rock removal ideas?

[cowboydoc]

Hi Kerry,
My daughters are 5 and 3 and we have quarter horses. Your daughter can see mine at our website for the ranch at http://www.geocities.com/cowboydoc99/quick.html. If she wants she can email my daughter. Her name is Mesa and her email address is mesasage@machlink.com.

 

[kevincook]

Maybe this only works for me but I am really happy with the results I get. I posted this in another thread a couple weeks ago. Does anyone else have good results with this technique.

1. Rototill the area very thoroughly. The dirt should be pretty "fluffy"

2. let the rain settle the dirt down.

3. All the rocks are now sitting right on top of the dirt and are easy to rake off with a York rake.

It is important that the area be rototilled THOROUGHLY or the rocks won't separate out very well.

I am currently rototilling 1.5 acres to plant more lawn and when I finish I will take some pictures to post.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Gerard, I have had the same question concerning rock removal. From everything I have heard and seen, it appears the BEST method is to use a "Harley Power Rake" made by Glenmac. I have looked at their site and literature and pictures, and they appear to do a Fantistic job of rock removal.

They are very expensive to buy, but you can rent one from many rental center. You will have a hard time renting a 3PH unit, you will probobaly have to rent a skid loader as most rental places have this type for rent.

Hope this helps. Tim

 

[Foozle]

I thought I'd resurrect this thread as I'm new to the forums and have a similar issue to the original poster. Thought maybe there would be some new thinking on the subject.

Has anyone tried a "rock bucket" similar to what is made by Markham Welding (link here Markham Welding The fixed nature of the gaps between the screen doesn't give much flexibility on rock size, but perhaps you can add a finer screen for smaller rocks? Not having tried this, the issue I can see would be that if you didn't have fairly loose soil, the clumping woudn't allow the dirt to pass through.

Other ideas on how to remove rocks?

Thanks,

Dave

 

[MasseyWV]

I have had some success by making multiple passes "dragging" a chain harrow across a freshly tilled surface. It works best if the soil is more on the dry side and slightly compacted.

Like this:

A quick and dirty DIY one can be made by using a bar attached to some old chain link fence that is weighted on the ends. Not as effective but works in a pinch.

 

[mtg65]

Anyone have any tried true methods for picking up the millions of small (golf ball size) and med (orange/grapefruit size) rocks left after leveling a dirt area?

Try a harley rake. It will move smaller, golf sized rocks, into piles which can be picked up with your FEL. I used this implement with good success when I leveled a large portion of my lawn, which had many similar sized rocks.

 

[dirtworksequip]

Rent a Skidsteer with a RockHound attachment. It will work for most of the rock sizes you mentioned. It will also leave the area looking well graded as it breaks up any dirt clumps.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[bigballer]

growing up we always had rocks to pick between cultivating and planting grain, imo it was the worst part of farming but it had to be done or you'd beat the crap out of the planter, we used a hydraulic rock picker similar to the one here: Rock Picker. since buying my own "farm" i don't have a need for an agricultural picker but i have tried using my landscape rake to make piles but imo the most effective way to do it is by hand, picking and throwing into the bucket. i use the rocks for lining ditches or building up berms or foundations for pathways.. seems i can always find uses for them..


this looks interesting, you can even get a tractor in the package.
Turf Rake Contractor Package

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Probably a dumb idea but how does a Golf ball scooper work? I don't golf but I seem to remember them picking up golf balls pretty good.. I know the rocks aren't the same weight and shape but it might help scoop up some that about the same weight and size. Seems like that would work on another guy that complained about acorns in his yard awhile back.

 

[Luremaker]

I have had some success by making multiple passes "dragging" a chain harrow across a freshly tilled surface. It works best if the soil is more on the dry side and slightly compacted.

Like this:

A quick and dirty DIY one can be made by using a bar attached to some old chain link fence that is weighted on the ends. Not as effective but works in a pinch.

I agree with wvtechs and the chain harrow. I drag my chain harrow back and forth through my pastures in the spring and it will pull loose most of the rocks on or near the surface. Then its a matter of getting the kids and a few buckets and pick up the stones. My 17 acre pasture used to take us 2 days to pick up the loose stones but now we are are done after 2 or 3 hours of picking.

We still spend a full weekend picking stones on my other 25 acre pasture. It will be a few years before we start running low on stones.

 

[dixie306]

Rent a Skidsteer with a RockHound attachment. It will work for most of the rock sizes you mentioned. It will also leave the area looking well graded as it breaks up any dirt clumps.

