So, I am embarking upon yet another effort to better my home. This time I am making a concrete paver, patio area. The first problem is that the natural ground in my paultry patio is very hard. So hard, that I can stand on a shovel, and jump up and down on it, and I barely make an impression in the ground. So my question is, do they make tillers or grinders or something that can break up the hard ground, and turn it into loose dirt so I can shovel it out properly?
How big of an area are we talking? If it’s not too large what worked for me was to wet the ground the day before and then come along with a pickaxe, the business end looking like this. It’s well suited both to break through the dirt vertically and then to level off the new base horizontally.
Yes, but for the price of a gas tiller that would break up the type of ground you are describing, you’d probably be better off to hire someone with a skidsteer or and excavator.
The picture shows a cross between a pickaxe and a mattock which is, as noted, well suited to the job.
Unless the ground is hopelessly hard, you should be able to do a square foot in a couple of minutes. But if there are large rocks close to the surface, these could slow you down considerably.
Some of the area is paved already. But, I think it is safe to say that it is a 12’ x 14’ patio area.