Does anyone here use a Prybar to break up Ice?
- Thread starter winlinmac
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Strouty
Well-known member
Whenever I use my prybar and hammer to break up the ice, I scratch or crack the windshield.
lakeroadster
Well-known member
^^^^ 
^^^^
For ice on concrete... I use a flat nosed shovel... not a snow shovel.
^^^^For ice on concrete... I use a flat nosed shovel... not a snow shovel.
Strouty
Well-known member
If the OP is going ice fishing, I think that the hammer and prybar is probably the best way, just make sure to stand in the middle of the circle you are breaking up.
lakeroadster
Well-known member
I've got a crack that runs all the way across my windshield from that technique... it's a Colorado thing.
do cars just develop cracks in the windshield without first being started by a rock chip? is that a thing in cold weather states? Delaware gets damn cold, 20ish here this morning, teens overnight and i have never seen a crack appear for no reason.
Strouty
Well-known member
I think the cracks usually start with some sort of defect, I have never had one without some sort of impact or chip.
Buckgnarly
Well-known member
20 is "damn cold"?.....
One Feb a few years ago we never broke 0F for 3 weeks...hit -40F also!
Strouty
Well-known member
I think we derailed this thread???
Buckgnarly
Well-known member
gdocktor3
Well-known member
A rock, I'm assuming, hit my windshield about a week ago, but I didn't notice any damage. Three days ago the temp dropped and I noticed a small 3" crack in the corner. Two days ago the temp dropped even more and after using the defroster, it made its way all the way across. Usually I'd be pissed, but the trucks a 95 and the glass is faded and scratched up anyways, so it works out in the end. Plus I have a family friend who works for Safelite.
Strouty
Well-known member
Teenager with old tools
Well-known member
What is this ice you speak of?
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I thought we were all on the same page, I'm speaking ice that's on the drive way and pavement, not windshield 
Loscaldazar
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- Joined
- Feb 23, 2013
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- 2,385
20 is "damn cold"?.....
One Feb a few years ago we never broke 0F for 3 weeks...hit -40F also!
+1
Just so happens my state (MN) was just ranked as the worst state in the USA for winter. Needless to say, we're pretty proud of it. It's 20 today, and I might just break out the shorts! We've been in windhchills from -20 to -40 the last week or so for the most part.
Strouty
Well-known member
I thought we were all on the same page, I'm speaking ice that's on the drive way and pavement, not windshield
I know what you were asking, but I didn't like the question, so I thought I would entertain myself.
wolf_from_wv
Well-known member
Didn't get the ice broken up and we slid off track.
I've used a spud bar to break ice, so I can shovel it.
flushcut
Well-known member
I use what ever it takes. One year I was using a 26lb demo bar that I normally use to bust up rocks a concrete, ice was 6-8" thick tho. Some salt and and a scraper works 90% of the time.
OP I take it you are from a warm state or you have never been in winter before.
OP I take it you are from a warm state or you have never been in winter before.
KnurledNut
Well-known member
Nyroc and a machinist hammer works better.
BDT/NWMN
Well-known member
Power washer with hot water works good for getting under ice. I have used a rotor tiller; but be careful not to scrape the pavement.. There are ice scrapers made for sidewalks that are the first thing I grab. A dead blow hammer or rubber mallet works good on wooden stairways and decks. Skid steers are fun. I would wager that a pry bar is one tool that Strouty owns that no longer has a tether line.. Rumor has it that when He went inside to warm up, the line froze into the ice.
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Buckgnarly
Well-known member
To appease the thread....here's my go to tool for the walkway and wood deck...
http://www.amleo.com/union-razorback-4in-multi-purpose-scraper-with-54in-handle/p/HDS4/
http://www.amleo.com/union-razorback-4in-multi-purpose-scraper-with-54in-handle/p/HDS4/
redwrench60
Well-known member
Last year I emptied and removed a deep freezer in a basement that was full of food and had been running continuously for over 35 years. There was butchered meats, cheeses, jams, sauces..you name it. Everything had semi thawed and refrozen over the years and had become a solid mass of putrified ****** ice and hard frost. I used my trusty "Snap-Well" straight tip, striking cap prybar and a drilling hammer to chisel the icy mass apart and empty the horror show out so I could sawzall the freezer in half and carry it out of the cellar. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was nuts.
fatfillup
Well-known member
I use a roofing shovel with serated teeth on ice.
http://www.essentialhardware.com/mi...m_campaign=google&utm_source=google&utm_mediu
Have also used a hot water pressure washer with a zero degree nozzle to break up ice. You hold the wand down low parallel to the ground and get under the ice. works ok
http://www.essentialhardware.com/mi...m_campaign=google&utm_source=google&utm_mediu
Have also used a hot water pressure washer with a zero degree nozzle to break up ice. You hold the wand down low parallel to the ground and get under the ice. works ok
lakeroadster
Well-known member
Kind of a Captain Obvious statement.
