Time to move a couple small stones...

[Defective]

newlife,
I'm trying to split some very similar rocks here in NH. How long does the process take?

That'll depend on a few things:

1) Actual size of the rock
2) Final size of the pieces
3) Type of stone
4) Operator experience

I broke up a 10 ton rock when I built a shop on my Huntsville place a bunch of years ago. It took me 12 hours to make it small enough to drag off with my trusty 8N. I broke this rock into 5 pieces. This was my first major rock busting project.

I broke up a rock somewhat smaller when I rebuilt the driveway. Differences here: I made 6" thick slabs out of this one to pave my walkway with. I made 20 slabs from this rock & hauled them by hand with a big cart. This rock got 4 times as many breaks done & they were much more carefully planned. This rock took me about 6 hours.

I think the biggest differences between these two projects were the fact that the second rock lent itself better to layering AND the large number of rocks I broke up in between.

 

[john_bud]

Dougster,

A stone boat is not what you pictured. It is a sled used to drag boulders around. Small rocks can use an old car hood. Large ones like you have may need a purpose built one. Scrap 3/4" plate steel, leading edge bent up, hooks welded onto the sides or keyholes for chains. Use a 20ton bottle jack to jack up the rock, slide the boat under it a ways. Use your hat holder to figure out how get leverage and walk the rock the rest of the way onto the boat. Extra steel to spread the load and lever up with a Johnson bar is one way. You just need to be able to work it up an inch to get the steel under it. Your tractor should be able to pull it down hill. Will need to fill the FEL bucket with rock and hook a chain to the drawbar.

Article that talks about using a stone boat. SMaller rocks, but the principle is the same.
Stone Work

Simple stone boat

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/21/2885/1024/stone boat.jpg Simple stone boat


When you calculated the weight of the rocks, how many cubic feet did you get? You did measure them, right? And used 160# per cu ft?


More links
Cheap Alternative Method for Moving Large Round Bales

Handy Farm Devices - Cobleigh - chapter 7

 

[hitekcountry]

Jack up one rock at a time using a 20 ton jack and cribbing. When it’s up high enough slide a couple of skids under the rock, let the rock down on the skids. Put down a thin bed of pea gravel. Pull the skid and rock to where you want it. Jack up the rock and remove the skid. Let the rock down. Repeat.

Cost for materials is a one time cost. If you use this process over and over the only cost becomes labor.

 

[3RRL]

If there is any slope at all, I don't know if I'd pull a big rock like that downhill. If it gets away from you and starts rolling at you, you're history. You're not going to out run or out maneuver a rolling rock on a tractor.

The bottle jack is a good idea to get it propped up and moving though. Then push and roll it or do over again. Use a flat thick steel plate to jack against so you don't bury the jack 8" into the ground.

 

[GuglioLS]

Is it possible to get a chain wrapped around them? Then use a chain binder to tighten the chain around them, Then hook up as many 4WD vehicles needed to drag them out into the clear? Is there room to do that?

Larry

 

[Dougster]

Dougster, A stone boat is not what you pictured. It is a sled used to drag boulders around. Small rocks can use an old car hood. Large ones like you have may need a purpose built one. Scrap 3/4" plate steel, leading edge bent up, hooks welded onto the sides or keyholes for chains. Use a 20ton bottle jack to jack up the rock, slide the boat under it a ways. Use your hat holder to figure out how get leverage and walk the rock the rest of the way onto the boat. Extra steel to spread the load and lever up with a Johnson bar is one way. You just need to be able to work it up an inch to get the steel under it. Your tractor should be able to pull it down hill. Will need to fill the FEL bucket with rock and hook a chain to the drawbar. Article that talks about using a stone boat. SMaller rocks, but the principle is the same.
Stone Work
Simple stone boat
http://photos1.blogger.com/img/21/2885/1024/stone boat.jpg Simple stone boat
When you calculated the weight of the rocks, how many cubic feet did you get? You did measure them, right? And used 160# per cu ft?
More links
Cheap Alternative Method for Moving Large Round Bales
Handy Farm Devices - Cobleigh - chapter 7

Hi JB - I was just making a joke because that's the first thing that popped up in a Google search on "stone boat"! I knew exactly what you were talking about... and found plenty of good references further on down the list. The problem, of course, would have been how to get the SB under those massive rocks in the first place... and the SB would have had to have been fabricated out of steel because any sort of wood SB would have been crushed in a New York second. Must admit that I didn't think about using a very high capacity bottle jack. The problem, of course, would be how and where to grip the rock such that jacking was possible... heavy chains and more fabricated steel perhaps??? ...and what to do if the rocks turned out to have much deeper, rounder undersides than assumed.

These two boulders are huge. The picture does not to do them justice. I used 168 lbs per cubic foot in my calculations... but the volume was estimated. The smaller boulder appears flatter and might be movable with a metal SB and other measures folks have discussed here in this thread... but the big one is round, nasty and could be even deeper than I have assumed. But it does me no good to move one and not the other. Whatever equipment and/or method it takes to move the big boulder... that's what I will use on both boulders.

Dougster

 

[Dougster]

Is it possible to get a chain wrapped around them? Then use a chain binder to tighten the chain around them, Then hook up as many 4WD vehicles needed to drag them out into the clear? Is there room to do that?
Larry

Interesting idea Larry... maybe use a couple of heavy, weighted pickups in low-range 4WD pulling PLUS the red beast pushing all at once. It might actually be possible. Big cost in chain probably... but it might actually be possible.

Dougster

 

[Dougster]

If there is any slope at all, I don't know if I'd pull a big rock like that downhill. If it gets away from you and starts rolling at you, you're history. You're not going to out run or out maneuver a rolling rock on a tractor. The bottle jack is a good idea to get it propped up and moving though. Then push and roll it or do over again. Use a flat thick steel plate to jack against so you don't bury the jack 8" into the ground.

All good points. For better or worse, no need to worry about slope. Where these rocks are and where they're being moved to is all quite flat.

Dougster

 

[Dougster]

Jack up one rock at a time using a 20 ton jack and cribbing. When it’s up high enough slide a couple of skids under the rock, let the rock down on the skids. Put down a thin bed of pea gravel. Pull the skid and rock to where you want it. Jack up the rock and remove the skid. Let the rock down. Repeat. Cost for materials is a one time cost. If you use this process over and over the only cost becomes labor.

I guess that's the big question, isn't it? Is this really going to become a routine thing in every third or fourth job??? Lately, it almost seems like it might... although some jobs involve surface stones to be moved while others involve solid granite ledge that must be drilled out or otherwise somehow shaved down. Kind of a funny "Catch-22" situation here: Folks always talk about digging a big hole and pushing large rocks into them... never to be seen again. Yet most of these monster rocks do not live alone! Digging down just seems to yield... MORE ROCKS!!! So much for the dig and bury idea! It doesn't seem to apply in granite country.

Dougster

 

[hazmat]

I think I'd go the stone boat method.

Perhaps you can excavate slightly (< 1 foot) below the rocks to make them easier to tip onto the stone boat. Then push with tractor. or pull with chain.

Something like this