lifting/moving big rocks with a B7610/B7800?

[The Gardener]

Great images to help explain the effort.

Did you do all of this boulder dig out using the FEL and toothbar?

I did not have a toothbar on our previous tractor, but I do plan to add one when we buy our next tractor. I am so impressed with the toothbar and how significantly it adds to the FEL job list.

Thanks for sharing the images. What's happening in the background? It looks like you have been very busy on the Kubota.

Do you have plans for that boulder? That's about as round a boulder as I have seen unearthed in my many experiences.

The Gardener

 

[ehchvac]

one of the best stone boats you can make is from an old oil tank " home heating " , just cut it in half and you end up with a 40 x 60 inch, 12 gauge piece of steel.
if you cut it right you will have an open end and 3 raised sides, put the shackle on the open end and give it a slight upward bend so it wont dig in while being dragged and your load wont roll out of the sides or out the back.
you can put a shackle in it and it will not rip thru like a car hood and usually they are free.
had one for years.

 

[rswyan]

Yes, the FEL and toothbar were pretty much all I used .... although I might have used a shovel to shove away some loose dirt on the backside of the boulder once I had it loose so I could get the chain around it. The toothbar was very handy in that it extended the reach of the bucket just enough to get under the boulder and pry it up ... as well as making it possible to dig the ramp down to it.

Re: background - I'm clearing the pad for the new polebarn. Yeah, pretty busy .... I've managed to rack up about 800 hours in the 2 1/2 years that we have had the B2910.

The boulder will eventually be moved someplace on the property and incorporated as a landscaping element ..... not sure where quite yet. It was surprisingly round .... it was a nice find.

 

[john_bud]

I'm no rock expert, so I can't say what type of material the rocks that I've moved are. Though I do know that there were no where near 4500 lbs. If I had to guess, I'd say maybe 1000-1500 lbs. Of course that is a complete guess. Though I did try to prop some rocks up on bricks and lift it with the carry all on the 3pt. It didn't budge them. So I figured they were over 1060 lbs.

Perhaps I misjudged the size the the rocks in those pictures. To me some looked flatter in one dimension, instead of being a round rock. Over this weekend, I'll take a few pics of the rocks I've moved, and post them here.

I have also used the sled method, though my homemade "sled" tore up the ground pretty well. (An old car hood would be better I'm sure) Did have one roll away from me once. No, it wasn't tied to the sled. Very scary on a hill when a large round rock gets rolling.

I've found that dragging it with the bucket, even just a hair above the ground, did less damage.

Yeah, it's real hard to KNOW how big something is from a picture! If you are curious, granite is about 168 pounds per cu-ft and sandstone is about 130. If it's not sandstone or granite, 150 probably close. As with any natural material, there is a fairly big range in density. A quick measurement and some math will get you pretty close to the weight.

jb

 

[The Gardener]

The toothbar was very handy in that it extended the reach of the bucket just enough to get under the boulder and pry it up ... as well as making it possible to dig the ramp down to it.

That alone has me sold on a toothbar. I sure wish we had one on our previous tractor. We will next time for certain.

[/QUOTE]Re: background - I'm clearing the pad for the new polebarn. Yeah, pretty busy .... I've managed to rack up about 800 hours in the 2 1/2 years that we have had the B2910.[/QUOTE]

That sounds like the best 800 hours I can imagine. I rack up about 165 hours per month commuting to and from work. That's easily the worst use of one's time.

[/QUOTE]The boulder will eventually be moved someplace on the property and incorporated as a landscaping element ..... not sure where quite yet. It was surprisingly round .... it was a nice find. [/QUOTE]

It's an amazing find, indeed.

I forwarded your three images to a friend, and he said that a boulder of that appeal sells for $0.17 per pound in Missouri. I gather there's a supply/demand curve for boulders in Missouri. Here in NH ["the Granite State"], we have more than we want or need. However, I have yet to see one as naturally round as your boulder.

Best of luck with the pole barn!

The Gardener

 

[Raddad]

Sell the bolder to him and tell him it comes with a million year waranty.

 

[johnk]

How much you think these weigh??? Don't know what kind of rock but awfully heavy...

 

[Raddad]

1200 lbs.

 

[ccdck20hst]

Nice pictures. A rock of that appeal is about 17 Cents a pound in Missouri?? Up here in northwestern Connecticut we have rocks simliar (almost as round and a few probably as round) to that coming out of our ears. I guess I am better off than I thought with all the boulders I have. I do like em. Moving them sure is a challenge but what a sense of accomplishment when your are done! I have found the big ones ( I would guess around 400-600 Lbs) that fit in the 54" bucket of my CK20HST can slide real fast on the steel of the bucket. Sore knuckles for weeks. I have three or four left to move (big size of easy chairs to a small refigerator that are bigger than the bucket) that have me thinking of making a sled out of diamond plate steel, or a car hood or an oil tank. That oil tank idea is a good one! I want to use the big rocks I have as a landscapping feature and as a low wind block aginst the north winds I face in one part of the yard. Can you drag a real heavy sled backwards with chains attached to the front bucket without damage to the tractor? Doing this would seem to eliminate the need to remove the backhoe on my tractor to use the 3 pt. hitch.

 

[johnk]

Raddad,

You're probably close because I could definitely feel the weight even with the 800 pounds of concrete as a counterweight. Gave a good feeling of accomplishment to set them in place....