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Demolishing and breaking

Hydraulic breaker

Micro-excavator fitted with a hydraulic breaker, tool pointed at the ground, hoses visible along the dipper arm
Breaker on a micro-excavator.
The hoses along the dipper arm are the auxiliary line:
without them, nothing is possible.
Photograph:
Cjp24, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The hydraulic hammer breaks rock, concrete and asphalt by percussion.
It is the most requested attachment, and the one where the match with the machine is checked the most closely.

Other names for this tool: breaker, rock breaker, hydraulic hammer, demolition hammer, concrete breaker.

The essentials
Family
Demolishing and breaking
Classes (t)
From the micro-excavator to 200 t
Coupler
All, by plate
Power source
Hydraulic — flow and pressure: we calculate it with you for your machine

What the tonnage does not say →

01 Use

What it is for

On the left, well chosen and well supplied, the breaker splits the rock bed into blocks. On the right, wrongly sized or wrongly supplied, it marks the rock without splitting it. Computer-generated image.
well chosen and well supplied, the breaker splits the rock bed into blocks wrongly sized or wrongly supplied, it marks the rock without splitting it
Left: well chosen and well supplied, the breaker splits the rock bed into blocks.
Right: wrongly sized or wrongly supplied, it marks the rock without splitting it.
What sets it apart:
the flow and the pressure are read together — one without the other says nothing.
Computer-generated image.
Yellow crawler excavator in front of a quarry face, its green breaker resting on a limestone block.
In the quarry, the breaker splits the block where the bucket no longer bites.
The excavator faces the rock face, the hammer held plumb.
Photo:
Willians Huerta, Pexels licence, via Pexels, sticker removed.

A piston strikes a steel tool at high frequency.
The energy transmitted fractures the material at the point of impact.
It is the only tool that gets the better of a sound rock bed or a thick reinforced concrete slab.

It works as well in demolition as in rock earthworks, in opening a trench or in cutting asphalt.
The shape of the tool is chosen with the material:
a point for rock, a chisel for concrete, a spade for asphalt.

It is not the weight of the hammer that makes its performance, it is the speed of the piston on the tool. A heavy hammer badly fed strikes less hard than a lighter hammer correctly fed.
It is counter-intuitive, and it is the first cause of disappointment in use.

It does not break by force, it breaks by frequency.
The flow of the machine decides what can be fitted on it.
Synthetic animation.

When the breaker is not the right answer

On a fissured or shaly rock bed, a ripping tooth works continuously and rips faster than a hammer striking point by point.
It calls for no hydraulic line.

On a sound, homogeneous bed, on the other hand, the tooth skids and wears without penetrating.
There, the hammer remains the only effective tool.
Two or three trial pits settle the question in half a day.

See this case dealt with in detail →

02 Key technical data

On which machine?

They exist for machines from 0,5 to 100 t.
For example, on an excavator over 20 t, the weight is generally from 1 000 to 7 500 kg.
It fits all quick couplers, or directly on the pins.

What the tool does

Also available in a silenced version.
For example, on an excavator over 20 t: impact energy from 1 700 to 9 000 J, blow rate from 300 to 800 blows/min.

What is needed on the hydraulic side

It generally needs from 10 to 420 l/min, at a pressure from 80 to 180 bar, depending on the size of the machine.

Figures taken from 70 models on the market.
Your study sets the exact value for your machine.

All the measurements found for this equipment →

How to read these values →

03 Your study

Have your machine checked.

Give us the model of your excavator and the material to be broken.
If you know neither your flow nor your coupler, a photograph of the end of the dipper arm is enough to start with.

What we need to answer you
  • Your machine Its make and its tonnage.
  • The auxiliary circuit Its flow in l/min, its pressure in bar, single- or double-acting.
  • The coupler in place Its system and its class.
  • The work The use, and the material.

Without these details, the study still begins: we will ask you for them.

Send my photos

or describe your need

Book an appointment with the specialist

Or call 01 84 16 55 49 · our lines are open 7 days a week, from 7h to 22h.

Written study within 3 working days, once the file is complete.

Large yellow excavator on the deck of a bridge being demolished, its orange breaker driven into the concrete; a water spray settles the dust.
Demolishing a bridge deck:
the breaker breaks the concrete by impact, a water spray settles the dust.
Suited to thick concrete; limit:
the reinforcing bars remain and are cut separately.
Photo:
Oregon Department of Transportation, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, resized, company name removed.
04 Choice

What determines the choice

Four parameters.
The first is a filter, the other three decide the real output.

  • 01 — The carrier class, without being at the top of the range The model chosen must cover the class of the machine with a margin.
    For a 2.5 t mini-excavator, a hammer rated for 1.5 to 3.5 t suits better than a hammer rated for 1.2 to 2.5 t, where the machine would be at the end of its range.
  • 02 — The flow available Underfed, the hammer loses its striking rate.
    Overfed, it overheats and gets damaged.
    It is the parameter most often overlooked.
  • 03 — The working pressure It is always read together with the flow.
    A correct flow under insufficient pressure does not give the striking energy expected.
  • 04 — The material and the rate Hard rock continuously, occasional reinforced concrete or surface asphalt impose neither the same tool nor the same wear.
    The choice of striking tool follows from it.
Orders of magnitude recorded by carrier class — indicative figures
Carrier class Flow recorded Pressure recorded Tool weight
Mini-excavator 1 to 2 t 15 to 25 l/min 90 to 120 bar about 74 kg
Excavator 4 to 5 t 30 to 60 l/min 100 to 130 bar about 210 kg
Excavator 4 to 7 t — figure not recorded — figure not recorded about 300 kg
Excavator 5 to 9 t 50 to 90 l/min 120 to 150 bar about 365 kg
Above 9 t — figure not recorded 120 to 180 bar — figure not recorded

These figures are recorded from public dealer documentation, not from the manufacturers. They serve to place a need.
The dashes are boxes we have not been able to document:
we prefer an empty box to an approximate figure.

The figures that commit us are those of the model chosen for your machine, checked in the study and written in the answer addressed to you.

05 Check

What is checked before ordering

  • The presence of an auxiliary line Many mini-excavators do not have one.
    Without it, you have to change machine, not tool.
    It is spotted by the hoses at the end of the dipper arm.
  • The flow and the pressure really available Measured on the machine as it is, not read from the data sheet of the new machine.
  • The return to tank A hammer requires a properly sized return.
    Excessive back pressure damages its internal parts.
  • The hire company's agreement, if the machine is hired Fitting a hammer and connecting a line come under their agreement.
    The model delivered is not always the one reserved.
  • The interface Coupler type and size, or pin dimensions in direct pin mounting.
    The tool is supplied with the matching plate.
In the same family
Alternative to be studied
On the interface
To go further
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