Power tool for removing stones from lawn?

[RickO]

Also, forgot to mention. I drive forward with the blade backwards. This works for up to at least 8" of snow and maybe more depending on the weight of your tractor.

 

[horsepowered]

Thank you to all who have posted replies to my request. I really appreciate the knowledge and thoughtfulness of those that take their time to respond here. Rick I have skid shoes for my blade which helps considerably. I have terrible drifting and because of such I have to keep the accumulation along the sides down. To do this on the upwind side I keep the blade away from the lane and only in the grass and create a snow fence of sorts from the snow piles. On the downwind side I angle the blade which creates a huge mound of snow along the lane. I keep this mound only on the edge and try to limit what goes into the grass area.I then later will use the loader and remove this mound to keep my lane from drifting shut. By removing this mound I also am able to remove some of the stones that would fall into the lawn. Inevitably we will get a few snows with blowing that will force me to push more snow farther onto the lawn area than I would like which leaves me a mess to clean up in the spring. I don't want the expense of paving as well as the water problems that I would have with a paved driveway. I was hoping to find a tool with tines like a rake that rotated similar to the 3 point broom sweeper mentioned. I am considering even manufacturing something myself for this task. I operate a machine shop and have the equiptment to create something. I just can't seem to find the time. Thanks again to all who have replied here! Jim

 

[RickO]

OK, then here is what you need
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

from plowsite.com...
Ok well I just bought a front mount 50" kubota snow blower for my kubota B7500. So my 3pt model has to go.

51" 3pt New Meter snowblower

I believe its 3 years old. Got it off ebay from a guy that bought it, only to get divoriced and his wife got the tractor. So he never got to use it. Paint was still on the skid plates.

I used it the last two years, has maybe 35 hours on it max. I build some brackets for it to mount a shovel across the top of it. And I put a new shear bolt drive shaft on it. That was twice as heavy duty as the old one. (missing half of the old shaft when I got it) That was close to $275 for the shaft alone. The paint has faded a little from being stored out side. Everything works great on it. Here are some pics of it in action and when I first got it.

First $1000 cash gets to take it home. New they are about $2000.
Pm me or email me at itsgottobegreen@hotmail.com for pics.

 

[daTeacha]

I plow with an angled back blade facing forward most of the time. Inevitably, some snow/gravel gets around the blade on the leading edge, and a lot goes out the trailing edge. My driveway is gravel on a hill in the woods on an east facing slope, so the impact of sun on those few sunny days is minimal. I need the gravel mixed in on the surface to make sure everyone can get up the hill.

At some point in the winter around here, the snow level drops pretty drastically. If things are still frozen, I take the opportunity to offset the blade and simply plow the gravel back into the path. My "lawn" would cause the ladies at BH&G to faint, so I don't get too concerned about keeping a nice manicured edge. It grows back in the spring anyways.

 

[PineRidge]

We have always used a landscape rake turned backward for gravel removal. The 650' gravel drive always gets some of the top coat pushed into the yard during snow removal. I have also found out to let the ground firm up some in early spring before attempting to use the landscape rake and of course if you are lucky enough to have a set of wheels on your rake it's better still.

 

[daTeacha]

Hey Pineridge, I like your vanity plate. Did you update it to a bicentennial version in '03? You may not want to answer that, consider it rhetorical. The guys on a VW site I visit characteristically block their plate numbers when posting pics of their cars -- paranoid about theft and such, I guess.

 

[MichMan]

My Deere dealer has a 3pt 4' brush. It's about 4'wx2'd and about 18" tall. It is full of stiff, vertical nylon line, like really thick trimmer string. Each line is 36" long and looped thru a couple holes in the top attachment plate, and somehow they are attached so as not to pop out. I haven't seen it in action, but the salesman showed me an area they used it on, and it looked pretty good. You gently lower the unit and drive forward, and the nylon lines comb the grass, pulling the gravel out and onto the drive. This was last spring. The unit is $1,000, but seems like you could fab one up in your shop for a fraction of that. Just need a source for the nylon line. Let me know if you are interested, I can see if they still have it, and maybe get some pics, or the manufacturers name and website if they have one. I think I'll do that anyway and post the info here. I'm sure lots of you would take a shot at throwing one together, and maybe selling one to me.....Serge.

 

[ToadHill]

It depends on the size of the gravel. if it is pea gravel size you can get an old lawn sweeper at a yard sale. I use one on light gravel, but it won't work very well on larger rocks. For that I use the grandchildren, a rake and a payment plan.

 

[horsepowered]

MichMan The brush you mentioned seems to be the closest thing to what I had in mind. My initial thought was a rotary rake with replaceable tines like lawn rake. I have seen some of the sweepers , but they were only about 12" in diameter and I thought that would make the bristles too stiff and thought it would tear the grass out along with the removing the stones. With the diameter being a little larger I think it would do less damage to the grass but still push the stones forward. I think it would also need to have the ability to angle so as to push the stones out of its way and into a windrow. If the cost of the sweeper you mentioned is only $1000.00 I don't think that it could be made on a small quantity production level any cheaper than that ( pehaps I could be proven wrong though ). I am always up for making something that hasn't been done yet or that is better than whats out there already, but I have always found that when you try to manufacture something that is being sold on an international level it will cost you more to make and is not worth it. I am thinking I will try the broom that you mentioned though. If you could post more info on it, I would very much appriciate it. Thank You and thanks again to all who have posted here. Jim

 

[kevincook]

horsepowered,

Try one of the hand held power sweepers. You can rent them from the rental yards and they work well. I have used the paddle type and it is very quick. The local landscapers all say that the paddle type works much better than the broom type.

sweeper

Good Luck,
Kevin