Some pics of removing the rock wall. It ran across the center of the field. Most of it was just a mess except for about 50-60 feet that had never been skidded over. I decided to just get rid of all of it. They are a pain to keep the trees from growing next to them where the bush hog can't cut, besides living with a barrier across the middle of the opening.
Having the rock truck made a huge difference. The contractor said without it, we wouldn't have been able to do it the way we did. I could easily see that. It allowed working from all over the field whereas a road truck would get torn up and stuck doing that. He rented it; it's for sale in Madison, ME if anyone needs one.
Loaded rock truck. Interesting factoid: the wagon portion of these trucks are made to tip over. At the articulation joint behind the tractor portion, there is a swivel. We didn't test it thank goodness but it had been on its side sometime or other. The load rides high. There is a safety decal inside saying if the wagon tips, hang on to the steering wheel--do not jump out.
Loading rocks from the wall.
Some of the rocks were trucked here to provide the base for a truck turn-around at the entrance to the field. It was a mostly useless small, low corner area behind a ledge outcropping, so I made something useful out of it.
The next step is about a month of rock picking I would guess. Depends on the weather and my age. :laughing: The contractor loaned me a 10' piece of heavy I-beam with loops welded on each end to hook up a chain or cable. When I get tired of picking, I can drag that around from the tractor's draw bar to do some smoothing.
I want to get the field in the best shape possible before planting anything, so I think it's important to be patient with this next step even if it means delaying planting until spring. It would probably be good for the seed bed if the soil weathered a bit over winter and got smoothed again in spring anyways.