How to remove rocks from soil?

[greenmojo]

I would love to clear land for a big garden or even some orchard trees and grass, but our property up here is plagued with broken basalt rock spread throughout the top layer of soil.

What is the easiest way to get those rocks out? I bought a rock bucket for my JD 4300, but that's only useful if you are sorting through piles of dirt.

Is there an implement or strategy?

Additionally, I have a JD 450C to push dirt around if that helps with any ideas / strategies you all have.

Thanks,

Moses

 

[Gary Fowler]

Well they do make rock pickers that are pulled thru the dirt and sift out the rocks and place them in a basket. I have only seen video of them and they may require some loosening up of the soil first, but they do seem to do a good job of cleaning the soil.

 

[rdbigfarmboy]

I would hire or rent to get it done,
You need remotes to run a picker and at least 12000# of tractor.

 

[Utopia Texas]

There are rock rakes that can be pulled behind most any tractor. Naturally they only work on rocks at the surface unless the ground is plowed and soft. The rakes are about the same size as a pull behind grader blade. I have one that is seven feet wide with about thirty five springy tines.

 

[john_bud]

bucket in left hand, bend over, pick up rock with right hand, put in bucket, walk forward... repeat until bucket is full.

 

[Dozernut]

Rent a 3 pt. Harley Rake. Type in Harley Rake on Google and do some reading.

 

[D7E]

We are on heavy land with no stones but i rent some lighter stony land of an old guy who keeps 200acres for himself to keep him occupied and like a lot of the old timers summer fallows half of it but he spends his summers with a reasonable size rock picker on a MF 135 ...he just does'nt fill the basket all the way up , seems to work very well .

Whats wrong with bending your back a bit ...We farm 2000 acres and every year we run through with the front end loader after seeding for 2-3 days and pick 20-30 odd loader bucket fulls by hand from certain fields or new land .

 

[greenmojo]

bucket in left hand, bend over, pick up rock with right hand, put in bucket, walk forward... repeat until bucket is full.

I'm totally confused now, I have a full bucket and there are no more steps.

 

[greenmojo]

Rent a 3 pt. Harley Rake. Type in Harley Rake on Google and do some reading.

Will do, punching it in now. Thanks.

We are on heavy land with no stones but i rent some lighter stony land of an old guy who keeps 200acres for himself to keep him occupied and like a lot of the old timers summer fallows half of it but he spends his summers with a reasonable size rock picker on a MF 135 ...he just does'nt fill the basket all the way up , seems to work very well .

Whats wrong with bending your back a bit ...We farm 2000 acres and every year we run through with the front end loader after seeding for 2-3 days and pick 20-30 odd loader bucket fulls by hand from certain fields or new land .

I don't mind a good ol' workout. I initially started making piles by hand, but then figured some lazy guy with a bad back figured out a smarter way to do this.

Moses.

 

[Coyote machine]

Rent a skidsteer with Harley rake on front. Use tractor bucket to remove the rocks to your neighbor's yard at night!:laughing:

 

[RaydaKub]

bucket in left hand, bend over, pick up rock with right hand, put in bucket, walk forward... repeat until bucket is full.

Been there, done that. Every spring into early summer, take the old Model A JD out with the flat bed out and pick all the rocks we could see. We dumped that trailer a bunch of times every year.

 

[Egon]

Rock picking time I can remember. A stone boat pulled with two horses and me throwing rocks on the stone boat. The remote voice operated pulling device worked well!

 

[jenkinsph]

A Harley rake to windrow the rock into spacings about 15 to 20 ft apart then use a fel to scoop these piles up. Then sift these bucket loads out through a screen, this will be about as cheap and effective as it gets imo. If the ground is dry and the rocks are big enough a rock bucket can help but would leave a lot of smaller rocks. Most rock buckets with a 3" spacing allow are good for the larger stuff but still gather too much soil for my liking. Using a Harley rake and screening works much better.

 

[RaydaKub]

The remote voice operated pulling device worked well!

Technology that still can't be matched.

 

[Egon]

Technology that still can't be matched.

For sure!

 

[greenmojo]

A Harley rake to windrow the rock into spacings about 15 to 20 ft apart then use a fel to scoop these piles up. Then sift these bucket loads out through a screen, this will be about as cheap and effective as it gets imo. If the ground is dry and the rocks are big enough a rock bucket can help but would leave a lot of smaller rocks. Most rock buckets with a 3" spacing allow are good for the larger stuff but still gather too much soil for my liking. Using a Harley rake and screening works much better.

Yup, my rocket bucket just picks up too much dirt and bouncing it isn't good on the equipment.

Technology, is a service than comes and picks up my dirt, then brings it back a few days later all fertilized and rock free. Of course, putting it back where they found it. ;-)

 

[Happy Gilmore]

Rock picking time I can remember. A stone boat pulled with two horses and me throwing rocks on the stone boat. The remote voice operated pulling device worked well!

Ahh the old stone boat. Ours must be around the farm somewhere covered by brush, I threw rocks onto it as a boy. It was pulled behind 50 horses though, not a team. Good memories

 

[rmk700]

bucket in left hand, bend over, pick up rock with right hand, put in bucket, walk forward... repeat until bucket is full.

That's what we do except it's a big family get together. A couple of UTV's and many, many different sized rock picking hands and proves to be effective.

 

[Sportsman762]

Moses,
I would look for a root rake that you could pin on the front of the 450C. Use the root rake to loosen the soil, then use your rock bucket to sift the soil. If you are doing a large area I would rent a harley rake to windrow the rocks after ripping with the dozer and then use the bucket to sift through the rocks. For perfection hand picking works best, however I prefer to buy diesel.

 

[GManBart]

Can you get a ripper for the 450C? If you ran a ripper through it first, the rock bucket or root grapple would be able to pick the rocks out pretty easily.