Rock buckets

[jc21]

Anyone run a rockbucket on 2320/ 2520 Deere or Kubota equivalent or are they even capable of handling one? Are there better ways with dealing with rocks? ....... in my neck of the woods they seem to grow better than just about anything else . Hope to have my first compact tractor next year and this info would be helpful.

 

[Artisan]

Not the pro am I but at 2. acres do you really want to spend that cash?

What if you made a crude screed / a sifter , set it in the middle, sift away, haul away rocks and respread clean fill ?

Post pics of the property!

 

[arrow]

Anyone run a rockbucket on 2320/ 2520 Deere or Kubota equivalent or are they even capable of handling one? Are there better ways with dealing with rocks? ....... in my neck of the woods they seem to grow better than just about anything else . Hope to have my first compact tractor next year and this info would be helpful.

Smallest rock bucket I've seen is made by Paladin. They have a 51" bucket that weighs around 270 Lbs. Not sure how you are planning to use this as scooping and grubbing rocks out are two different situations. Vernig makes a bucket that looks strong enough to grub rocks out but their smallest weighs over 500Lbs. If you are going to grub rocks as opposed to scooping, a 3 point attachment such as a middle buster comes in way more handy to pop rocks out. It would be helpful to know how you need to work these rocks.

 

[Ford tractor]

Smallest rock bucket I've seen is made by Paladin. They have a 51" bucket that weighs around 270 Lbs. Not sure how you are planning to use this as scooping and grubbing rocks out are two different situations. Vernig makes a bucket that looks strong enough to grub rocks out but their smallest weighs over 500Lbs. If you are going to grub rocks as opposed to scooping, a 3 point attachment such as a middle buster comes in way more handy to pop rocks out. It would be helpful to know how you need to work these rocks.

^^ he makes a good point. Makes sense to use a combo of a rear implement to run over the land and pop out the pop-able rocks and a bucket to scoop them for relocation. Rock buckets are heavy and you will severely limit the size of rock you can then pick up. Sort of a catch-22 situation!

 

[Jerry/MT]

Anyone run a rockbucket on 2320/ 2520 Deere or Kubota equivalent or are they even capable of handling one? Are there better ways with dealing with rocks? ....... in my neck of the woods they seem to grow better than just about anything else . Hope to have my first compact tractor next year and this info would be helpful.

I live at what was once the bottom of Glacial Lake Missoula and our ranch is loaded with great topsoil that it studded with rock fragments from the size of a Volkswagen on down. These fragments were torn from the Mission mountains by huge glciers during ancient ice ages and were floated out over the lake when these glaciers "calved" and were deposited by melting or by the repeated draining of the lake during the cataclysmic floods that formed the chaneled scablands of Eastern Washington.

The picture below gives you an idea of the medium size rocks we have to deal with. This one is too big for the trackhoe to pick up so a hole was dug that would put the upper surface of this rock three feet below grade and then it was pushed into the hole. Not easily seen in this picture is the the small rock fragments, 10 inches or less. Anything less than about 3-4 inches we don't deal with on the large scale. These small rock fragments are generally hand picked and removed in gardens and flower beds but in the pasteiures 3-4 inch rocks are rolled down after seeding.
We are reclaiming an old pond, ~100 ft in diameter, and if were not covered by 5-6 inches of fresh snow I'd show the rocks we have there. After disking the area three times, I handpicked the 1 foot to 2-1/2 ft rocks and carried them to the ditch with the loader, one of our rock "storage" locations. Next, I used our Ferguson TO-30 and a 5 ft landscape rake (that I reinforced!) and windrowed the rocks. I only broke three tine bolts! (IF I had a rock bucket, this is when I would use it to scoop the windrows to remove the rocks. They are not designed to grub rocks out of the ground.) I will then use the rake to make small piles of thes windrows that I can scoop up with a loader bucket. we will then seed the area, put hot wire fence around it to keep the cows out and have a neighbor roll the remaining rocks down.

