30 Acres of Rocks to Farmland Land in 10 Days

[dave1949]

Well, it's good to know the glaciers left a few rocks in Canada, I'd have sworn they all came to Maine.

hehe I though the great rock migration that took place from Maine to Pa had stopped in my garden, but those are some big boys!! nice job.

Not only that, the glaciers rounded most of them up, just to add insult to injury. I can dig out some reasonably flat-sided rocks here and there, but the rounders are by far more common.

 

[Luremaker]

Yesterday, we pulled and moved hundreds more rocks. Today we started using the disc. It found a few rocks in the 10 first acres. Much better than we thought. Still a lot more rock to dig up and move. Hope to have the entire 30 acres disced by tomorrow evening. After the entire 30 acres has been completely disced up we will run the rock picker through it to pick up all the smaller rock missed with the backhoe and forks.

 

[jimmyj]

Geez, I planted that field with gravel about 40 years ago. They sure grew good!

(Around here they are ripping out all of the fencerows. They use excavators to bury the rocks and stones in common pits where the drain tiles won't interfere with the location).

 

[dmricke]

That reminds me of my Dad's farm in northern Minnesota. We hauled rocks every year just before planting. They would range in size from baseballs to small cars. The really big ones would get rolled onto a stone boat and hauled away to a rock hole.

We had a pair of D7s and once or twice a summer when they weren't on construction projects we would dig rock holes 20 feet wide by 100 ft long and 10 feet deep. These would last for three or four years and then get buried. When the Cats were around we would dig out the plow trippers and roll them over to the holes since they were sometimes even too big for the stone boat.

I never got to see it but out in one of our hay fields is a rock so big that my Granddad spent most of a day digging along side it and had to give up when the canopy of the Cat was flush with the surface of the ground. They got a case of dynamite and managed to crack the top three feet of the rock off and it slid into the hole along side of it. They buried it and at least it never tripped the plow again.

My back aches just thinking about all the rocks I moved as a kid.
Dale

 

[Haoleguy]

Luremaker - Nice pics ! I can relate to this thread as I'm nearly finished with my de-rocking exercise for 4.5 acres that will be a vineyard next year. I chose to take out, or bury, all rocks larger than a cantaloupe down to 3 ft. This was necessary as we will have the vineyard tiled and planted with laser guided planter. Our largest was ~ 40K lbs boulder which we buried deeply. When finished, next week, I think the entire de-rocked field with some reshaping will have taking 120 hrs. Attached are a few pics. Good luck with your project......Gary

 

[Luremaker]

Luremaker - Nice pics ! I can relate to this thread as I'm nearly finished with my de-rocking exercise for 4.5 acres that will be a vineyard next year. I chose to take out, or bury, all rocks larger than a cantaloupe down to 3 ft. This was necessary as we will have the vineyard tiled and planted with laser guided planter. Our largest was ~ 40K lbs boulder which we buried deeply. When finished, next week, I think the entire de-rocked field with some reshaping will have taking 120 hrs. Attached are a few pics. Good luck with your project......Gary

Thanks for the pictures Hoaleguy. That is one big job. Farmers with rock free land just don't know what they are missing. Rocks build character and empty pockets! Do grapes require full sun?

We thought of burying my rocks but I just have too many. Still have at least another 16 acres to disc and there is now 6 inches of snow on the ground. Snow makes it harder to see the rocks. Hopefully the snow will melt away in the next day or so and we can get back to it. We ave around 40-45 hours in it now and I'd say another 40-50 hours to finish. Unless the weather improves we will have to wait until spring to run the rock picker and that will be another day maybe two.

I see your fence lines are just like mine piled with rock.

 

[kootch88]

might pay to just bury the biggest ones. dig a hole with a excavator or backhoe
next to it and roll it into the hole that is 3 feet deeper than the rock, then cover
it up and be done with it.

never done it myself but I've seen it done where I live and its been mentioned as
a solution by otheres on here from time to time. to me it seems faster and easier
than moving them unless you have another use for the rocks or come one who wants
them.

Frost will bring it up if you don't bury it deep enough. Every year we used to clear rocks from the farm that all came up with the frost, typical New England work. That is why we have such prolific stone walls here.

 

[Haoleguy]

Thanks for the pictures Hoaleguy. That is one big job. Farmers with rock free land just don't know what they are missing. Rocks build character and empty pockets! Do grapes require full sun?

We thought of burying my rocks but I just have too many. Still have at least another 16 acres to disc and there is now 6 inches of snow on the ground. Snow makes it harder to see the rocks. Hopefully the snow will melt away in the next day or so and we can get back to it. We ave around 40-45 hours in it now and I'd say another 40-50 hours to finish. Unless the weather improves we will have to wait until spring to run the rock picker and that will be another day maybe two.

I see your fence lines are just like mine piled with rock.

Luremaker - Yes grapes do need good sun. The shot below is looking south. All trees to the left in the picture(east side, another 3 acres) are being removed to get in early morning sun for quick drying of morning dew. On the west side I'm planting an early ripening variety such that a little late day shading should not affect it much. In recent months I've been meeting growers in the Beamsville Bench, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Prince Edward County areas to discuss cool climate viticulture. They do a terrific job with viticulture and winemaking such that many of us down in cooler areas of the eastern US have much to learn.

The bigger rocks I bury below 3 feet and the smaller rocks end up in my currently ugly windrowed stone walls on the edges. Stone walls can look terrific but require more work than I can devote at the moment. The invasive plants seem to take hold quickly in the rock walls.

Hope you can get back to your project before full Winter sets in. I probably have another 2-3 weeks open to complete the current phase of work. Next Spring I will de-rock another 4-5 acres to get it ready for planting in 2014. Good luck on your project and look forward to more photos...Cheers, Gary

 

[Luremaker]

Luremaker - Yes grapes do need good sun. The shot below is looking south. All trees to the left in the picture(east side, another 3 acres) are being removed to get in early morning sun for quick drying of morning dew. On the west side I'm planting an early ripening variety such that a little late day shading should not affect it much. In recent months I've been meeting growers in the Beamsville Bench, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Prince Edward County areas to discuss cool climate viticulture. They do a terrific job with viticulture and winemaking such that many of us down in cooler areas of the eastern US have much to learn.

The bigger rocks I bury below 3 feet and the smaller rocks end up in my currently ugly windrowed stone walls on the edges. Stone walls can look terrific but require more work than I can devote at the moment. The invasive plants seem to take hold quickly in the rock walls.

Hope you can get back to your project before full Winter sets in. I probably have another 2-3 weeks open to complete the current phase of work. Next Spring I will de-rock another 4-5 acres to get it ready for planting in 2014. Good luck on your project and look forward to more photos...Cheers, Gary

There is a local winery with 25 acres of grapes vines. Years ago, I was surprised to here they they were going to plant grapes with our cold winter climate. There are also several more wineries south of me in the large clay belt east of Lake Huron.

Welcome | Coffin Ridge Boutique Winery

 

[Haoleguy]

Luremaker - Thank you for the link. I had no idea that European vinifera wine grapes were being grown that far north. Just proves that nearby deep water can help moderate some of the super cold days just enough for vine survival. I'm wondering if they bury the entire vine in the winter like they do over in Prince Edward County. Thank you again for the info and link.....Cheers, Gary