Subsoiler for Yanking Rocks?

[Suburban Plowboy]

My farm has rocks. They are annoying, especially when I hit them with the lawnmower. Yesterday I dug a suitcase-sized rock mostly loose and then tried to pop it out of the ground with the tractor, but I drove it under a root, so I'm going to have to cut the root and start over.

I have read that subsoilers are good for yanking rocks out of the ground. Good idea? I have a 37-HP tractor.

I have a front end loader, but I keep brush forks on it, and they're a royal pain to remove, so I prefer to leave them in place. I use them every week.

 

[CincyFlyer]

Sub-soilers will pull up rocks. And roots. And buried wires and pipes.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I figured I would leave the wires and pipes in place until I get bored.

 

[Oldoak]

I figured I would leave the wires and pipes in place until I get bored.

As long as you don't choose the main feeder coming in from the electric utility pole. :shocked:

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Scarifiers on a box blade will pop all the rocks and if you set the blade so it just brushes the dirt, it will collect them too. Size of rocks will depend on your tractor. This is most useful if you have a lot of rocks in your soil of various sizes, versus just a few big ones.

 

[Mainahs70]

I figured I would leave the wires and pipes in place until I get bored.

Too funny.

 

[Lelandwelds]

Scarifiers on a box blade will pop all the rocks and if you set the blade so it just brushes the dirt, it will collect them too. Size of rocks will depend on your tractor. This is most useful if you have a lot of rocks in your soil of various sizes, versus just a few big ones.

Really? I have never used one. How heavy a tractor is needed?

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Really? I have never used one. How heavy a tractor is needed?

Well my Max26XL handles rocks up to the size of a chicken (so far). Before I had the Max, used my garden tractor pulling a tiny 36" box blade w/ scarifiers to clear the rocks off a large newly graded area--rocks up to around 8". That's when I figured out the technique as I got really tired of bending over and picking up hundred of rocks by hand. So bigger tractor, bigger rocks I guess.

My clay soil is so rocky, any time you do some grading or digging you expose a gazillion rocks of all sizes. This method removes most of the rocks from the top 5" of soil (and collects them). Takes a few passes. Important to go slow. Sure beats picking them up by hand. Not sure if it will work on sandy soil.

 

[Lelandwelds]

Well my Max26XL handles rocks up to the size of a chicken (so far).

Barred Rocks or Bantams?

I have been using a 6 ft digging bar and a wheel barrow. I get the Bobcat for the ones I can't lift. That machine sure leaves a mark.

My dirt is rocks with silt in between. If I draw a 50 mile circle, I find sand, Blackland Prairie clay, many flavors of limestone, pink granite, green silica, and red dirt with some clay in it. Five different regions meet here.

You should see the aquifer map. Texas.

Everybody has a box blade for a reason I guess.

 

[donaldj]

I'm currently taming some new ground in areas I want to be 'yard'. What's worked for me is using the scarifiers in my box blade at full extension to dig stuff loose, set the box blade just right to gather high spots and fill in low spots (this takes time to learn to do well, especially with the tractor going over these things).

Basically, I am going over the yard in two directions (N-S, then E-W) to dig stuff up then smooth it out.

Once I have this all loosened up, I'm using my landscaping rake at an angle to 'sweep' all the larger rocks in one direction (away from the house). I've found extending the top link out a ways works well here and lets the tines make more of a 'tube' when connected with the ground. Go slowly enough so the rocks move to the rake's side (remember the angle...) rather than try to submarine under the tines. Do this in a few directions as well.

When I hit big rocks, then the FEL and dedicated subsoiler rip them out.

When finished, there is still a fair amount of small rocks that fit through the tines, but no real "that's a problem..." rocks.

 

[sixdogs]

There are different kinds of subsoilers. One is the $150 version that is lighter duty and will handle smaller rocks. The HD one is around $750 and will rip up anything a 125HP tractor can handle. I have used an HD one for years and ripped out rocks that must have weighed 500-800 or more pounds and no problem. The little one will bend with too much force so be careful but the heavier duty one is something every rock farmer should have.

In a post from long ago, as in this one, a guy warned about wires and such. He called the bigger ripper a "Non discriminating utility line locator" and I agree. Electric lines, gas lines are real possible. Phone lines are a given so have a cell phone.

 

[treedawg]

Here's what I use on my compact Yanmar. This little thing is a beast especially for the price. I've opened up several new deer food plots with this little ripper. It's also pretty handy on stumps up to 4-5" after you get the hang of it.

td

Titan Hitch Mounted Ripper

 

[sixdogs]

Here's an internet pic of one that is HD and can handle big rocks. Use with 40ish HP and up. Otherwise, smaller ripper is OK.



