breaking up hard/very rocky soil

[Nolove]

this spring i plan on turning an old field into pastor. its an over grown area that is very rocky from small to 40-50lb rocks my question is what would be the best way to break up the ground i have a disc but don't want to destroy it should i plow it then disc? just looking for some ideas

thanks

 

[sweettractors]

Something with spring loaded shanks probably would work well and then pickup the rocks manually. Ken Sweet
Sweet Farm Equipment - New & Used Farming Tools & Equipment | Tractor Equipment, Implements

 

[Gary Fowler]

Something like this would work. It is basically a box blade without the box and only cost me about $350 new.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I pull it with my LS P7010 but I keep it in 2 WD so when it hangs a big rock, it will slip the tires rather than break something. So far I have roller out some big rocks without damage to the plow.

 

[Nolove]

i was thinking about something like what you got

 

[sweettractors]

Something like this would work. It is basically a box blade without the box and only cost me about $350 new.

We sell these Tennessee River Brand and they do work well, if the rocks are not too embedded in the soil or not in the 40-50 lb range. They don't trip. Ken Sweet
Sweet Farm Equipment - New & Used Farming Tools & Equipment | Tractor Equipment, Implements

 

[sixdogs]

this spring i plan on turning an old field into pastor. its an over grown area that is very rocky from small to 40-50lb rocks my question is what would be the best way to break up the ground i have a disk but don't want to destroy it should i plow it then disk? just looking for some ideas

thanks

I'd get an old spring tooth cultivator and get on the ground in the spring ASAP when things are soft. If you can find one, the old Dearborn or Pittsburg cultivators from the 1950's are excellent for this. I used them in Maine for ripping similar ground full of rocks and never had a problem. You will have rocks to pick up.

Another way that worked for me was to use a rototiller set on shallow and just skim the ground. The rocks stayed put, the ground levelled up a lot and enough dirt was created to get seed started. Take it a little easy and it's OK on a tiller. I did it for years with no probs. In thinking about it, this would be my first choice because it's the least invasive.

 

[jeff9366]

This spring i plan on turning an old field into pasture. Its an over grown area that is very rocky, from small to 40-50lb rocks. What would be the best way to break up the ground? I have a disk but don't want to destroy it. Should i plow it, then disk? Just looking for some ideas.

What size is this piece of ground?

If you have a plow which has been successful plowing the same ground behind your FORD 8N, plow first.

A Disc Harrow which is sized to a FORD 8N is simply going to roll over hard, unplowed ground.

If plowing is not an option, a single-shank Subsoiler is tough and many are sized to your Ford 8N.

Working the soil when it is moist will be much, much easier on your equipment than working the same soil dry.

 

[Nolove]

What size is this piece of ground?

If you have a plow which has been successful plowing the same ground behind your FORD 8N, plow first.

A Disc Harrow which is sized to a FORD 8N is simply going to roll over hard, unplowed ground.

If plowing is not an option, a single-shank Subsoiler is tough and many are sized to your Ford 8N.

Working the soil when it is moist will be much, much easier on your equipment than working the same soil dry.

its about 20 acres i now have a massey ferguson 2615 4x4

my plan was to plow it up then disc then rent a rock rake ( not landscape rake ) to windrow everything then use a skid steer to load the rocks into a dump trailer
I'm just trying to see if there is a better idea to break up the ground.... I've done a few other areas by just discing it up but those where not as rocky as the area I'm about to do and my disc has taken a beating I'm not looking to make the area into a golfing green it would be used for cows and hay the photo is an older pic of the area

thank you

 

[jeff9366]

View attachment 526688

i now have a massey ferguson 2615 4x4

Update your T-B-N profile, substituting MF 2615 for the Ford 8N. I hate it when authors start by feeding us bad info.


MF 2615 SPECS: TractorData.com Massey Ferguson 2615 tractor information

Assuming your MF 2615 has a loader, consider an Ultra Fork attachment for your bucket, to scoop up a good bit of those rocks while allowing dirt to fall through.

Multi-Spear Ultra Fork

Note Ultra Forks are available in 24" and 34" length.
Spacing between tines is five inches.

After you remove five inch rocks I expect you could wire on cyclone fence or stock fence and screen for smaller rocks.

I have a Bucket Spade from Bucket Solutions. Their bucket attachment mechanism is absolutely rigid and will not harm your bucket.

 

[Gary Fowler]

View attachment 526688

its about 20 acres i now have a massey ferguson 2615 4x4

my plan was to plow it up then disc then rent a rock rake ( not landscape rake ) to windrow everything then use a skid steer to load the rocks into a dump trailer
I'm just trying to see if there is a better idea to break up the ground.... I've done a few other areas by just discing it up but those where not as rocky as the area I'm about to do and my disc has taken a beating I'm not looking to make the area into a golfing green it would be used for cows and hay the photo is an older pic of the area

thank you

I think I would run a rake over it first to get all the rocks that are already on the surface. Any plowing is going to bury some of these. That subsoiler attachment that I and Ken Sweet posted will work well for bringing rocks to the top of the ground. I think a rock rake on the FEL would work very well after subsoiling with the TR7 ripper. By the way, those things will sink about 12" into the ground if you have the power to pull it. You can remove as many tines as you have to in order to pull it.

 

[mike69440]

Suggest a Single Ripper with shear bolts.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/327912-custom-3-point-attachment-2-a.html?highlight=

I use one stiffened up box blade ripper and go slow. it will pull a 200 lb rock in wet soil. Suggest doing it a few days after a heavy rain.

 

[jenkinsph]

Twenty acres to clean will take some time, why not start now? I would see how it goes on a small area maybe an acre so you can determine how large a rock you want to remove. Ripping with trip style shanks similar to what Sweet posted would be a good choice imo.

After ripping, raking and picking up the windrows of larger rock I would use a heavy duty cultipacker or heavy roller after seeding. Something to push the rocks down flush with the surface. The larger the rock you leave the deeper you need to loosen the ground to push the remaining rock down.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Something with spring loaded shanks probably would work well and then pickup the rocks manually. Ken Sweet

I second this suggestion. Or the subsoiler with shear bolts.

I've done similar work with a scarifier aka pasture renovator aka ripper. It works very well on compacted surface soil from a horse pasture, and it loosens and brings up rocks. But it requires a lot of HP and because there is no trip or shear bolt, you can stall the tractor and/or damage the implement. Mine was a Landpride and it got bent in its first use, being used as intended. That didn't impress me. That one and the one Sweet linked to have one-sided draft link pins, where the implement really should have clevis style pins as most better box blades do.

If you don't need to go too deep I would get a chisel plow with spring-loaded shanks. If you have to go deeper, the subsoiler but plan on dozens of hours to get it all done.

And yeah, picking up rocks by hand is tedious but I haven't found a better way. I imagine that if you get the soil completely pulverized you could go through with a rock bucket on the loader, but that's another $1500 item to get used once. You could also use a power rake, either 3pt or mounted on a rented skidsteer, although a wheeled skidsteer might have trouble on soil that loose. It depends whether you have more time or more money!

 

[Tigershark]

That is a ton of rocks. I thought I had it bad doing an acre, I used a box blade with the rippers all the way down and filled up 6 FEL buckets of rocks. It took hours to hand pick all the rocks. If I had 20 acres I think I would hire a small dozer and have them skim the top off into large piles on the edge of the fields. then go over it with a disc or rake, or plow either way its a huge task.

 

[tungularafishcamp]

What's under the rocks when you dig down? Is it just more rocks that will keep popping up as you drag the top ones off?