The "It's a Colorado thing" I mentioned is cracked windshields. Not much dirt here in the Rocky Mountains... lots of "rocks". Windshields get chipped, which turn into cracks in the winter from the defroster technique.
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Propane burners work most efficiently in our ice management program, without damaging customer's property, followed by application of calcium chloride. They can be used for weed management during the summer and are a good investment to consider.
Red Dragon BP 2512 SVC 400,000 BTU Weed Dragon Backpack Propane Vapor Torch Kit with Squeeze Valve
Red Dragon BP 2512 SVC 400,000 BTU Weed Dragon Backpack Propane Vapor Torch Kit with Squeeze Valve
PelicanPines
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Would depend on which side of the driveway... one side would require a snap on prybar while the other side could use a Chinese made tool... the trick is knowing which side is which.
That said... I would never do something so ridiculous. I have tools for that. One comes to mind... Air hammer... or pick axe
That said... I would never do something so ridiculous. I have tools for that. One comes to mind... Air hammer... or pick axe
woody 73
Well-known member
I find the best tools that work for me is smacking the windshield with an all steel garden rake as hard as I can that will break up the ice, of course if that does not work you could use a shovel or better yet pick up a good 5 lb. brass hammer and hit that windshield as hard as you can that should free up all that ice...or maybe use a BFH on the floor next to the car to free up any thick ice.
Remember to use as much force as possible because ice is thick!
Remember to use as much force as possible because ice is thick!
woody 73
Well-known member
Oh before I forget Napalm works wonders for thick ice on a car windshield, be sure and spread it out all over the ice that should do the trick, or maybe smack it lots of times with your pry bar before you light the napalm that will work also.
No not really though. if you have a rock chip, repair it.....right? it's like $10 at parts store for a repair kit that takes 15 minutes to do.
both our cars have 1 or 2 rock chip repairs i have done and both don't crack or spread after the repair ever.
Finky198
Well-known member
This is the best ice chopper I've ever found...
I thought we were all on the same page, I'm speaking ice that's on the drive way and pavement, not windshield
Is this "ice" in New York . . . or the Philippines ??
Where are you located ??
gdocktor3
Well-known member
Power washer with hot water works good for getting under ice. I have used a rotor tiller; but be careful not to scrape the pavement.. There are ice scrapers made for sidewalks that are the first thing I grab. A dead blow hammer or rubber mallet works good on wooden stairways and decks. Skid steers are fun. I would wager that a pry bar is one tool that Strouty owns that no longer has a tether line.. Rumor has it that when He went inside to warm up, the line froze into the ice.
A Roto tiller lol!! I can picture a Clark Griswold type guy using one to clear the ice lol
Brian_WK
Well-known member
This is the best ice chopper I've ever found...
I always wanted to make a 4 foot long chisel that would attach onto my pneumatic hammer and try it. Might happen this year the inch and a half of rain we got mid december was a *****... See location
Brian
I use a 6' digging bar like this if I get a lot of ice on the driveway. Sharp tip on one end and about a 3" scraper on the other. It's heavy enough that once you break through the ice the weight of the tool helps it get under and break up what's there. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Truper-Tru-Pro-72-in-Pencil-Point-Digging-Bar/3055439
Teenager with old tools
Well-known member
Use a flamethrower much faster
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Absentglare
Member
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- Jan 9, 2017
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- 10
My advice is to use the snow shovel before the snow has a chance to thaw and re-freeze as ice in the first place. That generally means shoveling within 24 hours, but it's nice and easy.
Conventional snow shovel won't work well for ice, it has to dig underneath the ice but the ice has probably formed solid to the concrete. I've used a hoe before but i'd be lying if i said it was easy. Normally i just let the sun melt it since i'm in Colorado.
Finky198
Well-known member
The stuff I was chopping that day was 4-8" thick of solid ice from the gutter runoff it was a nightmare.... 35'x 2' section of driveway took a few hours to clear and remove it, but that hilti bailed me out again. The tool and the attachements have been worth there weight in gold...
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Ign
Well-known member
This is the best ice chopper I've ever found...
Yep, I was gonna say I've used my air hammer and a chisel before, around the perimeter of my shop but not over concrete.