Any odds on these Rock Tongs working?

[sixdogs]

We used to live in Maine and picked decades worth of rocks and many, many tons of rocks. We did most with a bucket or backhoe but knowing what I know now would look at using a "tree shovel" in place of the loader bucker or maybe a rock bucket made out of steel pipe. the rock tongs will work in many situations but won't grasp the ledge-type rocks that I bet you have plenty of. A combination of the tongs and shovel/ backhoe would work great.

I have posted pics of my commercially made "tree shovel" before and it is just like a big shovel. You'll get some dirt with it but it will pick up any rock. That with a backhoe, the tongs and a bucket and the world is your oyster.

 

[k0ua]

I have had pretty good results setting rocks with my 50 inch single lid grapple..Of course the smaller the grapple the better. Like others have said, I would build a "thumb" for your backhoe. But let us know how the rock tongs work out as you design evolves.

 

[muddstopper]

looking at the pic in the old thread, my thoughts immediantly went to a barrel lifter, Drum & Barrel | Lifters & Grabs | Wesco(R) Salvage Drum Lifter 24 for 55 Gallon Steel Drums | 975269 - GlobalIndustrial.com, Thes woud probably work as well as those expenisve tongs for smaller boulders up to 4-500lbs.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

I'm agree that a BH thumb would be preferable but I really want to go hydraulic and once I start that project I'm going to obcess over it. I don't have the time or money to do that right now.

A smaller, light-weight grapple would also be less cumbersome than my current monster. Can't justify two grapples with lots of overlap in functionality.

I like the barrel tongs idea.

Adding hydraulic actuation to rock tongs (even rotation) on a mini-excavator would seem like the way to go... If I did high end hardscapes with large stones for rich people. Unfortunately, I do not.

 

[oosik]

Before you go off on some wild tangent - give those tongs a try and see what happens. At worst, they won't work and you haven't lost much.

And I thought I had a lot of rocks - wow!

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Before you go off on some wild tangent - give those tongs a try and see what happens. At worst, they won't work and you haven't lost much.

And I thought I had a lot of rocks - wow!

For sure. That's exactly what I was thinking by building them. If they aren't useful (even with simple alterations) I'll scrap the idea and save up for a BH thumb.

 

[Billrog]

I made a set of rock tongs 25 years ago with what I had on hand for building rock walls with the backhoe. 1 3/8" bolt threw to swivel on and they pick up anything the hoe will handle far more than a couple hundred lbs. No hydraulics necessary the heavier the load the tighter they grip. I have a swivel hook where it attaches to the cross chain for turning the rock far handier than any thumb.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Well I had a few minutes this afternoon to try it out. Far exceeded my expectations but it's certainly not the ultimate solution. I would say my pick-up success rate was better than 80%.

The largest rock I picked up was in the 500lb range and it didn't buckle.













I still may have ignited the "thumb itch." lol

 

[Xfaxman]

I've been spending lots of time "harvesting" glacial till granite rock to reclaim pasture. I've been building very crude granite walls mostly just because I need to go SOMEWHERE with all this dang stone.

That is a very unusual hairy rock. How old is she?

 

[prichard]

Cool, nice job. What is the C-clamp for?