Dragging Capability

[The Gardener]

One thing we have done over the years is to drag rather large boulders [or multiple rocks] on a sheet of plywood using the car hitch and AWD.

Using the draw bar, how much dead weight using this approach can the B26 or the B3030 or a Grand L drag w/o tearing up the lawn excessively?

The property slopes and dips moderately with a gradual, up hill scenario to complete all of the trips to their final destination.

Thanks,
The Gardener

 

[TalonDancer]

One thing we have done over the years is to drag rather large boulders [or multiple rocks] on a sheet of plywood using the car hitch and AWD.

Using the draw bar, how much dead weight using this approach can the B26 or the B3030 or a Grand L drag w/o tearing up the lawn excessively?...

I don't know the answer to your question. But here is a suggestion...

Fasten some old corrugated tin roofing/siding to the bottom of the plywood to reduce friction and distribute the weight over a wider area.

Talon Dancer

 

[The Gardener]

Excellent suggestion. I will do so. That should definitely improve an already successful technique.

Thank You!
The Gardener

 

[Tom_H]

Plywood has edges and a high coefficient of friction. I don't remember what forum it was in, but a couple of years ago there was a thread dealing with things people used as "rock sleds" to drag things around without plowing up soil. I remember that several people had pictures of old car hoods turned upside down. The upturned "nose" along with the polished/painted metal made the "sled" nice and smooth with no edges to snag the ground. Likely very inexpensive at an auto salvage yard.

 

[TalonDancer]

...I remember that several people had pictures of old car hoods turned upside down. The upturned "nose" along with the polished/painted metal made the "sled" nice and smooth with no edges to snag the ground. Likely very inexpensive at an auto salvage yard.

That would be even better.

BTW the corrugated roofing idea depends on the roofing being slightly larger than the plywood. This allows the roofing to wrap around the edges of the plywood, particularly at the front where it needs to be large enough to bow up ahead of the plywood, much like the car hood shape. The advantage of the corrugations is the reduced surface area in ground contact (i.e. only the ridges touch fully). Of course the ridges would be oriented in the direction of travel

FWIW I've used this idea to move large plants (AKA 15-20 ft tall shrubs/trees with large root balls) for over a hundred feet using only my own muscle power

Talon Dancer

ps The main function of the plywood is to keep the load from flatening the corregations. So the plywood can be fairly thin.

 

[Tom_H]

If you do searches with no restrictions for "rock sled", "rock boat", and "stone boat" you'll come up with a lot of related discussion, pics, and links.