Some folks use rock pickers to get these smaller rocks picked but we can't justify the expense of this piece of equipment. We have resisted "farming up " some of our pastures because of these rock issues. We are going to try frost seeding and some other techniques to improve the pastures, taking more time and using less $'s.

I don' have any idea of your rock problems or how you intend to use a rock bucket, Certainly one would be handy on our place but were looking at close to $2000 plus shpg for a 7 footer with 3 inch spacing and it's just not in the budget.I thought about making a "screen to sift rocks out and that might be a possibility but it would probably cost as much as rock bucket just for the steel.

I hope this give you some ideas for how you might deal with your rock problems

 

[Mark Page]

Gotta know, was the excavators thumb able to hold the ROCK while it was put in the truck?

 

[Jerry/MT]

Gotta know, was the excavators thumb able to hold the ROCK while it was put in the truck?

No that's why he's burying it! We had about four of them that had to be buried. Too big to pick up. the cat was able to move some toward the ditch or a fence line.
If you need any rocks for landscaping you can have all you want for frree. Just come get 'em.(Grin)

 

[Ford tractor]

If you need any rocks for landscaping you can have all you want for frree. Just come get 'em.(Grin)

So, free is not the "installed price"?:laughing:

 

[magicheater]

Anyone run a rockbucket on 2320/ 2520 Deere or Kubota equivalent or are they even capable of handling one? Are there better ways with dealing with rocks? ....... in my neck of the woods they seem to grow better than just about anything else . Hope to have my first compact tractor next year and this info would be helpful.

I have one on my B7800 and it does just fine. It is not a sifter but a manipulator/lifting bucket. I checked the specs on the 2320/ 2520 Deere and they are comparable. If you get the right attachment for what you want to do you will be happy. In the end what you can actually do with your attachment should equal what you want to do with it.

 

[Jerry/MT]

So, free is not the "installed price"?:laughing:

Ya' got that right! The rocks are free, shipping and handling are extra.

 

[jenkinsph]

For two acres I would plow the ground up and rake the surface with a landscape rake. Find ap place to dig a ditch and bury the rock piles deep leaving room to put sifted soil back on the surface.

I have a rock bucket and it helps with the larger ones but I don't think you can do much with a 2320. While rock buckets do work I don't consider them to be a "great tool" as compared to some others.

You should consider renting a rock sifting screen from a rental yard.

 

[jc21]

Thanks to all who responded. I think my situation is somewhat similar to yours Jerry- glacial till. We've got a couple that are about the size of the one in your picture. The "hill" on the north side of the property consists of rocks of varying sizes that excavated when the house was built (two years old when we bought it) covered with just enough dirt for a tree to sprout up and grass/weeds to grow. The long term plan is to make lemonade out of the lemons (rocks) I've been given. I've got a bunch of retaining walls to build, especially on the south side of the house which has a walkout basement. I figure there will be plenty more raw material when I get through redoing the back "lawn".

 

[afraservt]

Anyone run a rockbucket on 2320/ 2520 Deere or Kubota equivalent or are they even capable of handling one? Are there better ways with dealing with rocks? ....... in my neck of the woods they seem to grow better than just about anything else . Hope to have my first compact tractor next year and this info would be helpful.

I just bought a bucket from my local dealer. The bucket was an Ai2. I have a Kubota BX25D. I used the backhoe to loosen up every thing, so the dirt can freely fall through. Within 15 minutes the welds started breaking and the bucket was self destructing. Lucky for me there wasn't enough time for the dealer to cash my check, and I put a stop payment on it. Waiting for some answers.

As I look at Redline Systems, Ai2, Orange Attachments, they all look like they are made by the same manufacturer. So I would expect the same problems. I'm waiting for a response about this. So, if the bucket is made like the Ai2 for the BX25D, then hold off. I will offer my Kubota and property for testing.