how to separate rocks from dirt pile

swick1 · Mar 27, 2012

I have been doing a big job at my mom's house and so far I've moved 20 tons of fill dirt. The problem is that the fill is clay and shale. The smaller pieces of shale I can bust up by driving over them but the larger ones are difficult to deal with. I wanted to separate the dirt from the rocks without using any special equipment so I came up with this procedure. It works really well.

1. Start with the loader on one side of the pile and grab a bucket of rocks and dirt.

2. Bring the loader cutting edge to the top of the pile. Hold it about 6" above the pile and shake the bucket gently. The large rocks will roll down the pile and the small rocks / dirt will stay on the top.

3. Repeat the procedure until you have cut out about half of the pile.

4. Move the rocks out of the way from the other side using the pile as a back stop to get them in the bucket.

5. Do the same procedure on the other side of the pile.

6. Enjoy your rock free fill dirt!

Kioti Tom · Mar 27, 2012

It may not work as well as a rock rake, but by golly, It works!!!:thumbsup: All it takes is a little time and effort. Shame I am retired. I don't know if I have enough time any more.:laughing:

IndyIan · Mar 27, 2012

I will have to try this out as I've got a few areas of gravelly soil but it does have alot of bigger rocks in it.

tmc_31 · Mar 28, 2012

That's a pretty cool idea, I can see how it would work. I got into some big (3"-10") cobblestones that I had to separate from the sandy soil from an old dried up river bottom last summer. Probably close to 50 yds of material. I rented a rock bucket from an equipment rental place and used it with my LX 565 Skid. Made short work of it. I was working on an Indian reservation and the locals would come by and pick up the choicest cobbles from the rock pile to use in their sweat lodges.

Tim

oldballs · Mar 28, 2012

Last spring I built a dry wall out of all sizes of rock, some bigger than the bucket on my BX2660. Did it all by hand, as I moved about 30 tons of dirt and rock mixed together from an accumulation over the past years where water lines and excavations were piled up. The dirt helped shape some of the front yard and terraces. But all that little rock from baseball size and smaller took a lot of stoop labor...but I was never that bright...just a strong back.

The rock wall was about 40 feet long and 4 feet tall.