Help! The rocks are breeding

[Djwalker]

After removing (I thought) all of the rocks from our riding arena last year, the rain has made more rocks surface. I am wondering what would be the most efficient way of collecting them. Last year I did it by hand. This year I'd like an easier way. What is the best way to separate out 1-1/2" to 3" rocks while leaving the dirt and sand behind? A landscape rake? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave

 

[TomG]

There are implements called rock pickers. Here's the text of an ad on @agriculture:

Rock pickers stalk rocky fields

Two new heavy-duty, hydraulically powered rock pickers by Vermeer include a unique bogie wheel design that sweeps up potential equipment-damaging rocks, leaving the soil in the field. Both models feature a hydraulic reel drive with a guided reel to improve rock-picking performance. A vertical apron, plus grated bucket design, help to keep more dirt in the field.

The large 8-inch bogie wheels (with sealed bearings) follow a special track that guides the reel arms parallel to the ground and creates more than a foot of sweeping “lift” action in front of the apron. This helps reduce the “battering” action that's more prevalent in round reel designs, especially when encountering smaller rock diameters.

The RP-78 cleans a 7-foot swath and features a large 3.3 cubic yard bucket capacity that reduces unloading and return times. Its 8-foot dumping height allows it to easily unload into a truck or trailer – or dump rocks onto high rock piles. The RP-6084 has a 5-foot pickup width, a 7-foot dumping height and a bucket capacity of 2.4 cubic yards.

For more information, contact Vermeer Manufacturing Company, P.O. Box 368, Pella, Iowa 50219 (515) 621-7615.

 

[W5FL]

After I have to sell my tractor to buy it, what will I pull the rock picker with? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Seriously, are there any affordable solutions to this problem.

I have tried a landscape rake and it works fair, where the rock density is pretty high. It takes a lot of soil with the rocks, though. I believe there are some power rakes that work better (they have one or two power rollers) but you may still have to sell your tractor to afford to buy one.

I could use a good solution to removing rocks from loose soil that cost less than $2000 but $1000 sounds a lot better.

 

[MChalkley]

Wen, what are the chances you could rent a rock-picker and use it all day and all night for 48 hours straight to get your money's worth?

 

[fgable]

I used a 4' york rake connected to a 3pt hitch to clear my breeding rocks. Good luck

 

[Djwalker]

Has anyone tried a landscape rake with every other tine taken out so you have 1" gaps between teeth? I would think that big rocks or dirt clods would get picked up and little things would go through. I don't have a rake and would like to know if it might work before buying one.

 

[gerard]

DJwalker,
I do that exact thing with a 6ft woods rake to drag an indoor horse arena. With each tooth in it collects too much of the sand when all I really try to do is loosen up the sand. Works better with every other tooth out but you still have to use a light touch or the sand will build up. I'm actually considering going to every thrid tine to see how that works. Re the rock situation have you priced rock picker's that replace your loader bucket? Kind of like a big manure rake, same principle. Don't know what they cost though.....

 

[MChalkley]

The only problem with removing half the teeth is that, if you build up much weight, it starts pushing through the teeth because the spring pressure has been halved, too.

Perhaps while you're researching the problem, you should at least spray the area with a rockicide to keep them from proliferating too quickly. Any of the standard ones will do: Rock-up, Rocka-T, Rock-a-thion, Rid-a-Rock, etc. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Djwalker]

I tried seeding the area with sterile rocks to prevent conception with the hope that they'd just die out (like you can do with insects) but that didn't seem to work either.

 

[MChalkley]

I hate to tell you this, but you got taken by whoever sold you the sterile rocks - there is no way to sterilize a rock.

 

[Roy]

Djwalker;

I like the 'sterile rock' concept. I'll have to talk to some of my friends in bio-tech engineering to see how that one is progressing. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Seriously, I don't have a solution. (Been collecting them for 10 years in my garden area by rake and hand. Grow better than my vegetables). Just want to let you know that the collection process will have to be repeated. Most rocks literally float in the soil. That is, they are eventually pushed to the surface as the ground freezes and thaws. So, expect to do it ad infinitum (or is that ad nausium?)

 

[gordon]

A rake will work great but what alot of people overlook is the wheel kit for them. A set of two wheels that mount behind the rake to control the depth of cut also you can adjust your top link to give more or less angle to the tines with the wheel kit and not have to worry about cutting to deep.
Something else that might help is a piece of chain link fence with rods run across the fence to help keep it taught and a couple of tires or blocks to help hold it down while you drag it behind the tractor this will break loose the rocks and also break up dirt clods. If you want to get real fancy mount a couple pieces of angle iron across the fence. The angle will catch alot of rocks. This works well in my area a number of horse tracks use the same set up for grading and loosening up thier training tracks. I use both and have had good results without spending a grand to do it.

 

[Djwalker]

I was wondering about that. I can't even tell which *** is which. The guy who sold me them told me that they were really cute and that the girl rocks found them irresistable. Something about buns that were as hard as a rock. I couldn't tell but took his word for it. Must have been another scam.

Dave

 

[Djwalker]

I have a chain harrow that breaks up dirt clods and brings the rocks to the top but it leaves them scattered all over the surface. I think that a rake will at least make piles that I can scoop up.

 

[gordon]

Your right--- First run through and loosen them up then pile them with the rake. If you mount a couple of pieces of angle iron on the harrow at a 45 degree angle it will roll them off into more of a row makes raking quicker just don't forget the wheels for the rake thats the key to it all.

 

[MChalkley]

Don't feel bad - a lot of people have been taken by that one. It's been going around. Rocks have a long gestation period and a lot of folks are now looking for ways to pawn offspring of orphaned rocks from the pet rock craze. (Of course, most of the folks that have been taken were stoned. One case I heard of went to court but nothing came of it. The judge never even called the court to order - something about not being able to find his gravel. I think if all the people who had problems with this got together in aggregate, a civil suit might be doable, though it would still be rocky going. You'd have to be careful to get a lawyer that would take nothing for granite.)

 

[gordon]

I have to say that one can't be topped I'm impressed.

 

[Djwalker]

Argh!! The pun-o-meter just went off scale and caught fire. Truly a first.

Rock on,
Dave

 

[MChalkley]

Oh, I don't know: Some of the more jaded pebble on this board might say I reached the bottom of the pile or imbibed a few quartz of brew or lost my marble.

(Thanks!)

 

[Djwalker]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.