What do you this rock weighs?

[gladehound]

This weekend I started a project to add some boulders to the landscape in the front yard. The good thing is I have free access to all sorts of rocks. The problem is I have a sort of small tractor to move them with.

Below is a picture of a rock I'm carrying to it's new location with the 3 pt. You may notice in the picture that I'm actually holding the bucket with the front wheels off the ground.

Any guess as to how much this rock weighs? One good guess would be too much for this tractor.

 

[john_bud]

Less than the 3pt lift capacity....

jb

 

[gladehound]

"Less than the 3pt lift capacity...."

Good guess, but wrong. I had to manually assist the 3 pt to lifting the rock, once up, it could hold it in place.

 

[EdC]

gladehound
It can't be too much for the tractor, it moved it. You just needed to pick up a bucketful of dirt to balance the load.

 

[gladehound]

I definitely will fill the bucket before going back for more rocks. All I had in the bucket was 50 pounds of chain. Every time I hit a bump the front went up and down like a man jumping on the moon. I'm sure a good scoope of dirt would help a bunch. A bigger machine would be great too since this is one of the smaller rocks in the pile and I'd like to get some bigger ones. But I think this is about the limit with this tractor. My cousin has a JD110 and a bobcat T300. I'll have to work something out with him.

 

[EdC]

If the rocks aren't too far try skidding them with a stone boat. I think it was Bird that said he used (or saw being used) a hood from a car to skid rocks. You'll probably be able to move rocks quite a bit larger than the one that was keeping your three point busy.

 

[Egon]

Just curious, will you have to lift the rocks for the landscaping?

Fill the bucket with small rocks, put a chain around the large rocks and then just drag them. Later use the bucket to flip or place them. This works with smaller rocks using my much smaller tractor.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I'd guess around 850 to 950 pounds. I doubt if it would weigh much more than that.

 

[gladehound]

Egon, I set them where I want them and then chain them to the truck and drive the tractor out, pulling the forks out from under the rock.

 

[gladehound]

Egon - I'd love to drag them. Definitely can drag a lot more than I can carry... but there are turf damage considerations.

Any more guesses on the weight?

I have a good idea what it is by two methods and the results agree.

1) I took some rough measurements to get the volume of the rock. I know the approximate density.

2) I know the lift capacity of the 3 pt. and I know how much extra it took to get the rock off the ground.

Hint: 3 pt is rated at 1300 pounds 24 inches behind the links and it couldn't lift it by itself.