Need ideas to build a "stone boat"

oosik · Jul 16, 2019

You are right Lou. It's been 20+ years since I've "raided" this rock wall. I definitely remember it being a bit taller. I mean, really, I have the exact same rocks on my own property. And the neighbor said -"you can have all you want - just don't scatter them".

Eagleview · Jul 16, 2019

oosik said:
OK - photos of the "wall/fence". I don't remember so many being so small. One would hope they had some form of rock rake along with the stone boat.

View attachment 613175 View attachment 613176 View attachment 613177 View attachment 613178 View attachment 613179 View attachment 613180 View attachment 613181 View attachment 613182

The final picture is the cleared high meadow. On the extreme right - upper corner - black dot - my NW property corner.

I am no expert , but i think the rows of stones were not put there as fencing, but more so to act as swails to direct runoff water from the field . One seems to run directly into a shallow gully and then ends .

jmc · Jul 16, 2019

Eagleview said:
I am no expert , but i think the rows of stones were not put there as fencing, but more so to act as swails to direct runoff water from the field . One seems to run directly into a shallow gully and then ends .

That's interesting. I had a farm in a limestone area where there were a lot of 2 or 3 inch thick slabs small enough for one person to handle. One part of the farm had the remnants of an old wall made from those slabs- that wall was at the bottom of a hill and may have been a barrier to runoff into a field that had its own problems with a gulley entering the field elsewhere. I always wondered what good a 1 1/2 foot high fence would be if it wasn't a property line. About any livestock could step over it.

My neighbor down there, now passed, (a WWII vet) remembered back when they farmed that area with oxen, before tractors. He said the farmers back then made those fences in the winter, when they had more time.

oosik · Jul 16, 2019

You could be absolutely correct Eagleview. Unfortunately, nobody still remains that knows much about the original homestead or the family. It's for certain, it would restrain nothing. And it did rid the high meadow of most of the surface rocks.

However - this property and my property were part of the original 1892 government land grant program. The reason behind the government grant is known. The parcels( 360 acres/person ) were given for the purpose of oil exploration. I have more jugs of oil stored in one of my spare bedrooms than was ever found in this part of the country. For that matter - I have never heard of any oil exploration in any portion of this area.

Another idea - as part of the "proving up" of a land grant( homestead ) - a certain portion of the land had to be cleared and planted to some accepted crop.

In any case - the many stone walls/fences on this homestead represents an awful lot of backbreaking work. I know of five such walls on this homestead - there could be more. This is the longest continuous one that I'm aware of. The old homestead orchard is in a small cleared meadow about a quarter mile N of this wall. The homestead rock house foundation is about a half mile NW of this wall. The well was hand dug - at least 30 feet deep - four feet in diameter and completely rock lined.

It is one commodity in almost unlimited supply - basaltic lava rock.

BBHomestead · Jul 16, 2019

LouNY said:
They will sink into the ground over the course of many years,
some of the rock piles where we pick and unloaded for years had been 4 feet or higher tall,
in the last 50 years they have subsided into the ground in many places,
where we had piled up on ledges they have spread themselves out from animals and weather.

Any place wind blows much the walls collect the dirt around them like snow drifts after many years the land rises up and eats them!

oosik · Jul 16, 2019

"Any place the wind blows much.........." Look at the last picture I posted. It shows the cleared meadow. Click to enlarge. See the T-133 fence posts for my barbed wire fence. They all lean to the left ( towards the NE ). The prevailing wind, which is almost constant and can be very strong and even violent comes out of the SW. I thought, for the longest time, that it had something to do with the neighbors cows. That was until I saw many of the barbed wire fences on adjoining properties. They lean toward the NE also.

Canadian thistle( tumble weeds ) will pile against the fence until it's almost invisible. Then it will REALLY blow and over the fence they go. On their way back to Canada.

BBHomestead · Jul 17, 2019

oosik said:
"Any place the wind blows much.........." Look at the last picture I posted. It shows the cleared meadow. Click to enlarge. See the T-133 fence posts for my barbed wire fence. They all lean to the left ( towards the NE ). The prevailing wind, which is almost constant and can be very strong and even violent comes out of the SW. I thought, for the longest time, that it had something to do with the neighbors cows. That was until I saw many of the barbed wire fences on adjoining properties. They lean toward the NE also.

Canadian thistle( tumble weeds ) will pile against the fence until it's almost invisible. Then it will REALLY blow and over the fence they go. On their way back to Canada.

I bet you were to dig up those rocks would find they go down quite a ways since so much wind there lol

oosik · Jul 17, 2019

BBHomestead - This area - I call it my high meadow - I would like to think there is a fairly deep soil cover. My entire 80 acres, including the two lakes, sits on top of the hardest basaltic lava fields this side of the Mississippi. In fact, it sits on top of many, many lava flows. I have never dug a hole up there. My entire property is in an area called the Channeled Scablands. The Channeled Scablands form the northern cap on the great wheat area - the Palouse.

It's all a part of the story of the great outflows from ancient Lake Missoula.