Smaller ones will break shear bolts endlessly or bend. Other implements like scarifiers also easily break shear bolts or bend.

 

[treedawg]

Here's an internet pic of one that is HD and can handle big rocks. Use with 40ish HP and up. Otherwise, smaller ripper is OK.

View attachment 566186

Smaller ones will break shear bolts endlessly or bend. Other implements like scarifiers also easily break shear bolts or bend.

I've got a large HD ripper/subsoiler I pull behind my 4x4 68HP Kubota.

I'm working in the woods right now so there's no way to get my cab tractor where I'm going w/o a lot of extra work.

I got the small hitch mounted last week and I've already got about 10 hours on it so far w/o destroying a single shear bolt. It appears to have a slight twist in the shank but maybe that's my imagination. I haven't put a straight edge on it so I can't be 100% positive until then. I'm really impressed with my new ripper especially for the price compared to other rippers I considered.

td

 

[Lelandwelds]

I have used an HD one for years and ripped out rocks that must have weighed 500-800 or more pounds and no problem. The little one will bend with too much force so be careful but the heavier duty one is something every rock farmer should have.

e.

"Rock farmer" would be funny if it wasnt true. I have been trying to consider my 800 lb rocks as "decorative" and leave well enough alone. How heavy a tractor does it take to pop one out with a deep chisel?

 

[dragoneggs]

I'm blessed that I have a backhoe for yanking big rocks but I'm very interested in how well a box blade will pick up rocks. Need to do some youtube hunting I suppose. I'm in China now on business and YouTube is not accessible here. Too bad because I have had tons of hotel time to surf... but the government has the internet here clamped down pretty well.

 

[sixdogs]

"Rock farmer" would be funny if it wasnt true. I have been trying to consider my 800 lb rocks as "decorative" and leave well enough alone. How heavy a tractor does it take to pop one out with a deep chisel?

I mounted my HD single shank ripper--like the one in post in #13--on either of two tractors. The first was a Kubota 43HP L4300 and the second was a Deere 5520 @ 89HP. For the L4300 I could pop out maybe up to 400 lbs depending on how the rock was shaped and how hard the ground was. For the Deere I could easily pull up and out maybe 800 lbs. It wasn't hard on the tractor and I think I could easily have done more with either tractor. I also have a small 7' backhoe and sometimes need that to get an awkward rock out of the hole. With a perfect flat rock I'll bet I could get 800 or so lbs with the L4300 and maybe 2000 lbs with the Deere. It all depends.

You can also rip out stumps after you know what you're doing. I mostly ripped out cedars and either tractor was fine. The Deere would also handle bigger stumps, especially if they had started to rot down a little.

Over the years I tried all sorts of ways to pull rocks and backhoes would be first but are very time consuming. The HD ripper I think is best because you can rip and go and do it in a hurry. Box blade teeth and scarifiers shear too easily and only intended to scuff dirt. When you dig rocks with a ripper, keep the tractor straight. When you don't pull in a straight line is when you bend things. We lived in glacial till New England so I had a lot of practice.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

My experience has been with a sub soil tool that takes the box blade kind of shank.
I sharpened the leading edge of the shank at about a 90% It helped a lot with cutting roots and does not ware or deform easily.

Yes it will loosen rocks pretty well. Ones the size of a basket ball will usually be loose enough to roll out of the hole and remove. However the rock that turned out to be the size of a kitchen table was another matter.
Your experience may vary.

 

[CincyFlyer]

Here's an internet pic of one that is HD and can handle big rocks. Use with 40ish HP and up. Otherwise, smaller ripper is OK.

View attachment 566186

Smaller ones will break shear bolts endlessly or bend. Other implements like scarifiers also easily break shear bolts or bend.

I always move at a crawl, so that the tractor spins the wheels if I hit anything huge.

 

[majorwager]

A rock battle can never be won. There are just too many and the numbers never diminish. One a good day you might break even.

I no longer turn my fields over. When I did, a rock picker kept the battle even, w/ patience and multiple passes. A backhoe is necessary for the enormous culprits. There are some in my fields that were too big to remove, and if I got them out, then what?

I simply dug a 8 ft deep hole right next to them and used the hoe to send them on their way. Subsoil and topsoil back on top RIP.

EDIT:

Suburban plowboy

Would like to see a video of any plow or subsoiler removing a 300 rock and resting totally on the surface. My 10 ft backhoe might struggle w/ this task. Members select a tool, if successful, great, if not, alternatives abound.

Many chiropractic practices offer specials, bundle 5 visit coupons for a reduced rate. A 300 rock is an automatic qualifier.