Aquamoose
Platinum Member
I recall seeing that video! It was every bit as fascinating to watch while having much respect for ingenuity. After all, these guys didn’t have Tractorbynet to get ideas back then!
I have stones that were split using pins and feathers as you describe. But I can only think of a couple that are in stone walls. Most of the stones here were rounded by the glaciers and don't make for good building material. The split stones tend to be nice and straight and were used for the foundations of buildings.Rocks were another story. I have found many, many rocks in my fields with a hole drilled in the center ready for dynamite, but for whatever reason were never blasted. Many on the stone walls show that they split the granite ones in half by star drill and wedges called "feathers". But where I live we have lots of slate. Once slate is split (by machine or glaciers) it is easy to split into layers, but splitting a round boulder is a bear, so these were the ones left behind.
I found this one sitting on top of the ground with a star-drill hole in it. They did not even try to push it out. I got it moved after 100 years, but it took 185 horses treading around an 850 John Deere bulldozer to do it.
The interesting thing about the old rock walls is; the biggest rocks are always on the lowest part of the hill. They could not haul them rocks uphill with ox and a stone boat that is for sure!!
It wasn't the lack of TV. They didn't have cell phones!
But, I can see the motivation for clearing. You start with a little plot that maybe feeds your family. And then a little more and a little more. It must have been most satisfying and there was probably some sense of competition as well.
Often the government stipulated that you had to have so much land cleared in a given time frame, and a house built to keep your land claim.
And we think the Government (leaders) today have comfort, luxury and privilege well above the common working stiff.
I just put together this article on land clearing with your tractor with credit going to all the great tips and photos on TBN and specifically this forum. This article is intended to be a primer for people who want to tackle typical homeowner land clearing projects.
Land Clearing With Your Tractor | TractorByNet.com
Please take a moment to review and let me know if I need to make any factual corrections/edits. Also, if you guys have tips to add to the "tips" section at the bottom, please post them here in this thread and I'll summarize and add them.