Sincerely, Dirt

these are hard to find to rent in my area but they work great

 

[schmism]

Harley rake

 

[flINTLOCK]

I have had some success with small rock clearing for food plots using the box blade. I adjust hydraulic top link, usually lengthening it, to get scraper blades of box to skim the surface rather than dig in. That has allowed me to gather rocks into piles that I can scoop up with rock bucket or regular bucket. Seems better than taking 5 gal bucket on a walk.

 

[forgeblast]

I will second the rock hound attachment. when i did landscaping we would use those along with a drag and with someone (me) walking around with a bucket. it seems those rocks grow and multipy faster then rabbits.
good luck.

what about excavating the area, dumping the dirt through a screen and returning the dirt?

 

[dangerdoc]

Richard:

I had a similar introduction to humidity. Grew up in Southern California and went to Navy flight school in Pensacola Florida in the summer of '69. I remember thinking, while walking down the jetway off the airplane: "I wonder why they've got the heat blasting in the middle of the summer." It only lasted a second because we were quickly inside the air conditioned terminal. It wasn't until I picked up my luggage and walked out the front of the terminal that I realized what we were in for.

Another humidity story: While in training in Pensacola we had a rifle inspection one day. Dilligently cleaned our rifles in our air conditioned dorm then fell out for inspection. Discoverd a few minutes later when we came to port arms for inspection that the humid air had condensed all over the cold steel of our rifles. Failed the inspection. Learned to pre-warm our rifles - attention to detail..... drop and give me fifty.... Aye Aye Sir!

Just out of curiosity, had they invented Navy Certified Twill when you were there. I would walk out into the sun wearing that awful polyester and withing seconds be soaked from head to toe. I failed every inspection for weeks until one of the senior officers took pity on me and made them stop failing me for sweating. Pensacola was the worst duty I had in my entire eight years in the navy, that includes combat duty with the marines.

 

[dangerdoc]

Anyone have any tried true methods for picking up the millions of small (golf ball size) and med (orange/grapefruit size) rocks left after leveling a dirt area? We just cleared and leveled a 160x 200 area with a dozer prepping for a horse arena and before the sand footing is put down the rocks have to be picked up. I tried windrowing with a york rake with limited success as I didn't want too much down pressure since that would dig into the surface and we want to keep it compacted. Help requested from the omnisicient and benevolent tractor gods!

My father had the best system for removing rocks. He sent us kids out with buckets to pick up rocks.

40 years later, I don't know if there is better system. If you have a gizmo to pick up rocks from bare ground, just remember that they are going to come back every year and you need a way to pick up rocks from grass.

Rocks will work up from the soil from the depth of your frost line. In our area, that means about 3 feet down. That means your machinge would need to pull up rocks from way down to prevent the annual chore.

The good news is once the grass is firmly established, the migration will slow down which means on one hand fewer rocks to pick up, on the other hand, a mechanical system will be less efficient.

Good luck.

BTW, guess what the kids and I are doing this weekend.

 

[PA hayseed]

I will second the rock hound attachment.
what about excavating the area, dumping the dirt through a screen and returning the dirt?

Thats what I do, I have some galvanized fencing (double layered) on some 4x4 PT posts, I dump it through my screen, pick it up with the loader, then dump and spread it where I need it. I has to be very dry to work. My setup cost me about 45.00 to make. Now, if I had a motorized topsoil screeer, that would be sweet.

There was a thread on this site where someone made their own. I'm too lazy, and too cheap. Besides, we don't have much topsoil here. You have to make your own for the most part. I bought a ton of topsoil off a guy that was "prescreened", maybe the screened it for boulders, but not for rocks or clay.

 

[forgeblast]

Besides, we don't have much topsoil here. thats the truth. Its rocks, roots, and more rock. there is a reason why PA has so many rock walls.
My neighbor was going to put in a deer plot, well he disked it and it was a 20 x 80' plot, we had enough rock to repair part of an old wall around his barn.

 

[Luremaker]

Besides, we don't have much topsoil here. thats the truth. Its rocks, roots, and more rock. there is a reason why PA has so many rock walls.
My neighbor was going to put in a deer plot, well he disked it and it was a 20 x 80' plot, we had enough rock to repair part of an old wall around his barn.

I thought only Grey County had more rock than topsoil in our fields and pastures.

 

[Bill Hoffman]

Ya want rocks? Come to eastern Ct. Rocks are a cash crop, and you don't need to seed or fertilize, they just keep coming up year after year.

To reduce the crop, loosen the top 2-4 inches of soil. Add a york rake with gage wheels. Set the rake at a steep angle side to side but level. Roll the teeth under for an agressive cut 1-3 inches deep. This should roll the rocks off to the side and allow the soil to pass through the tines of the rake. Then use your loader to scoop up the windrows of rocks. Or the never-popular 5 gallon bucket. You will have to repeat this process several times.

Good luck,

Bill