Down and Dirty basic Soil Screener

[SkunkWerX]

This one falls under the category of "rickety contraption". It's not clever nor highly technical, but it gets the job done.

Total cost to build: $0.00 (cha-ching) All parts were scrap and surplus.

Doesn't require much of a description.

Soil Screener

Soil Screener next to screened pile of topsoil/compost

 

[RonMar]

Yep, they work well. I made one smaller that sets on my wheelbarrow. The filtered soil goes in the bucket and the rocks and debris fall to the ground between the wheelbarrow handles...

 

[SkunkWerX]

Ronmar,

I was also thinking of one like you describe for your wheelbarrow, that would set over the FEL bucket, rocks & clumps would slide off, fine stuff goes right into bucket for transport.

 

[RonMar]

That would work if you were planning on shoveling the material into the bucket... I don't think it would work to scoop like a normal FEL bucket, as the material would bunch up and the screen would act like a plate and bend/collapse under the load. The shovel throw allows the material to break up and slide and separate as it does so.

 

[Luremaker]

This one falls under the category of "rickety contraption". It's not clever nor highly technical, but it gets the job done.

Total cost to build: $0.00 (cha-ching) All parts were scrap and surplus.

Doesn't require much of a description.

I like your screen. It looks like it would be great for screening soil right in the garden and its really portable. I think I'll make one like yours. Thanks for posting the pictures.

Here are a few pictures taken last summer of my screen in action. It has a large footprint of 10' x 10'. I have lost count of how many yards of soil I have screened with it. My ground is littered with rock between the size of golf balls right up to 5' x 6' so when ever I do any dirt moving I always run into lot of rock.

 

[StrangeRanger]

I like these KISS method screeners, and it's what I'd prefer to do, but I've got a mixture of grass & weed clumps to deal with too. I think they'd just clutter up the screen and feel I need to vibrate the screen to get the most out of these clumps. But I sure do like these designs.
j

 

[Luremaker]

I like these KISS method screeners, and it's what I'd prefer to do, but I've got a mixture of grass & weed clumps to deal with too. I think they'd just clutter up the screen and feel I need to vibrate the screen to get the most out of these clumps. But I sure do like these designs.
j

That's what the rake and shovel are for. After every bucket I have to get off the tractor and pull the roots and branches off the screen. Easier than it looks. It goes much faster if you have a helper knocking off the branches as you go.

 

[SkunkWerX]

Thanks Luremaker, copying is the greatest form of flattery.

The portability will come in handy, like you said, screening directly into the garden is a good one, I have a pile of fill dirt a few acres away from my compost pile, not large, it will be nice to take it over there, isntead of having to move the pile, bucket at a time.

For extra ease in transport, I'm now thinking about getting longer bolts and mounting some lawnmower-sized wheels at the top, where the Leg's pivot. That way it can be folded and picked up at the bottom end, and rolled around easily.

Using a small piece of chain, it could be hooked to the rear of the tractor and towed.

 

[cruzer]

Very cool ideas!
I recently got a couple yards of sand for my kids playscape and it is not washed/screend so it has a lot of rocks in it and have been thinking about making something like this up.
Only thing i need is something to make the screen out of but the local hardware store sells screen by the foot so i should be able to make one pretty cheap.

Stew

 

[LBrown59]

I've got a mixture of grass & weed clumps to deal with too. I think they'd just clutter up the screen and feel I need to vibrate the screen to get the most out of these clumps. But I sure do like these designs.
j

Till the dirt first before sifting.

 

[LBrown59]

For extra ease in transport, I'm now thinking about getting longer bolts and mounting some lawnmower-sized wheels at the top, where the Leg's pivot. That way it can be folded and picked up at the bottom end, and rolled around easily.

Using a small piece of chain, it could be hooked to the rear of the tractor and towed.

Like this idea.

 

[LBrown59]

.

Soil Screener

How do you get your FEL bucket past the board on the back that has a chain on it so you can scoop up the sifted soil?

 

[SkunkWerX]

I move the screener out of the way to get to the soil.
That's another reason why it's "portable".

I am able to grab that same board, with the chain on it, and lift the unit upward with the teeth on the FEL.

Enough dirt piles up underneath, that it has to be moved anyway.

This one is really an example of what can be done at little or no cost.
I had some compost to sift for planting/gardening purposes and didn't want to spend an entire weekend or $100 dollars to build it.

 

[LBrown59]

*I am able to grab that same board, with the chain on it, and lift the unit upward with the teeth on the FEL.

I really like your screener.>--------->> NICE JOB ! ! !

I took another look at your pictures of it.
When you go to lift and move it with your F E L what keeps it from wanting to fold up on you.
I don't have a tooth bar on my BX23 FEL so will have to come up with another way to lift and move it.
I think I will build one about like it; but first could you please tell me.
How long is the screened section?
How long are the supporting legs?

 

[SkunkWerX]

When I pick it up, it does want to fold. I am just lifting it straight up, to get it out of the way. I suppose you could attach a rigid piece, isntead of the chain if you wanted to keep it from folding.

Originally the screening bed was about 8 feet long. And leg's were approx. 6 feet tall.
This was a wee bit too tall for the BX bucket lift height.

So, I hacked off the bed down to approx. 7 ft. long. The leg's are still about 6 feet long, give or take a few inches, But I moved the pivot point to also make the top of the screening bed lower.

Raise your bucket, then dump it, and take a measurement. You want to keep from whacking down onto the screener with your bucket edge when you dump.

 

[maplehillfrm]

That looks like the ticket, I was just leveling off a large piece of ground behind my barn, I have good size piles of spoil, lots of topsoil, but lots of rock as well, I just paid 20 bucks a yd last week for nice topsoil, but I looked at my pile and said , I need to make something to sift that dirt,,

I would need to design a bigger one like the other one on thsi thread, my thought was how am I going to get iot to vibrate,, but I see you guys dont have anything like that, do you need to put it through a few times to get it to seperate,, or is all that nice dirt just from one pass through,,

I also have a stupid question, do you put the material in from the same side you remove the dirt from?? [the high open end?]
thanks pat

 

[SkunkWerX]

Maplehill,

Design the width of the unit for your bucket width, at least.

I got my finished soil from one ride down the slope of the screen.
Admittedly, it doesn't sepearate everything and you still end up with some good stuff falling with the rocks and debris. The spoils could be re-screened a 2nd time, if you want to get all the good stuff out of it.

With mine, the height and width doesn't make it great for reaching underneath with the bucket, so, after I have a Yard or so of screened soil, I move it out of the way to scoop the good stuff. usually by this time I have piled up enough spoils that it needs to be moved anyway.

if you make it stationary, then build a vertical wall at the spoil end, so the spoils drop off the edge. Also make it beefy enough and wide enough that you can reach underneath from the same end you dump from, to grab the good stuff you have filtered.

 

[dtd24]

Like the screener, nice project. I too think I will build one, but a bit larger stationary one. Thanks for the idea.

 

[spo307]

66” wide simple word for me