Immovable Object, OR, Unstoppable Force,, Which One Did You Run Into, Today?

[CADplans]

Tell us about your encounter with an immovable object, or was it an unstoppable force??

I did not know which I had today,,
I was removing a few stones that were set at JUST the right height that, if the grass was tall, I would skim them with the flail mower,,

All was going well, I took out two, probably around 1,000 pounds, I can handle that,,

THEN, I started digging around the next one, and I could not get under it,,,
I was down almost 6 feet, and still hitting rock.
After almost 2 hours of digging, I went to the house, for a cold bottle of water,

I looked up the weight of stone, at least 150 pounds per cubic foot
My estimate, the rock weighs over 7,000 pounds, and my tractor only weighs 10,000 pounds.

The rock,,

It is over 5 feet by over 5 feet, and ranges from 28 to 34 inches thick,,, it is big,,
An immovable object,,, maybe,,,

I decided if there was ANY chance of the rock coming out, sliding on steel would help,
I put four rectangular tubes under the rock, they are 3X6 inches, 10 feet long,,

On the upper left, you can see the whitish scrapes where the flail mower had hit the stone, repeatedly,,,

I wrapped two chains around the stone, then used a third to try to pull,, the chains would just slip off the rock.
I got two more chains, and secured the chains on the rock, so that the chains could not slide,,

I tried to pull the rock, the rock won, the IH 584 simply stopped,, the rock was immovable,, so far,,

I backed up, and shortened the connecting chain by half, and I also lifted the three point hitch arms.
this would transfer the weight of the rock onto the tractor,,

The rock moved!! :thumbsup:

That rock is pretty close to all the 584 can pull,, sliding on grass,,
luckily, it had not rained for several weeks, the ground is hard.

I was able to pull it, but, turning was difficult,, I had to go through a 12 foot gate opening, I almost hit the gate,,

As I was going over the pasture grass, the rock "rocked" back and forth like it was walking.

When I was on gravel, the front tires did not assist much,, there was a LOT of spinning,, controlled by the steering brakes.

Finally, I got it next to my shed,,

It may stay there, or move somewhere else, that needs a rock for decoration,,,

So, today, with a little trickery on connecting to the tractor,, the IH 584 was the Unstoppable Force!! :cool2:

So, show us your immovable object, or unstoppable force!! :shocked:

 

[cqaigy2]

Holy CoW!

I think i'd a dug deeper, next to it and buried it, but then my tractor wouldn't have been able to move that monster. :laughing:

 

[s219]

Dang, that is a heck of an extraction! Years ago I watched my dad fight a rock like that and give up. My grandfather (old Italian stonemason) crawled down into the hole, gave it a look over, and then sliced it up with a hammer and chisel. The pieces later became our mantle. I wish I had skills like that but they are learned, not genetic.

 

[oosik]

View attachment 616718I have ONE really large rock. So dam big - it can be seen in the Google image of my property. Many years ago I though about moving it. But after a search on the web - found a "rock weight" chart - estimated weight 18,000 to 22,000 pounds.

Now I think it looks just fine where it is - right out in the middle of my upper pasture.

Since then I've thought about splitting it into pieces. So far - it's just been "thinking".

Google image from 2800 feet up.

 

[EarPlug]

Safety Warning - Pulling from the 3 Point is a good way to flip a tractor.

 

[bunyip]

A friend has some massive rocks, about 10' that he knows are not going anywhere so he made them into a garden feature and tells everyone that he had them put in at great expense, it is one rocky outcrop near the house and as a garden looks quite nice.

 

[Aquamoose]

Nearby, there was a new road being built complete with underground utilities. As I drove by from time to time, I could see the progress until one day they had a pair of heavy excavators, two articulating skip loaders and a few large dump trucks, all of which were massive and they were working to get this humongous rock out of the ground. The next day, I saw that they dug a ramp and managed to roll it out. It now sits off to the side and is about the size of small U-haul box truck. Wished I watched the spectacle.

 

[oosik]

Good morning Aquamoose. Some times I wish they would roll those big 'ol "goobers" just a bit further off the road.

 

[CobyRupert]

Yeah, I've got one a bi bigger, which I was only able to push about 20 feet 5 years ago, and that is where it sat ever since.
I'm getting sick of looking at it, so I bought some wedges that I haven't used yet. Hopefully I can make it into 3 or 4 smaller rocks.

 

[Aquamoose]

Good morning Aquamoose. Some times I wish they would roll those big 'ol "goobers" just a bit further off the road.

Well, it turned out to be a nice decoration, sitting on the corner. Any business built behind it will definitely be protected by an errant driver. No worries, I think this one is well out of your way!