Rock Removal?

[rmarut]

I've been searching the web high and low, but can't find a attachment to either a skidsteer or tractor that has an attachment that can remove rocks from a field easily. Can someone help me?

 

[CADplans]

Rent a small excavator,, with a thumb,, and set the rocks in your trailer,,

 

[rmarut]

their about soft ball to football sized rocks! Dont need a thumb for that!

 

[Brazos by Nemo]

Rock bucket?

 

[jcummins]

Google rock picker, various designs and brands

 

[LindenBruce]

Like a landscape rake? B.

 

[Rara Avis]

How big a field?
If it is acres then you want one of these...
Degelman(R) Rock Removal - Kelly Tractor Co.

Small areas...you could use rock forks...
HLA Attachments - Stone Fork - Rock Bucket (Retainer Style Tine) - HEAVY DUTY

 

[Sawyer Rob]

ALO makes a bucket/rock forks that works pretty good...

SR

 

[Z-Michigan]

I've been searching the web high and low, but can't find a attachment to either a skidsteer or tractor that has an attachment that can remove rocks from a field easily. Can someone help me?

their about soft ball to football sized rocks! Dont need a thumb for that!

We had this issue at our first farm. I really wanted a rock bucket, but didn't get one and I doubt it would have done what I wanted.

Your best bet is large quantities of cheap human labor. Kids, grandkids, hired help or whatever. That's the only way to get it done without ripping up lots of ground.

If the rocks are simply lying on the ground, loose and out of the soil, a landscape rake would be worth a try.

If the rocks are buried and half-buried, which is the typical rocky farm field, then the brute force approach would be to plow the entire field with something like a chisel plow or scarifier to loosen the rocks and bring them up, then go through with a mechanical rockpicker, a rock bucket (slow), or a landscape rake (inconsistent). This will require several passes using a lot of fuel and totally disrupt any existing vegetation. The result would be sort of like a plowed field, but probably rougher. If you want a plowed field anyway and can spend the money on the equipment then this would be fine, you just follow with a disc and a harrow and plant your new crop. If you didn't want a plowed rough field, well you have one anyway.

We all want things done quick and easy these days, but if you look at older farm fields that started out rocky, you'll find endless piles of rocks around the edges and middle trees, and most likely it got rock-picked not in one year, not in 5 years, but over many decades of plowing and use.

 

[Zick]

Rockhound will work on most rocks up to about ~8"

RockHound Landscape Rake >> National Attachments Inc.

 

[BlacknTan]

You want to remove rocks??

I recently bought a Heavy Hitch with the subsoiler attachment. I was absolutely amazed at the ease with which this implement rolls pretty big goonies out of the ground, and without any digging or manual labor whatsoever. Worth it's weight in gold to me!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

For rocks like that, I push my pallet forks together, shove them under the rock, close the grapple on the rock and back up. It pulls the rock right out of the ground, and I can drive away with it.

It works perfectly!

SR

 

[PILOON]

I made a HD 'tooth' that I clamp onto my FEL bucket.
Used an old axle shaft that was about 1 inch in diameter and 16" long.
Since it was tossed together in about 1/2 hr or so it is not pretty but sure does the trick.
I drive it in and under the rock and tilt my bucket with the heel resting on the ground.
I have 'popped' up to 2ft rocks that are mostly buried with relative ease.\
That big 'tooth' is also great for smallish saplings, cedars and firs.
Usually the saplings come out clean without clumps of soil.

Since I am driving a single tooth penetration is good and relatively easy.

 

[CADplans]

I made a HD 'tooth' that I clamp onto my FEL bucket.

Since I am driving a single tooth penetration is good and relatively easy.

Any pictures??

 

[oosik]

I "worked" on a two acre meadow on my property. Bottom plow, then disk harrow, then landscape rake, finally home-made drag. It looked pretty good when I was finished. Over the winter something happened - my pretty field had a brand new crop of rocks. The winter snows & rains exposed an entire field of new rocks.

I give up - its only me out here and I've learned to live with my little hard pasture friends. The neighboring homestead(1895) had 5 or 6 sons and MILES of stone fences. They also had at least two horse/mule drawn rock sleds.

I even looked at one of those mechanical rock picking machines. Besides being too expensive - they basically only "pick" rocks on the surface.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I made a HD 'tooth' that I clamp onto my FEL bucket.
Used an old axle shaft that was about 1 inch in diameter and 16" long.
Since it was tossed together in about 1/2 hr or so it is not pretty but sure does the trick.
I drive it in and under the rock and tilt my bucket with the heel resting on the ground.
I have 'popped' up to 2ft rocks that are mostly buried with relative ease.\
That big 'tooth' is also great for smallish saplings, cedars and firs.
Usually the saplings come out clean without clumps of soil.

Since I am driving a single tooth penetration is good and relatively easy.

Why wouldn't a single pallet fork do the same thing??

On MY tractor, I do that with both of them on, pushed together.

SR

 

[cabover4us]

I read that second to last post and I was belly laughing.....
I've been on here a while and contribute some, but I can't compete to the natural witt on here, very funny and enjoyable not to mention great information.

 

[LouNY]

If you want to pick rocks;
Step #1 mouldboard plow
Step #2 use a spring tooth harrow, multiple times in different directions across your field
Step #3 pick rocks to your hearts content any way you wish, rock picker, rock bucket
Step #4 repeat step #2
Step #5 repeat step #3
and continue as long as you wish,
if you run out of rocks, get a bigger tractor and larger plows to plow just a bit deeper and start all over.

 

[ArlyA]

That's exactly how we hope & plan to pull larger rocks out via sub-soiler. Do wish you'd have shown a "before" photo of that rock.

Thanks for posting this blacknTan

You want to remove rocks??

I recently bought a Heavy Hitch with the subsoiler attachment. I was absolutely amazed at the ease with which this implement rolls pretty big goonies out of the ground, and without any digging or manual labor whatsoever. Worth it's weight in gold to me!
View attachment 518181


View attachment 518182

 

[CobyRupert]

I "worked" on a two acre meadow on my property.... It looked pretty good when I was finished. Over the winter something happened - my pretty field had a brand new crop of rocks. The winter snows & rains exposed an entire field of new rocks.

I was always told that's because you left a few small stones and pebbles behind. If you don't get those, they grow into big rocks by the next season.