Dirt Moving How do I grade rocky soil??????

[Carl Bert]

I recently cleared about 1/2 acre of my property. This soil is very rocky, a ton of small to medium stones, but also quite a few boulders. I have gotten it to the point that all the trees are down and stumps removed. All exposed boulders dug up and moved. I now have a lot of uneven, bumpy ground, with many stones peaking through. Large or small, I have no idea. What is the best way to attack this from this point?

Should I start at one corner and dig up every square foot with the BH, then use a landscapers rake to grade it. Sure it would work, but I can't imagine how long it would take?

Or can I just use a box blade, and try grading it without digging it up? But what happens when it catches a hidden boulder? Does that damage the BB or are they built strong enough to just stop the tractor, without causing damage?

And last, do I just rent a dozer and be done with it. Hate to do that, becuse of the obvious cost, and also because of the damage it will do to my property, just getting it to the newly cleared 1/2 acre.

Please Help!!!!

 

[Rustywreck]

Your property sounds very simillar to mine - rocks in every size from fist size to the size of a small car.
When I cleared for a yard/lawn, I used the FEL to dig up any rocks I could see, used a landscape rake to remove the native vegetation, called it good an planted grass.
When I cleared a spot for a garden, once the trees and stumps were dug out I used the FEL to dig the area up: dig down 1.5-2' move back a couple feet, dig again, etc.
When I encountered larger rocks I moved them out with the FEL. After it was loosened up and the largest rocks removed I used the landscape rake several times to remove the smaller rocks. I still get the occasional rock poking up in both the lawn and garden, but I know of no way to avoid them.
Using the FEL to loosen the ground up went quicker than I thought it would.
Oh, the car sized rocks, I left them and called them lawn ornaments. I have a pile of 20-30 boulders bigger than I can put my arms around.

 

[beenthere]

If me, I'd go after the larger rocks first with a pick and shovel if that is all I had (and it was 40 years ago), and a stone boat to roll the big ones on and slide them away.
But today, I'd use the forks on my FEL to pick/kick the big rocks out and the bucket to haul them away and back drag for some smoother dirt. I've never owned a BB but expect they could do a lot of good if used carefully and go at it slow.
When down to the smaller rocks (football or smaller), I'd look for a Harley Rake to windrow the rocks and leave the dirt behind.
Or, the cheapest is still the pick and shovel.

I live on the top of the terminal morraine of the last glacier 10k years ago and have had rocks to deal with all the time I've been here...since 1965. They still keep poking up out of the ground due to frost heaving.

 

[Combustix]

Go with the rake and make rows of rocks you can go back and get them with fel. Then BB till smooth. I have BB first though with the scarifiers extended all the way to get the footballs out. Then I would go back and rake again for a final clean up. Save your rock. You'll find uses for it later on

 

[Redgoatea]

I vote for the BB. I have fairly rocky ground in a few spots that I've smoothed out. I just drop the scarifiers a notch or two and take it nice and slow the first pass or two. You can break off a tip if you hit a big enough rock fast enough plus it'll throw the box up a bit and dump the dirt but that's why I go slow. Haven't broken a tip yet and the grounds nice and smooth now.

 

[davel745]

Not sure but maybe a rock bucket for the FEL. The type I am thinking about is sort of like a series of tines and the rocks stay and the dirt is sifted out

 

[Gordon Gould]

Once your big rocks are out - like you have now, I would use the BB scarifiers first. Take small bites deep as you can go. Then rake to windrows and pick up in FEL. ( Helps to have a good wife to pick the rocks while you drive the tractor ) I would keep alternating like this, scarify -rake. If it is like mine you can go for a long time before you get them all. To start I might remove every other tine on my rake if I was getting to much dirt while raking.
Then use a drag of some type to get it all smooth and you will get more rocks on top. ( I have used a pallet full of rocks or a section of chain link fence. Use anything flat and heavy. ) Rake again. Keep going like this this you are happy.
Have fun, its good tractor work and 1/2 acre should be doable.

 

[North Country]

I have a 2305 (2 fewer HP, 1200 fewer pounds) and used the BB just a couple days ago on newly cleared land. The land was already flat enough that I didn't have the scarifiers down. My goal was to just clean up the top few inches and remove softball-sized rocks that were poking above the surface. Not only did I find that some of the softballs were soccer balls, I found some hidden stumps I didn't know were there from a previous hack job. The large rocks generally wiggled a little before the BB skipped over the top. The stumps stopped the tractor dead (enough to jerk me against the seat belt) and nothing got bent. I do have a heavy duty 400lb+ BB, not the 280lb 4' ones sold at TSC for SCUTS. Go with the BB, take it easy on the throttle on the first pass while you're still "discovering," and you won't bend anything if you don't have the cheapo BB.

 

[Carl Bert]

I have a 2305 (2 fewer HP, 1200 fewer pounds) and used the BB just a couple days ago on newly cleared land. The land was already flat enough that I didn't have the scarifiers down. My goal was to just clean up the top few inches and remove softball-sized rocks that were poking above the surface. Not only did I find that some of the softballs were soccer balls, I found some hidden stumps I didn't know were there from a previous hack job. The large rocks generally wiggled a little before the BB skipped over the top. The stumps stopped the tractor dead (enough to jerk me against the seat belt) and nothing got bent. I do have a heavy duty 400lb+ BB, not the 280lb 4' ones sold at TSC for SCUTS. Go with the BB, take it easy on the throttle on the first pass while you're still "discovering," and you won't bend anything if you don't have the cheapo BB.

I actually haven't picked one up yet. My JD dealer has a 65" frontier for $860. Not sure of the weight, but its as HD as they come. I wanted to go with a 4' BB, for storage reasons, but 4' just barely covers the width of the rear tires. Is it necessary to be wider then the tires? Also, do you know of any online sites where I might be able to find a used one?

 

[Reg]

I would;
a) Put the unloaded set of turf tires on.
b) Select 2 wheel drive.
c) Put the box blade on, raise the outer rippers, lower the middle 4.

Then run it VERY SLOWLY with the blade JUST touching dirt once in a while.
I would be trying to turn up rocks, or spin the tires on ledge or big boulders if that is what I discover first.
I would also be trying to avoid getting spun around by catching the outer rippers on something immovable.
Then collect rocks, collect rocks, repeat the whole ripping, collect rocks, etc.

I might run the rototiller over it all, maybe - then collect more rocks.
Then the box blade with the rippers all up and the rear blade just a little bit lower than the front.