Might have made a mistake

[pmsmechanic]

When I picked rocks for my dad we had a pull type rock picker. It worked best when you didn't slow down to pick up the rocks. If you came to a stop and tried to gently roll the rock into the times it was very frustrating. Hit the rock at speed with tines against the ground and it would bounce up and roll onto the tines. With your soil being firm the rock bucket should work very well.

 

[cat fever]

That's what I want to hear! :thumbsup:

 

[cat fever]

So here's how the rock getting is going;

The rock bucket was not working out. To hard to see the front of it and I was doing more damage to the field than good. So my bride and I started picking rocks by hand. I'm glad to say the bottom field is "rock free", at least surface rocks and any we could see and dig up.:dance1:

The top field is another story. We spent a good deal of time yesterday and this morning making one pass throwing rocks into the tractor bucket. Had to dump it several times. The one pass is where most of the rocks are. The rest of the field has rocks here and there but over most of the field. We stopped because it started raining. We'll pick up more when it stops and dries up a bit. Then run the neighbors roller over it to get what we missed.

This is the rock pile.

 

[LouNY]

Thats too bad I was hoping you'd have better luck with the rock bucket then I do, hand picking sucks especially picking climbing back in the tractor moving 20 ft climbing out and repeating numerous times.

 

[cat fever]

I agree, in/out move tractor repeat gets old and I'm not young enough to keep this up for 15-20 acres. I'll get as much as my back will put up with then just roll it and get more rocks the next time we run the harrow over it. I'd sure like to get them all now but I have time to keep at over a few years.:thumbsup:

 

[pmsmechanic]

Thats too bad I was hoping you'd have better luck with the rock bucket then I do, hand picking sucks especially picking climbing back in the tractor moving 20 ft climbing out and repeating numerous times.

The above comment made me smile. Sometimes a cab is nice.....and sometimes it isn't!

 

[cat fever]

The above comment made me smile. Sometimes a cab is nice.....and sometimes it isn't!

I have a cab, but for sure sometimes I wish I had both open station and cab.

It's not raining now so we'll be heading out soon for a fun filled day of rock picking.:thumbdown:

 

[rScotty]

Thats too bad I was hoping you'd have better luck with the rock bucket then I do, hand picking sucks especially picking climbing back in the tractor moving 20 ft climbing out and repeating numerous times.

We had to sort a lot of rocks after a flood. How well the rock bucket works depends mostly on the dirt the rocks are in. We have a very sandy base with round river rocks from tomatoe to front tire size. I've tried several different types of rock bucket. The Bradco or the Hough with the round rod construction stick out farther and work noticibly better than the more generic type made of flat stock. Neither one is great, just passable if you don't mind tearing up the ground a bit. Hand picking is way better for the field, but what a pain.

There's a trick to using a rock bucket: Just pick up a few with the lip of the rock bucket and tilt it up to roll them to the back. That way the dirt falls through. Then repeat until the bucket is full. Yes, it is time consuming that way, and you only move a foot at a time. But if you try to get many rocks in the bucket all at one time you will end up with too much dirt and the dirt won't fall through. BTW, the dryer and sandier the soil the better. I doubt these rock buckets would work at all in good loam or clay soil.

There are commercial rock picker-upers with a rotating sleeve that mounts to a SSQA and is skid steer size. Sorts out the soil and conveys the rocks to a holding pen for dumping. Real expensive implement to buy, but might be rentable. I've never seen one in use.
rScotty

 

[mopardude318]

Put that sucker in creep and walk with it as ya load. Yea I’ve done it. It’s not safe. Maybe you’ll be reading about me one day. LOL

Nice hard work Cat Fever.

 

[cat fever]

I've got 30 acres to clean the rocks out of. So far I think 25 acres is clear. 5 left but it's been raining/sleeting most of the day.

I really need to get it done, the alfalfa is getting so tall it's getting hard to see the rocks.