Moving rocks/boulders

[Richard]

Setup: Lumbermen are selectivly clearing woods off farm. Near where they are working with their skid machines and tree pick'er upper (to load on flatbed) we have found the rock "quarry" Upshot is, there are some big rocks, bigger ones up to maybe 7 feet or so long, several feet wide maybe couple feet deep. I am sure they each weigh more than a Yugo. (unless it is a turbo diesel Yugo previously owned by Mr. Chalkley and is all souped up with tires/engine and chassis enhancements) /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Problem: We are finishing house nearby and my better half (the same better half that is against me getting a tractor) wants these rocks moved to the house for our outside landscaping. "Nearby" as used above is probably defined as maybe 200 to possibly 300 yards (only a guess).

I'm trying to show her that this is "yet another" example of what/how/where we could use a TLB. So far, no luck.

Ok, that is the boat I'm sitting in. My goal is to aquire rocks anyway. Uncle in law next door has old ~35 hp International Harvestor 2wd with wide fronts. (we are on hills also) I'm looking for ideas of how maybe we can use this machine to move/transport the rocks. We have no loader nor backhoe. I'm wondering if there is any danger (or stupidity) of trying to build some kind of sled, say, buy 7 6x6 posts, drill hole through them, thread chain or cable through hole such that they are all dragged behind tractor and somehow mount rock onto 6x6 sled and "simply" drag rocks to my house.

I'd prefer not to hire dozer if I could safely do the job with tools at hand, even if it takes more time. I get enjoyment out of the challenge of it as long as it is only just a challenge and not genuinely a dangerous or stupid thing to do.

Thanks for any thoughts or wisdom.
Richard

 

[Von]

Richard'
I have moved large rocks (but not as big as you describe) with my B8200 w/FEL and a stone boat. The largest one was about 4 ft. in diameter, used the loader to move it onto the stone boat and then just pulled it to where the wife wanted it. I was on a slight incline and I had one roll off the stone boat and down the front yard. No harm done, just hade to move it on the boat again and up to what is hopefully its final resting place. (the wife sometimes changes her mind) If the slope is not to bad and you can get them up on the sled you should be alright.

Von

 

[Bird]

I don't guess I know what a "stone boat" is, but it sounds good anyway./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[Von]

Sorry, Guess I thought it was common. ( we have a lot of rock around here) A stone boat is just two or three oak planks attached to a metal front that is curved up (like a boat, hence the name) with a chain attched for pulling. The bottom is flat and quite smooth from all that dragging it thru all the dirt. The farmers use them around here to remove the large stones from the fields after plowing. I guess the frost pushs up a new crop every spring. I borrowed the farmers down the road and used it over my grass and it didn't even leave a mark!

Von

 

[Bird]

Yeah, Von, that's kind of what I was guessing. I'm a little ignorant in that area; there ain't a rock on my property that wasn't hauled in, and while there are some rocky areas within several miles, I don't know how far you'd have to go to find one big enough I couldn't pick it up in my hands (and I ain't very strong). And we don't have "stones" in Texas ('cept in the dictionary). I spent the '71-72 school year at Northwestern University and my two year old stuck a "rock" up one nostril and I couldn't get it out and took her to the emergency room of the local hospital and when I told them she'd put a "rock" up her nose, the nurses thought that was hilarious. Seems they only have "pebbles" that small in Illinois./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[Mike H]

Big old car hoods are sometimes used for same. (and for my two year old it was a shelled Peanut in the nostril!)

 

[Bird]

Ain't raisin' kids fun?/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[ejb]

I say hire a dozer...your example rock 7X3X2 = 42 cubic feet which weighs approx 7000 pounds. I don't think you could do it safely, if at all, with the equipment you mentioned.

 

[MChalkley]

Yep, I'd agree: I think that by far the fastest, safest, and in the long run, probably cheapest, thing to do is hire a bulldozer.

Say, Richard, do you know what the rear window defrosters are most often used for on a Yugo? To keep your hands warm when you're pushin' 'em. (Hmmm. A souped-up Yugo, eh? Sounds like they would cancel one another out. A contradiction in terms. An oxymoron. Or is that a moron that would be better of with an ox? Um, apologies to all the Yugo owners out there...)

Mark

 

[RickyB]

Richard...........
Them rocks is big...Here in New hampshire we run into to them on a fairly regular basis. Im a building contractor and sub out all of our site work. I have some boys with big cats do all of our site work and I can tell you that if we run into a 7' rock, Im on the phone to the other boys with the firecrackers. It just isnt worth the womping you would put on your equipment to get them to where you would want them to be. If they are up on the level you would like them to be, then sure, hire a big old dozer to roll them around to where you would like em...any TLB though is going to take it hard trying to tow them things around. Take a look at the posting from ejb.. as I say them rocks is big, a whole lot heavier than that Yugo you talk about..Not only is it not safe, but it realy doesnt sound practicle...Good luck with what ever you decide.. Tell your wife that the 2' to 4' rocks are "all the rage" and that if you had that new TLB, she could have all she wanted wherever and whenever....until then then though, its just a log landing....If that dont work move on to plan B..whatever that may be. If your wife is anything like the one god gave me, you will never realy get an "approvall" so to speak for anything, only a hard earned acceptance for what youve done!!!!!!! brrrrrrrrrrrrr............I get shivers just thinking about her hearing about me trading my 2910 for the L35..That just may move some 7" footers. I wonder if she needs any of those in the garden?????

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by RickyB on 6/23/00 08:44 PM.</FONT></P>