symptom known as vibration white finger.