New Lands.

[JasperFrank]

Many folk here are probably looking at the "Get back to the land" sort of living. You may see some "raw land" that looks very inexpensive. I did that, and it sort of worked out, in the early nineties, yet I didn't know about some things. The biggest thing I didn't know about was rocks and soil types. I didn't know I would have to deal with so many rocks, and so many big rocks. Its been 25 years, just taking out rocks and moving them on to something else. This has been my life for 25 years. Moving rocks. The land is now a bit of a paradise, with lawn and house and garage and stuff, yet it was a hard, hard fight, the whole way in those twenty-five years to get these rocks out and put them into other structures.
This is probably why we lose agricultural land, all the time to developments, that focused on river planes and Triple A Dirt with no rocks. For residential, we SHOULD let people build in the places that can't grow crops. Yet I have to say that this is a difficult ethical decision now, after working all these rocks for 25 years. If you are a young person looking at raw land, know the geology of it: I didn't, and that was a bad combination of attempting to fix the land. Just say'en.

 

[Alan W.]

Many folk here are probably looking at the "Get back to the land" sort of living. You may see some "raw land" that looks very inexpensive. I did that, and it sort of worked out, in the early nineties, yet I didn't know about some things. The biggest thing I didn't know about was rocks and soil types. I didn't know I would have to deal with so many rocks, and so many big rocks. Its been 25 years, just taking out rocks and moving them on to something else. This has been my life for 25 years. Moving rocks. The land is now a bit of a paradise, with lawn and house and garage and stuff, yet it was a hard, hard fight, the whole way in those twenty-five years to get these rocks out and put them into other structures.
This is probably why we lose agricultural land, all the time to developments, that focused on river planes and Triple A Dirt with no rocks. For residential, we SHOULD let people build in the places that can't grow crops. Yet I have to say that this is a difficult ethical decision now, after working all these rocks for 25 years. If you are a young person looking at raw land, know the geology of it: I didn't, and that was a bad combination of attempting to fix the land. Just say'en.

We have a lot of small rocks in our dirt or a little dirt in our rocks is probably more correct. Our place was about as raw as you could get.
Have been here since 85 and have improved the place. We our proud of what we have done. As you should be.

 

[dirttoys]

LOL you sound like me.......... hopefully your rocks are not in clay, double the fun. Someone on hear has the sig line "life is easier when you plow around the stumps" I am trying to apply that to the rocks.

Best,

ed

 

[JasperFrank]

LOL you sound like me.......... hopefully your rocks are not in clay, double the fun. Someone on hear has the sig line "life is easier when you plow around the stumps" I am trying to apply that to the rocks.

Best,

ed

In clay.

 

[bigtiller]

We farmed around 3 rocks in a 2 acre field when I was a kid. My uncle had a Hopto excavator that he dug them out with and drug them to the edge of the driveway. The antique 2 bottom trip plow was a lot happier that fall.

But then I had to mow around them.

 

[ronjhall]

Lots of rocks here. The soil grows them. 50 years of piling them up.

 

[Thomas]

That's why New Hampshire known as the granite state.

 

[deezler]

I bought raw land too, but it was young recovering forest over almost pure sand. Appears to have been pasture/hay back in the 40s, then basically abandoned since the 60s until i hacked my way in.

I definitely researched the soil type map for my county before buying - being able to do a cheap, basic septic field was crucial to affording my home build.

I would love to have more rocks for walls smd landscaping. Every time i find a decent boulder while relandscaping or digging with an excavator, its like striking gold.

 

[EddieWalker]

I've only found a few rocks on my land. I used every single one of them when creating my water fall for my pool. I think there is little over a dozen rocks that I've found in 17 years.

Trees are my issue. They are weeds. You clear an area and they grow right back, but ten times as many. It's a massive battle to keep an area of land as pasture and not have it become jungle again.

I now understand why pasture land sells for so much more then forested land.

 

[dlctcg]

We have plenty of rocks here... If any of you without rocks need some...



