What's a good way to scoop up large stones?

[ragkar]

I'm having big difficulties developing the techniques to scoop up large stones with my fel bucket. These are stones two to three feet in diameter - too big to lift and even a bit too much to push or roll.
The best advice that I've received so far is to level the bucket and scoop a little dirt in with the stone. But since I can't see the bucket bottom, I have difficulty leveling it. Heck, I have to guess how far the lip is from the stone.
Yes I suppose that I could get on and off the tractor, but I'd rather not have to do that. Even when I push the stone up against a tree it's more likely to ride up over the stone.
Any suggestions?

 

[Redgoatea]

Don't know about yours but my FEL bucket has a flat plate on the top that is parallel to the bottom so if the top that I can see is level then the bottom is as well.

That being said I can pick up my bucket with two hands so it's a little light duty to be picking up a 36" rock. That's what my excavator is for. 7

 

[beenthere]

ragkar
This size or larger?

I pick up a little dirt with them, get an edge of the bucket under and lift with a little flip. Just enough to drop the bucket and let the rock roll back into the bucket.

Or, I put the forks on and pick them up that way.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have lots of rocks at my place, not many 36" diameter, but lots of them 12" or so. They do tend to skid in front of my bucket and it seems to be hit or miss as to when they will slide up over the teeth and into the bucket. Even pinning them against a tree doesnt guarantee that they will flip into the bucket. Sometimes they are just too darned stubborn to cooperate. Without the toothbar it might work better if you get the bucket flat on the ground and run into it at a rather fast pace and lift/roll the bucket at the same time. With a Rock that large, I dont think it would fit into my FEL bucket on my 50 HP tractor. I am not sure I could lift it anyway. Maybe the best way to lift it would be to make a halter lift with chains wrapped around it and hook that to your FEL and try it.
I do have one about that size that was dug out when they did the foundation for my house that the wife plans to use for a yard centerpiece. I have to move it at some point, so I will have to figure out if I can lift it with my tractor. That will be at least a month away though

 

[Gary Fowler]

Here is a photo of the one I have to move eventually. I may end up rolling it with the FEL to where I, that really means where the wife, wants it. To get some perspective on the size, that pile of dirt is more than 12 feet high. My loader wont reach the top.

 

[captbluewater]

I have a hook on each side of my bucket. I level the bucket and tried to get the front blade under the rock and then run the chain around the rock hooked to hooks on both sides of rock. When you curl the bucket back the chain gets tight and will hold the rock to you get it where you want. Just travel slow with it. I moved a lot of boulders this way. Good Luck.

 

[Carl_NH]

With the big rocks 34-30" that dont want to get in the bucket I do the same as bluewater - get the bucket tllted down with the lip under the rock, then chain around the rock and tilt back. When you tilt it back the bottom of the bucket is clear of the ground by a few inches (if too heavy to lift) then proceed to the new location very slowly.

For the big guys like Gary Fowler has - I roll em end over end to their new home.

 

[magicheater]

This is what I use for rocks.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I used to do this with the chain technique mentioned above. A toothbar on the bucket helps quite a bit, but if you want to avoid gathering a bunch of dirt along with the rock, a grapple rake is really handy. I love my grapple rake for rocks, logs, brush, etc.

BOB

 

[jinman]

Well, the ideal thing to have is a rock bucket. However, they are expensive and you probably don't have a constant use for one that would justify the cost. What I would do is cut a viewport into the back of my bucket. You could even put an expanded metal screen over the viewport so most dirt won't come through. The top of your bucket doesn't carry a lot of load and a viewport would allow you to see through to view where the cutting edge is. If you can't see over the hood, offset the viewport to the right or left so you can see from the seat. The neat thing about rock buckets is that you can see exactly what you are doing with the teeth. A viewport on your loader bucket will allow the same thing on a normal bucket.