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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

Advice on digging up rocks

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cjminwi

10-02-2005 19:52:41




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I have finished mowing the pasture and now want to remove the various rocks that I uncovered. I have a Farmall 504 with a loader but need a way to "pop" the rocks out of the sandy soil. Was thinking of getting a King Kutter subsoiler. Any thoughts on if it will get the job done or any other suggestions?? Thanks.




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wayne2

10-03-2005 20:27:15




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
Weren't these guys great, know pick a method involving ease on back-ease on pocket book and hope weather dosn't turn on ya. Luck Wayne



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Bill(Wis)

10-03-2005 17:12:54




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
You should be able to dig enough dirt from around each rock with the loader to loosen it. Sandy soil should be easy to dig. Once you get the rock loose you have the option to get it on the loader or wrap a log chain around it and pull it out using the drawbar. I trust it goes without saying to use your loader joystick very gently and have the rear of the tractor weighted down. When I carry really heavy rocks on the loader I keep the loader about 3 inches off the ground while transporting. I just dump the rocks in an old river bed or a nearby swamp whichever is closer. (half of the state of Wisconsin is swampland so they're easy to find). Intentionally hooking rocks out is another story. I've found that a Brillion 3 pt subsoiler is the perfect tool. Un breakable. I've never even sheared a pin on it and I've hooked up hundreds of rocks from the size of a football to several feet in diameter.

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Mike Van

10-03-2005 14:35:55




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
cj, one last thought - You could make or have made a 3 ph "ripper" like you see on the big dozers, just one long [2'] shank, some sort of point or tip on it, just enough to hook a rock and get it above grade. The less mess the better, if you are mowing these fields. If you should plow, you will probably find more rocks, and more rocks,,,,, ,,,



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JMS/MN

10-03-2005 08:48:34




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
I've never seen any King Kutter product that was built tough enough for its intended job, much less pulling rocks out. Do a search for Naber Rock Fork for a design idea. Farm Show mag has had similar ideas- basically a two-prong fork on a tph, operates ion reverse gear to push them up and out. Disturbs little soil- if you have a remote valve available you can add a grapple on top for transporting the rock. Backhoe also disturbs a minimum of soil, and if too large to move, just bury them deeper. Skidloader and grapple on a tine fork works well.

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MN Bob

10-03-2005 08:32:52




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
Have been digging them out forever or seems like it. I hired a trackhoe to take the big ones out. Since then I bought a Skidsteer, (Bobcat) and a Rock bucket. Digs them out real good. Add a grappler and you can often "pick" them out without digging a big hole if not to large. May pay to find a contractor with a rig to come and get them without tearing up the field more than needed.



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wayne2

10-03-2005 05:50:22




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
Look at all this good stuff coming thru. Know that the sun is coming up and coffee is down these guys are GREAT!! keep it up. Wayne



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Dick2

10-03-2005 04:10:56




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
Depends on the size of the rocks. We had a bulldozer on our HD7, but that always gouged out a big hole. Used a motor grader with the blade angled; just put the front end of the blade against the rock and drove it down a bit, then raised that end of the blade to roll the rock out of the ground, leaving a hole only the size of the rock to fill with dirt.



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Rod in Smiths Falls, ON,

10-03-2005 04:01:55




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
A manure bucket on a light front end loader is not a bulldozer. It cost mine a tooth before I realized that picking up a hundred pound stone is a lot different than digging one out of the ground.



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coup

10-03-2005 03:51:22




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
a lot depends on size and numbers,, i generally try and get the most obtrussive ones maybe working a half day after each mowing. smaller ones working out with hand and bar or chain around them. i have a chain with a large ring and it grips down on them. a chain hook on your drawbar and bucket so you can fasten chain without all the hassle of winding it around.... certain kinds of rock can be busted easy,sometimes just busting (napping hammer) the part above ground.

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Mike Van

10-03-2005 02:39:23




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
Small rocks or big ones? You can get some with the bucket, some with a chain if it has an edge to grab on to, use a 6' crow bar to pry them up above grade. If there's a lot of large ones, hire a backhoe to roll them up on top of the ground. You will have to fill all the holes after. Many are like icebergs, the biggest part is below the ground.



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37 chief

10-02-2005 21:51:52




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
My dad had what he called a chisel. It was about 8 ft wide and had two rows of very heavy spring type shanks that were about 1 in square. I can't ever remember it being used. If you had something like that I think it would pull the rocks out of the ground as long as they weren't too big. Stan



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wayne2

10-02-2005 21:35:04




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
CJM,lots of good input-no real solid answer short of having lots of kids. lets keep listening!! Wayne



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dhermesc

10-03-2005 07:07:46




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to wayne2, 10-02-2005 21:35:04  
Lots of kids was my dad's solution. When we first started using field cultivators they seemed to pull up rocks that had been buried since the ice age. Add a 6' wrecking bar to pry out the difficult ones and your kids have hours of fun. We still have a massive pile of field stone on the old home place.



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Davis In SC

10-02-2005 21:18:15




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
Rocks are a never-ending problem. the Freeze/Thaw cycle brings them to the top. I remember as a kid, after plowing, we would all go pick up rocks & carry then to a spot in the center of the field, it was knee high, about 20 ft in diameter, a few scraggly trees growing in it. For some reason, it was called the "Rockpile" In a book by Eric Sloane, there was mention of an ad in Colonial times, for some property for sale, it was guaranteed to grow a fine crop of rocks...

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NC Wayne

10-02-2005 20:54:34




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
No matter what you do you'll never get them all. I don't know how they do it but rocks are more profilic breaders than rabbits. If you've got 10,000 rocks today and get rid of them, another 20,000 will come back to see where their buddies went....Seriously they make buckets that are designed specifically to pick up rocks in loose soil that are pretty much a mesh of heavy bars that keeps the rocks in while the dirt can get back out. The problem with them though is they are made for looser soil and it sounds like your wanting to remove them from a field of hard dirt. If your wanting to get them out without loosening up the surface the only way I know of is to go around and prying them out and pick them one at a time. If anybody on here knows of a better way to get them out of hard soil please let me know also. My yard sounds just like the field this guy is trying to mow, that's why I'm so familiar with the breeding habits of rocks....

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wayne2

10-02-2005 20:26:50




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to cjminwi, 10-02-2005 19:52:41  
Know just my .25 worth subsoiler=1 tooth right! know I ain't done it but spring tooth(weighted). never mind let's get more input, will watch post Thanks Wayne



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MPK

10-03-2005 13:25:19




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to wayne2, 10-02-2005 20:26:50  
I made a rock digger a long time ago and used it as long as i needed to. It fit on the 3 point hitch on the tractor. It was made from 2 plow beams side by side spaced about a foot apart. Then about half way back I had a set of 3 teeth on a shaft that was operated by a hydraulic cylinder. This was used to pick up the rock after it was dug out. I would carry the rock off the field with it. It worked very well. My son in law still uses it. He is on my farm.

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wayne2

10-03-2005 21:11:39




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 Re: Advice on digging up rocks in reply to MPK, 10-03-2005 13:25:19  
I'm trying to visualize the picker. where did cyl.hook to Wish I had a picture. Wayne



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