Originally, we had considered building our home up on the high meadow. Wind power. But there were too many down sides. Power would have had to be run all the way across the property. The almost constant wind would get old. The mile long driveway would have to be extended an extra half mile. Getting water, via a well, would have been questionable. And the dust & volcanic ash. I get enough right where the house is now. And the current house location is in a very sheltered area - on the Far East side of the property. A couple time a year it will blow so very hard the air will turn grey and I can not see my little lake. It's just 75 feet off my front deck. Normally, you will not see the dust or ash - except on all the furniture, etc in the house and on all the vehicles. Ha, ha - my teeth are alway shiny and clean. Volcanic ash will do that.

I have found that it's best to cultivate, disk, rototill to a quite shallow depth. Go deep and up come the rocks.

The old homesteads in this area did the best they could with what they had - lots of rock. House foundations, barn & outbuilding foundations, rock gabions for the fences, rock terracing. And perhaps - the low stone wall was to divert runoff from that cleared field.

Big Barn · Jul 17, 2019

All interesting stuff! Thanks, oosik

TASMAN17 · Jul 25, 2019

A little late, but for what its worth i have the family farm in southern new England, moving large rocks is a constant given. Old timer stone boats are just two curved or angled rails with cross brace planks laid across pulled by oxen. Low enough you just use a long lever to 'lift' the stone on. Key is time of year. very early spring best. Warm days, frozen nights. Warmth frost heaves the stone, early morning the ground is hard enough to slide the load. Can do in winter if you pry up the stone in the fall and prop it with some fill. Summer skidding the ground compacts real fast and puts a lot of drag on your front end. If skidding them now attach on the lowest you can of the frame/hitch bracket... Do not use top links or a drawbar that floats up and down. Same advice over cold ground but everything slides real easy then.

Mace Canute · Aug 1, 2019

oosik said:
"Any place the wind blows much.........." Look at the last picture I posted. It shows the cleared meadow. Click to enlarge. See the T-133 fence posts for my barbed wire fence. They all lean to the left ( towards the NE ). The prevailing wind, which is almost constant and can be very strong and even violent comes out of the SW. I thought, for the longest time, that it had something to do with the neighbors cows. That was until I saw many of the barbed wire fences on adjoining properties. They lean toward the NE also.

Canadian thistle( tumble weeds ) will pile against the fence until it's almost invisible. Then it will REALLY blow and over the fence they go. On their way back to Canada.

Canada Thistle isn't a tumble weed...that's Russian Thistle.

Canada Thistle:

Russian Thistle:

oosik · Aug 1, 2019

Thanks Mace. I know it can blow HARD here but - rip out Canadian Thistle - I think not. Yea - it's Russian Thistle. I have a small amount of the Canadian Thistle here and there on the 80. The Russian Thistle - not a bit. It blows in from somewhere down SW. Strange - the Russian Thistle has never taken hold here on the 80.

CADplans · Aug 1, 2019

Rock Boat!!?? I don't need no stinkin' rock boat!!

This rock weighs over 3,000 pounds (guess), my 2,500 pound capacity loader would not lift it until I dropped the bucket,,,

This one is sitting next to a 14" car tire for size comparison,,,
It probably weighs ~2,000 pounds,,,

I moved those, and about a dozen 400-600 pound rocks earlier this week,,
they were "poking" up where the flail mower could find them,,
When it stops raining, I will fill the holes, and seed the spots,,

oosik · Aug 1, 2019

That rock in the top picture - almost perfect shape for chained pick up. But I've heard that like a rotary mower - those rocks just sharpen the blades on a flail. If that "bottom" rock is truly round and was around these parts - better part of 4000 pounds. Too much for my grapple - if 4K# - I'd have to "rope" it and drag.

You grow some healthy rocks there in VA - CADplans.

CADplans · Aug 1, 2019

oosik said:
You grow some healthy rocks there in VA - CADplans.

Those two are tiny compared to the rock at my driveway entrance,,

(yes, that is a real backhoe bucket,,)

A Kobelco excavator dug that one out of my driveway a year ago,,

It has a nice "flat bottom" that made it easy to set,,

The Kobelco just picked it up with the bucket and thumb,, and walked it down to the entrance,,

oosik · Aug 1, 2019

I have ONE rock - in my high meadow - that would match yours. Otherwise - big here, is basketball size. Top picture - below the "5" - lying there on the rock. Some kind of container - what is it?? That beautiful big rock behind the "65" - sandstone??

CADplans · Aug 1, 2019

oosik said:
I have ONE rock - in my high meadow - that would match yours. Otherwise - big here, is basketball size. Top picture - below the "5" - lying there on the rock. Some kind of container - what is it?? That beautiful big rock behind the "65" - sandstone??

Yea, probably,, we have some other type of stone it is like a hard chalk,, snow white,, I have a bunch of that,, but, most are too big to move.
I have LOTS of limestone, also,, there is a cement plant just down the road a ways,,,

CADplans · Aug 1, 2019

oosik said:
below the "5" - lying there on the rock. Some kind of container - what is it??

That is a solar light,, charges during the day, shines all night 'til morning,,

Imold · Aug 7, 2019

Had a old stone boat back in the 60’s that my grandpa had made out of 4x4 runners and mill cut 2x6’s, it hauled a lot of dirt, rock in its day, we also used to stand on it and surf..Imagination..A piece of equipment that also served as a form of entertainment for us kids.

Jim.