Moving large boulders

[crudolph]

Hi folks,

I have a Kubota M59 TLB and am clearing brush, trees, and rocks from my property. I have some really large boulders that my backhoe and/or loader cannot lift out of the ground. Some are in holes that prevent me from being able to push them around.

I'm looking for ideas or tips on moving them.

Thanks,
Chris.

 

[bcp]

I've had good luck with boulders I can't lift that are in holes by rolling them out. Some I can lift one side while moving forward and they roll out of the hole. Others I roll out by chaining around them for a high or over-the-top pull, then rolling them out with a pull. If the tractor doesn't have the traction, I use a winch.

Bruce

 

[Alien]

If they are partly buried you have a big job ahead. Have you thought of digging beside them and burying them deeper?

 

[JerryK]

I have 'lifted' some heavy boulders. If you can get a heavy strap or chain around one end.... or budge it up a little on one end by backing into it, with say, a backblade... then lift it up as much 'as possible' and throw some cribbing under it. Cribbing can be old logs, scrap timber pieces, etc.. just something to sit it back down on a little higher than it was when you started. Keep working at it from different sides, and eventually you will work it up to ground level. Then you can maybe roll it onto a sled [ opened up old fuel oil tanks make good ones ] and drag it where you want it. Unless, of course, your tractor is not heavy enough to move said rock.... then you need a bigger tractor... You might find that the ground is so worked up by the time you get it out of the hole that you can't get enough traction to move it... so just wait a year for the ground to settle back in then have at it.... [ been there, done that ]

 

[Localmotion]

I'm with Alien - if you really can't lift or even roll them, then dig down alongside and bury them, or use a breaker to reduce the size...

If of course you're wanting to use the boulders, then you still need to dig down on the side you want to roll it, and form a gentle incline from the base of the rock - you should then be able to push / drag / roll it out of the hole.

We moved some very large (upto 5 tonne) boulders with our 20hp Siromer a few years ago. Obviously the tractor is too small to lift or even roll such a heavy rock - instead we used the loader to push metal scaffold poles under the boulder (we had exposed three sides by digging around it), and lay a few more poles on the ground in the direction of travel. The tractor then easily pushed the boulder over the scaffold poles - like a set of rollerskates! As one pole appeared from the back of the rock, it was moved to the front and so on to make a continual rolling road. It was a slow job, but we managed to get the boulders into position moving them across grass and concrete and even gravel...

It makes you realise just how much effort went into building Stonehenge :laughing:

 

[crudolph]

Thanks for the tips folks. I think I'll try the cribbing and sled route . I'll post pictures!

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[jenkinsph]

If you have several of these to move you might leave these largest ones exposed as best you can and then have a larger machine come in and pluck them out. Might be the best way to go as raising and cribbing these boulders can be dangerous and is a lot of work. A full size backhoe with a hammer to break them up is another way to go as Localmotion suggested. The cost of bringing in a large hoe for a couple of hours work would be far better than a visit to the emergency room or worse.

 

[JerryK]

If you have several of these to move you might leave these largest ones exposed as best you can and then have a larger machine come in and pluck them out. Might be the best way to go as raising and cribbing these boulders can be dangerous and is a lot of work. A full size backhoe with a hammer to break them up is another way to go as Localmotion suggested. The cost of bringing in a large hoe for a couple of hours work would be far better than a visit to the emergency room or worse.

Yes, BUT, you loose the shear joy of doing it by yourself.... no matter what the cost... in time, sweat, and medical assistance.... [ actually the cribbing process is pretty safe, if the 'cribbie' uses some common sense.. ] [ disclaimer: your results may vary, professional driver on closed course, etc... ]

 

[Tollster]

Getting them out is harder than getting them in. You may be able to split it.
I made a rock garden years ago and used a skid to shuttle them in the yard,the biggest was 1 ton. Here you see me creeping them backwards and using fence post to steer them into place, using gravity. It was above a stone wall so we had to come in from the top to prevent them from rolling thru the wall and into a pond.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/102305-pennsylvania-stone-wall-project.html

 

[crudolph]

Nice skid! My large boulders are probably in the 2-3 ton range (though I suck at estimating size!). I'll probably try and trench them out. Dig a path going downhill (as much downhill slope as I can make) and roll them.

