Rake Picking rocks vs sifting

[jenkinsph]

Reading some of these posts I don't think other people have rocks like we have rocks. A couple of hours with a rake? People have been at it for almost 400 years with oxen, horses, tractors and dynamite and we're still not done. To me, a "small" rock is one a tractor will move, a "big" rock is one you can see from space. I'll admit I haven't tried it, but I don't think a roller is going to help with a rock the size of desk.

Bear in mind that the OP stated that he had already picked up the fist size and larger rocks. That was in the first post, now he is trying to remove the smaller rock, what amounts to gravel size.

 

[Eric_Phillips]

If you go the landscape route be sure to get one big enough to cover your wheels when turned at an angle. If you are trying to windrow the gravel you don't want to be pulling the rake perpendicular to the tractor you want it turned to one side so the gravel can spill out one side. Also some people have removed every other tine.

 

[jimmysisson]

I know this is a tractor forum, and every solution requires (!) a tractor to perform it, but I'm going to go with the hand method here. The more you run your tractor over your land the more compacted it gets. That's not the greatest for grass or most any crop.
Hand labor is indicated here, then maybe a roller behind a garden tractor. I don't know how rocks migrate to the surface in a non-frost climate, but we're used to going over the area you mentioned by hand every year. That's just for tilled or garden land; on grassland, probably never again.
Jim

 

[techwrtr2]

Reading some of these posts I don't think other people have rocks like we have rocks. A couple of hours with a rake? People have been at it for almost 400 years with oxen, horses, tractors and dynamite and we're still not done. To me, a "small" rock is one a tractor will move, a "big" rock is one you can see from space. I'll admit I haven't tried it, but I don't think a roller is going to help with a rock the size of desk.

x2

Soon will be time for my annual rock harvest. I take care of my parent's property which is in the shadow of an old mountain. Lots and lots and lots of mountain stone on their ground and every year, I ride around with tractor and a crowbar etc to try find and remove as many as I can. And inevitably, I miss some which is why I still haven't installed the new blades on their mower deck.