Ripper

This equipment is usually attached to the draw-bar of a crawler tractor or a power unit, and consists of a horizontal frame, raised and lowered by hydraulic cylinders in which is commonly mounted a single (sometimes multiple) tine/ripper. The fine breaks the ground through which it is drawn and the equipment is widely applied to fragment unconsolidated, friable and thinly bedded rocks. A recent development is the impact ripper utilizing a hydraulic hammer action to break even more competent rocks such as thinly bedded limestones and weathered overburden.