rock removal ideas?

[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