Sifting through dirt

[countrybumpkin]

No one said it was a clean job. You can make a cheap shaker screen , just google home built shaker screens, lots of pics and videos. Another thing you could try is lining the grapple with pieces of hog panel or similar materials, just use a heavy wire or rope to tie them to the grapple, this would allow for catching the smaller pieces.

 

[BukitCase]

CB, thanks for that suggestion; once I finish my home-built QA system for the ol' 580B I have a heavy grapple that'll be part of the "arsenal" - also have a possible source for used screens from a friend's quarry, AND an occasional need for a way to screen similar stuff :thumbsup: ... Steve

 

[jeff9366]

I have 5 piles probably 6' deep 20' long and 8' high. Lots of wood in them but way too much dirt to burn.

Consider bucket clamp-on Ultraforks, also known as Manure Forks. Tines are round, should shed dry dirt. Tines unscrew so you determine spacing, within limits. Five inch spacing between tines with thirteen tines. Consider 24" length for your sieving task.

LINK: Multi-Spear Ultra Fork

 

[PA hayseed]

Year's ago when my dad built his house on limited funds he made sifting boxes out of chicken wire and 2x4's on some wooden stands. He would use my grandfather's old David Bradley walk behind tiller to break up the clumps and then use my uncle's Case 646 which was a garden tractor with a loader to scoop and dump the material through the boxes. My grandfather also had a couple of Economy garden tractors with Cat0 lifts on them with some old-school pull implements to regrade the freshly sifted dirt. It took some time and family help but it did great and got all the stones and big debris out of the dirt.

I did the same thing when I moved my house and had a lot of STONES with some dirt in it. I would advise against solely using chicken wire. I built mine with some 4x4's, 2x4'x, some galvanized fencing (2x2 or 2x4) and then chicken wire over top of it. I left one side open on the bottom. I would til up the dirt with my 3pt tiller, turn around and scoop up some in my bucket, then dump it slowly over my screen. I would repeat this process until the screen got too full of debris, then I would remove and keep doing it until the dirt hit the bottom of the screen. Then I would scoop and place where needed. Make sure you build your screen wider than your bucket, don't ask, trust me, at least 1' wider but you should go about 2' more. I would make the screen at least 4' deep. DUMP slowly. Only do this when dry, the wet stuff won't separate.

It speeds things up if 1) you have helping hands clearing the screen and 2) you have a tub, bucket, box pallet near the screen to put in the debris, and 3) if you turn the piles of dirt over a day or two ahead of time to kill off weeds and help dry the soil. (big weeds clog your screen).