Demolishing a pillar...blocks on the flat

[martyc]

Guys I have 2 pillars i need to demolish quickly.
They are made from regular blocks on the flat and are in situ ~50 years.
They are 18" square approx and are about 10 foot high and are both against walls although they are not physically tied in to these walls other than with mortar...the walls must stay!
Ive knocked a few walls in my time and for some reason these are proving impossible!!
Anyone any ideas??..I had a mini kango @ them yesterday for about an hour and it did v little...would have needed about 3 days @ the rate it was going!!
Ill swing the sledge @ them tonight but i dont think it will do much.
Anyone any clever ideas id be interested to hear them.
Cheers,
Martin.

 

[JohnD]

is there anything standing on top of them? If not, what happens when you kango into the mortar joint between the top block and the one under it?

As they are 50 years old I suppose they aren't lightweight blocks. Are they dense concret or what? Are you sure there is no steel in there?What were they for?

 

[martyc]

Hi John D ...there your typoical heavy dense core block.
They were either side of a garage door and they also provided a base for a lintel that supported more blockwork that was over the door(i have removed this)
When i go at them with the kango in an effort to take the blocks out one by one they eventually break up rather than come apart so it takes forever!!
Any clever ideas be great,
Cheers
Marty

 

[JohnD]

I suppose if you tie a rope round them and pull them over, they will break the groundslab when they hit it?

 

[martyc]

They would indeed..theyd wreck the place...also couldnt get a rope round them in any case....plus id have all the neighbours twitching the curtains!