Are rocks heavy or what ?

[studor]

I had an old truck hood (80's chev -- the older Fords and Chevs are all to rusty to hold anything)that I thought was great for moving really heavy rocks around with but I found out once that it did not take much of an angle or bump for either the rock to roll off or the whole load to slide sideways to the tractor. Luckily, when it slid sideways to the tractor the rock would usually roll off but once it managed to pull the chain right against the back tire which was a real PITA until I realized I just needed to brake that side and turn downhill
It just seemed to be a lot of work to get the rocks to stay on and towed to the new spot
An elderly neighbour told me to use his "drogue"to move rock. It is made out of oak and hemlock and looks like it was part of the Ark. The runners have strap iron and the design was much the same as posted earlier in this thread. I found that the thing never slid and the rocks never came off on any slope I was willing to try with the tractor (and I do not like slopes). I did return it after I used it but not before I kinda memorized the construction
Just my experience --yours may vary!

 

[Ridgewalker]

Thanks for the tip of using an old car hood as a stone boat! That is a great idea.

If anyone is in my neck of the woods and needs a hood send me a note, I have access to my step dads old junkyard that he ran years ago, my mom still has 300 or so old GM and Ford trucks, 70's and 80's stuff and a bunch of 80's era GM junk cars. Finding a hood is not a problem!

 

[First one]

Ok..the heck with the stone boat..get what jinman has! That rock bucket is awesome!

You know, I like the way you think ! It's just talking the wife into it that's stoping me, oh ya and cash.
She's really good to go on the car hood though .
That bucket is awesome no doubt. I'm wondering if you could use it for picking up brush or what ever?

 

[jinman]

That bucket is awesome no doubt. I'm wondering if you could use it for picking up brush or what ever?

The bucket and grapple with associated hoses was a little over $2100, so that's a significant purchase when you consider the minimum cost of an old beat up hood. Of course, the rock bucket is great for picking up anything from construction debris to brush to telephone poles as shown in the attachments.

 

[neucam]

Rocks do seem to be dense , I can lift 500-600lb easily with loader but when try to pick up a rock 16-18in diameter it won't move it, have to roll it where I want, but I wanted to lift it to move it. So how heavy are these?

 

[First one]

The bucket and grapple with associated hoses was a little over $2100, so that's a significant purchase when you consider the minimum cost of an old beat up hood. Of course, the rock bucket is great for picking up anything from construction debris to brush to telephone poles as shown in the attachments.

jinman,
I'm glad you wrote back, I was wondering how much a set up like that would run . Yes, that is a good price to pay ,but look at all the things you can do with it !!
Do you think that my L3240 could handle something like that ?
I see your tractor has more hp than mine, so that would make a big diff. in what I'd be able to lift.
Thanks again for the pic's !
Scott

 

[boatyard]

Stone boats around here have runners to keep them from sliding sideways and to help keep them from overrunning the Oxen. Oxen are still used a good bit around here. They are gentle on the forest floor when dragging logs and using the stone boat to haul rocks. But best of all they do not tip over on a sidehill
The truck hood and the metal plate sleds look like a great and simple idea but would not work well on our hills.
But Oxen do not have bucket loaders for moving snow

 

[studor]

I guess you must have oxen in pairs so that one can lift the rock while the other grazes

 

[melonhawg]

Funny!
I just got a new windshield installed and asked the shop owner if he had any old hoods around... he took me around the back and pointed me to a pile of beat up auto parts.

I asked him how much for one... FREE!!!
It's 45d X 65w and now I just need to weld a couple of D-Ring shackles.

 

[RadarTech]

Ok folks-- I read this and had to ask, rocks not heavy?
or is everyone else some kind of super rock hero?


anyway--- just curious...

J