The big ones you hopefully can dig a deeper hole next to it & bury it deeper..

 

[bigtiller]

Every time i find a decent boulder while relandscaping or digging with an excavator, its like striking gold.

Same here, in fact, I have had rocks stolen from me. Now I pile them up in the front yard where I can keep an eye on them. There is a lot of labor to move a rock out of the field, and they are expensive to buy.

 

[Rockbadchild]

I am happy I don't have too many rocks on my land … I agree with you, My wife wanted us to buy a land before we bought the one I currently have … it was cheep but raw with the first 500 feet in swamp there was a nice elevated area in the center, I was so discourage by just thinking about it so it was a hard no, the land I choose was once worked on so much of the irrigation and rocks removal have been done back in the day and all by hand can you imagine the work involve ? …

 

[JasperFrank]

All you see was done in the last seven years. The long rock pile is just this year. There have been many other rock piles created, just as big, and used as fill, or revetment/wall building before this pile. The '87 Ford 1220, bought in '95, was the best investment I think I've ever made, for $7600. This would have been an impossible, or very expensive to out-source, if i had not bought a tractor with an FEL, and box scrapper. If you get land like this, filled with rocks, you HAVE to have at least a compact tractor, or Bob-Cat style Loader. A back-hoe would have been the best. After twenty-five years, I can see the end of the tunnel and we are working on what I call the "Final Groom:" meaning a little riding mower mower can maintain it with out hitting rocks. So we've bought about $5000 dollars, 24 units, of good, screened dirt to spread over the whole residential part of the property and fill the old tree stump depressions and level over the big rocks we couldn't remove. This has to be factored in to what you want to do with the property and how much sweat equity you can tolerate.

 

[deezler]

Jasper, can you add your location to your tbn profile? Where are you located with all these fine rocks?

 

[JasperFrank]

Jasper, can you add your location to your tbn profile? Where are you located with all these fine rocks?

Its one of these

 

[DieselBound]

Many folk here are probably looking at the "Get back to the land" sort of living. You may see some "raw land" that looks very inexpensive. I did that, and it sort of worked out, in the early nineties, yet I didn't know about some things. The biggest thing I didn't know about was rocks and soil types. I didn't know I would have to deal with so many rocks, and so many big rocks. Its been 25 years, just taking out rocks and moving them on to something else. This has been my life for 25 years. Moving rocks. The land is now a bit of a paradise, with lawn and house and garage and stuff, yet it was a hard, hard fight, the whole way in those twenty-five years to get these rocks out and put them into other structures.
This is probably why we lose agricultural land, all the time to developments, that focused on river planes and Triple A Dirt with no rocks. For residential, we SHOULD let people build in the places that can't grow crops. Yet I have to say that this is a difficult ethical decision now, after working all these rocks for 25 years. If you are a young person looking at raw land, know the geology of it: I didn't, and that was a bad combination of attempting to fix the land. Just say'en.

I'm voting that your username be changed to Sisyphus!

 

[lman]

Those rocks are too valuable to divulge the location.

 

[dirttoys]

Same here, in fact, I have had rocks stolen from me. Now I pile them up in the front yard where I can keep an eye on them. There is a lot of labor to move a rock out of the field, and they are expensive to buy.

Good God I wish shipping was cheaper!! If you will pay the trucker, I will happily load the damn things, whatever you make is all good, and I won't even try to write them off my taxes. I got to take some pictures, but, I would still rather have your challenge compared to mine. However, makes you wonder what people that are willing to steal rock will do if you leave equipment outside

Best,

ed

 

[lman]

Several years ago I decided to remove a rock that was protruding out of the ground a couple of inches. I mow that area, so I decided to see what I had. I wound up with this rock that probably weighs a ton. There was a couple more and I just put some soil on top of them. I concluded that the previous owner had buried them there.
I will sell it at the right price.

 

[bigtiller]

There is a guy around here that drives a flatbed semi out west on vacation. Before coming home, he loads the semi with BIG rocks, hauls the rocks home and sells them at a nice profit.