Picking up lots of big-ish rocks

[bdhsfz6]

How stable are those? The area where I'm doing the rock work is, unsurprisingly, rocky and not particularly flat.

A mini ex is a track machine and more stable than a CUT. This is especially true when carrying a load in the bucket.

 

[JasperFrank]

Use old tire, link chains or cable chains to wrap and drag the rocks.

 

[Smokeydog]

Wife likes her big rocks, and have many rock structures on the farm. Backhoe thumb was a godsend. Came with the used B26.
Later got a backhoe with thumb for the M59. Though similar didn’t have the dexterity feel of the smaller tractor needed for delicate rock stacking. Maybe my lack of coordination. Modified the foot pedal rest and added a hand control lever option. Improved my ability to precisely operate the thumb better.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Id use forks on the loader.

I've used my pallet forks for hundreds of rocks, big and small, just that way, slide them together and go to work.

Adding a matching grapple just makes them even better!

SR

 

[MH8675309]

I had a mechanical thumb on my BH92 hoe and converted it to hydraulic. I found it only slightly more useful for moving rock and regretted spending the money.

This of course depends on what type of job you're doing and I'm sure others will disagree. In my case, I was piling +-200# rocks to make a wall. Picking up the rock is one thing but then you have to transport and get it into place. After wasting a couple of days climbing on and off the tractor & backhoe, I decided to do what the pro's do and rented a mini ex. The reach and lift ability are far superior to a CUT backhoe and the whole operation can be done from the same seat. I did the whole wall in less than a day with the mini ex. It would have taken a week with the hoe.

Unless you have other jobs that require a hyd. thumb, I'd spend the money on a rental instead.

" I decided to do what the pro's do and rented a mini ex. The reach and lift ability are far superior to a CUT backhoe and the whole operation can be done from the same seat. " There you have it folks - living proof that a man can love a machine. Ive used one of these for picking up rocks and they are simply the tool for the job. Be careful if the machine is inclined forward (toward the rock)about how large of a rock you lift. change angle if possible

 

[dodge man]

I agree with the forks. I know on mine I can narrow them up to pick something like a rock up.

 

[Stonehaller]

I found that transporting rocks with a backhoe and thumb can be difficult unless the rock is small enough that you can curl the buck under the rock to support the rock. The problem with trying to pinch the rock between the thumb and bucket is that you need to keep pressure on it while transporting. Much easier to use pallet forks to transport the rock and then use the backhoe for fine positioning of the rock in it's final resting place.

 

[Jchonline]

Your issue is going to be placement...not really getting them out in my opinion. Getting them out you could use pallet forks, a bucket, maybe even something to push them into a spot. However placing them is going to require more precision.


If you can get them out of the way with what you have you could rent an excavator with a hyd thumb to place them. It would be much faster.

 

[Captain Dirty]

I am in the pallet fork camp (with good company). The FEL has a greater lift capacity than the BH (especially at extension), and one can get the load very close to the pins (where the FEL is rated) as opposed to the lip of a bucket. If the rock is too heavy to lift, one may be able to skid it along on the forks.

In placing rocks I have used wooden blocks and a jack to inch the boulder off the forks when I was afraid that tilting the forks would likely cause the rock to overshoot the intended placement once the rock overcame friction and started sliding. Jacking is slow and cumbersome but not as bad as having to go to the other side of the wall, pick up the stone and try again.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Moved several dozen larger rocks yesterday. Mostly tops showing up to 12" or so above the ground.
I dug them all up to get them in a position that I can move them later with the mechanical thumb.
I adjust the mechanical thumb to the widest setting and go back and move all the rocks that size. Then adjust to the next tighter setting and go move the rocks that fit that setting. Then go back on the tightest setting and pick the rest of the rocks.

Then I hand pick all the small rocks into the loader and place them in a pile for rock cribs for my fences.
This was in an area that is about 75' x 100', preparing for a new chicken run.

The three largest rocks I could not lift with the back hoe, so I partially lift them with the loader bucket to push them to a fence line about 200' away.