rocky field

jmohr · Sep 23, 2011

My family has been farming reclaimed coal mine land for about 12 years. My landlord wants me to add another 12 acres. This field is very rocky. The rocks range from 4" to 12" and a few that are buried and are up to 4'. Any cheap ideas on how to get the smaller rocks other than picking them up by hand and puting them in a dump wagon? I do have 5 23year olds that will help me. Should we just get after it all day and celebrate in the evening with some cold malted barley?

retired farmer · Sep 23, 2011

I used to make my ex ride in the loader bucket while I plowed in the fall and would stop at every rock and have her pick it up and put it in the bucket. When it was full I would take it to a pile at the edge of the field. Pulled out about two hundred ton of rock out of a thirty two acre field over a ten year period. Maybe that is why she left me.

Michael Soldan · Sep 23, 2011

Our family used to do that,wives,kids,grampa at the wheel,grama in the house cooking up a big meal,pick all afternoon,then we'd go in for some cold beer,the kids would play for a while and then we'd sit down for a big meal..its hard darned work.Around here now people just rent a rock picker and drive around the field putting the rocks into windrows and then pick them all up and dump via machine..if machinery like that can be rented or you can hire someone it may be the easiest,cheapest and fastest way,I would do that ahead of handpicking. We had pitchforks with extra tines welded in to pick rocks,but we found carrying a bucket worked best,saved you walking to and from the wagon a few times...good luck

Ken-Pa · Sep 23, 2011

Oh the memories of rock & small stone picking . My Dad called the small ones - dornics . He had eyes of a hawk when it came to dornics . If I couldn"t find it to pick it up , he"d get off the tractor , pick it up & bounce it off my head . Then after the stars & extreme pain subsided , he"d say do you see that dornic now . When he passed away , that old stone pile still showed at the lower end of the field . Then whenever I did my own gardens , unless the rocks were big rocks , I left them lay . They help with irrigation is what I was told . Now the large of no value boulders in the whitehouse should definitely be hauled away & disposed of .God bless America

John730D · Sep 24, 2011

Get the landlord out to help you or have hime pay for it. Might just change his mind.

jmohr · Sep 24, 2011

I forgot to mention, two of the 23 year olds are her sons and the others are their hunting buddies. Also very cheap cash rent for a few years.

showcrop · Sep 24, 2011

The tool that looks the best to me goes on in place of your bucket, and some probably bolt in. They have heavy reinforced tines that go into the ground to lift them out. Then you tilt back and they roll over a higher part that holds them in while you continue to pick others. They appear to be popular in glacial till New England.

Ken Macfarlane · Sep 24, 2011

We pick the hayfields every year as has been done here since they were cleared in the 1780's.

I usually get about 30 tons or so per year before I give up. The 1.5 acre field I'm working on right now is on a hill bounded by a rock pile on the long downhill side. I dug down into the pile, its 4-8 ft deep the whole length, 1000 ft long, and 30+ ft wide.

I think I need a crusher!

Mark-Ia · Sep 24, 2011

There are machines for that.Google "Rock Picker"

rocky field

jmohr

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retired farmer

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Michael Soldan

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Ken-Pa

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John730D

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jmohr

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showcrop

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Ken Macfarlane

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Mark-Ia

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