Stay tuned .

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[Tollster]

This was one of the smaller boulders in the pic. The little BX huffed up the 1 tonner with this tool. I think it was a 1 ton as it lifted the rear wheels off the ground in his 52 horse bota with weights. The skid also limited yard repairs...considerably.This one was borrowed. Good luck,and be carefull, I bent many a digging bar, and one finger pinch than finally returned to normal color about 6 months later.

 

[Pitch1]

If you need something for a stone boat,I found that the hood from an old car or truck is excellent. You can usually find one for next to free.

 

[crudolph]

If you need something for a stone boat,I found that the hood from an old car or truck is excellent. You can usually find one for next to free.

Fantastic idea! Thanks.

 

[sierradmax]

I had a real large bolder in the way of a chimney foundation install. I could move it around and only lift one end at a time. I thought back to the egyptian era...Literally! I know it may sound time consuming but I raised it out of the ground by lifting one end at a time and filling the hole gradually. When it reached the same elevation as grade, I pulled it out of the way.

 

[JerryK]

Nice skid! My large boulders are probably in the 2-3 ton range (though I suck at estimating size!). I'll probably try and trench them out. Dig a path going downhill (as much downhill slope as I can make) and roll them.

Stay tuned .

Cheers,
Chris.

Some rocks, or dirt encrusted stumps for that matter, are heavy enouth that you HAVE to start pulling them down hill to get them to get going. Plan your pull well in advance. Pull from your drawbar, get her going, and don't stop.....

 

[Raddad]

The three point has more lift power if you use the out side holes on the lower arms. I made a chain basket, roll the rocks onto the basket and lift with the three point.

 

[madmax12]

The three point has more lift power if you use the out side holes on the lower arms. I made a chain basket, roll the rocks onto the basket and lift with the three point.

A few pics of the chain basket would be cool...

 

[Gary Fowler]

Just be really careful when skidding down a steep hill. DONT want the rock to start rolling on its own and run you over. That could cause more than a medical visit.

 

[mdelmarcelle]

I've pulled several large boulders out of our woods. The biggest I think are between 3-4000lbs. Most of them were burried at least 50%. The basic way I got most of them out is to use a recovery strap, sinching it around the rock in the best spot where it won't fall off. This involves some experimenting and digging around the rock. One key there is to not use straps with hooks. If the strap breaks, and they do, those hooks can become bullets.

For very large rocks where I couldn't get traction, I used a compound pulley setup with cables. Simply using one pulley, with one end of the cable attached to the base of a large tree and other end attached to the tractor and the pulley attached to the strap around the rock, I was able to almost double my pulling power (friction robs a bit of it and sometimes it's not possible to get the perfect angle in the pulley setup). For really large rocks, I'd use two pulleys, one attached at the rock, one attached at the tree.

This approach is relatively cheap. You can get heavy cable (1/2" or 5/8") and pulleys inexpensively. I think the pulleys cost about 40-50 bucks a piece. For safety, I always attached chain to the end of the cable and kept myself fairly far away from the cable. But, I never had an instance of the cable snapping. I did have hardware slip, but it didn't produce any sort of dangerous outcome.

 

[boggen]

you might try buying a cheap "hammer drill" any were from 40 bucks on sale to couple hundred bucks, and get a masonry bit ((a few, ya bound to break a couple of them)). drill a bunch of holes in a line across the rock. then pick up some "wedges" and a hammer. and begin tapping the wedges into the holes with a hammer. the rock should split were the holes were drilled.

above not the best explanation, but *shrugs*