I'd like to see 'um build a machine that could break apart a piece of granite. You could use slow pressure from hydrolics or high speed impact.

-- Garth Wayne Gairrett (ggarret1@tampabay.rr.com), February 20, 2001

Answers

They would use a screen 1 in size or so all peices of rock would have pass though to win. Granite? why not something a little softer like limestone?

-- Stephen A. Binion (Stephenbinion@hotmail.com), February 20, 2001.

I wanna build it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- Dan Denney (Rustrenegades@hotmail.com), February 20, 2001.

I like this idea. It leaves lots of room for the teams to come up with different approaches to a simple sounding problem. Make the rock big enough that the best design might even be two machines to break the boulder into rocks and then the rocks into gravel. The screen idea is an easy way to define when the challenge has been met. And, there's even a chance one team will try beating the rock by hand when their machine breaks. I've worked with limestone and believe me, it will be plenty hard. Also, limestone won't shoot splinters as bad as harder stone.

-- Devin T. Ross (dross@telerama.com), February 21, 2001.

One could sift the rocks and then weigh the amount of the material that's small enough to pass through. The most weight wins!

-- Scott Bridge (scottemba42@hotmail.com), February 22, 2001.

Do a ten minute volume test on linmstone, then put harder/bigger stuff in until one fails (or ten minutes)... The most weight THEN wins...

Make it efficient and make it rugged!

-- Dan Denney - Team Captain (rustrenegades@hotmail.com), February 22, 2001.