Buying Advice Build Stone Walls

[GFL]

We have a lot of stone walls that have been partially dismantled due to rouge atv riders through out woods. We would like to restore the walls by picking up the stones and putting them back, as well as fill in any breaks in the walls with stones to prevent further destruction to our property. So what is a good tractor size and lift and still agile enough to get through the woods without tearing them up too much?

Thanks a million for any advice!

Gary

 

[CatX]

Mini excavator for building rock walls, not sure the size of rocks your talking but my little cat 303.5 will lift soccer ball size to about 1500 lbs! Also the track footprint is somewhere a little more than the human foot for pressure on the ground so tearing it up wont be an issue just watch the turns.

 

[k0ua]

Of course a Mini ex would be wonderful, but we have been building a stone wall, lately and moving rocks around here for years with our small Kubota tractors, The last was a L3400HST.. I recomend hydrostat for the ability to move extra slow, and of course get the Skid Steer Quick Attach (SSQA) so that you can take the bucket off and the forks on. You can move and set lots of rocks with that combo. The Kubota is gone as of tonite, and we have a Kioti now, we shall see how it works out. People also use backhoes with thumbs to set rocks.. But if you have a small tractor with a Front End Loader, and you can put on a set of pallet forks you can move and set rocks pretty easy.

James K0UA

 

[MF1652]

Just started this rock wall at the end of my drive last week. I have been using the bucket to move the rocks from the back of the property to the wall. I use a pry bar and chain to position the large rocks. I do wish I had a set of forks though.

 

[k0ua]

Just started this rock wall at the end of my drive last week. I have been using the bucket to move the rocks from the back of the property to the wall. I use a pry bar and chain to position the large rocks. I do wish I had a set of forks though.

We used a bucket for years like you to set them and prybar and chains. but the forks are worth the money let me tell ya. for one thing you can see so much better, and you can get out from under them better too if you have then out on the ends. Pprovided that they are not so heavy you can still lift them out on the ends of the forks.

James K0UA

 

[GFL]

We have a property that is mostly woodlands and contains numerous stone walls that need repair. We are looking for a tractor that will leave as small a footprint as possible, but still enable us to move rocks up to 500lbs.

We are using field stones that are readily available in the woods. We are thinking that a grapple will be the most practical tool. We believe that we can dig rocks out of the ground and place them on the walls without any manual intervention. Does this sound like this will work?

Thanks,
Gary

 

[MarkV]

Gary welcome to the forum. Yes your grapple idea should work for what you plan. One caution I would make is to pay close attention to the weight of the grapple. On a smaller tractor with limited lift ability a grapple normally weights more than the standard bucket. Each extra pound the grapple adds is one pound less you can lift. You will also need to buy a tractor with extra hydraulics run to the loader or add the hydraulics after purchase.

MarkV

 

[k0ua]

We have a property that is mostly woodlands and contains numerous stone walls that need repair. We are looking for a tractor that will leave as small a footprint as possible, but still enable us to move rocks up to 500lbs.

We are using field stones that are readily available in the woods. We are thinking that a grapple will be the most practical tool. We believe that we can dig rocks out of the ground and place them on the walls without any manual intervention. Does this sound like this will work?

Thanks,
Gary

Hmm.. no manual intervention.. I think not. Not in our experience. You will need to get off and shim up the rocks to make them stable with other small rocks unless you just luck out and have some flat rock luck or something. You can also dig out rocks pretty easy with the forks, but a grapple would be nice. As others have said you will want a small grapple, to maximize your lift ability. A 500 lb rock is a pretty small rock around here. Of course rock density varies widely. We have been using rocks up to 1000 lbs here in our wall, and some have been at the limits of the machine to pick up. By small footprint I assume you mean to disturb the earth as little as possible and you want as small of a tractor that will do the job. I suggest R4 Industrial tires. I suggest "loading" of those rear tires for ballast, and you will need rear 3pt ballast as well. Let us know what brand and line of tractors you are looking at and perhaps we could offer some suggestions. I dont know if there is funds for a backhoe or not, but a lot of guys suggest using one for wall building. I have no experience with one but have "imagined" it Good Luck.

James K0UA

 

[magicheater]

We have a property that is mostly woodlands and contains numerous stone walls that need repair. We are looking for a tractor that will leave as small a footprint as possible, but still enable us to move rocks up to 500lbs.

We are using field stones that are readily available in the woods. We are thinking that a grapple will be the most practical tool. We believe that we can dig rocks out of the ground and place them on the walls without any manual intervention. Does this sound like this will work?

Thanks,
Gary

I do it with a B7800 and a small grapple I designed and built. The rock in the picture weighs 600-700 lbs. The pile is what I stacked using it.

 

[ccdck20hst]

My CK20HST TLB worked fine with 21 HP to build my stone wall that is about 150 feet long, 36" wide by about 34" in height. I can walk on top of the wall without teetering on the rocks or knocking the rocks off. The loader will pickup 1,000 lbs. The backhoe was good for dislodging large rocks out of the ground. Besides many pairs of gloves and a lot of patients placing the rocks the most valuable hand tool for me was my hand trucks. Working alone I could slide rocks up the steel handle of either one of my hand trucks and on top of the wall to get the heavy rocks right where I wanted them. Saved my back! I live in a built up area and the beauty of the hand truck is the ability to use it almost without any noise at all. Since I often would work on the wall between 5:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. I did not need to worry about waking the neighborhood. Or if space permitted and the time of day allowed, I could slide the rocks off the bucket of the loader and on to the wall. Building the stone wall was one of the most gratifying things I have done with the tractor. It did take a few months before I could stand up straight again! Happy tractoring!