Quick advice for moving flat stones?

[Bob_Skurka]

I've got a few thousand pounds of bluestone sitting in the back of a truck in the driveway. It is in flat pieces and I intend to make a walkway out of the stone.

The problem is I don't want to break any of the bigger pieces. The stone has to be moved (via the FEL bucket) down the road, then down a hill, across a field and then out back behind the house. The travel distance will be about 1000' but the trip across the field is going to be bumpy.

What concerns me is that the bumps will cause the stones to bounce enough to break? Larger stones might be more likely to break? These stones average about 1.5" thick.

I'm in a bit of a hurry, we have 80% chance of rain today, starting this morning. I'd like to get out early and get the job done without breaking stones.

Anyone have any quick advice? Do I load the big stones on top of the small stones and hope the smaller stones act as shock absorbers?

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Bob I'd try a pallet.

Or better yet, lay down a sheet of plywood or something comparable on the floor of the bucket. Then stack your stone VERTICAL. Strap it in so it won't fall over. And haul it as vertical-bucket-level as you can.

After all they always haul the big pieces that way.

Good luck. I woke to thunder this morning after one day dry this week. Darn. Rain god has got it in for me. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Harv, I remember reading your thread where the stone shaped like Texas broke in your truck and that is why I thought I would post for advice.

I can't move the whole pallet with either of my tractors, but I will try strapping the big pieces in verically in the bucket with some 2" nylon straps.

 

[fishman]

Quick thought. Could you just use your truck? After all it has a suspension. If you don't have 4wd and rain on the way, well, maybe not. Good luck in any case.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I could get the truck down the hill, but there is no way it would come back up! I once got a 10 wheel dump truck stuck on the hill, needed a Cat dozer to nudge it up. The truck I have in the drive is a 6 wheeler, 26,000# GVW with road tires. I am pretty darn sure those tires will just spin freely on the slope.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

I'm probably way to late posting this to help, but you could also put 5 inches of straw in the FEL, then put the stones on top. They are sometimes packed that way for shipping.

Cliff

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Cliff, I just came inside for a break in the work, all the larger pieces are down where they need to be. It took 5 trips up and down the hill to get the large pieces safely to their new home. Everything left is small enough that I'm not worried about it, from the size of a brick up to maybe 10" by 20".

I tipped the bucket back all the way up then stood the large pieces upright. I layered successively smaller pieces on top of the largest pieces so that I had about 3 layers evenly spread across the bucket. There was a lot of air space left in the bucket but I was more concerned about getting the big ones down in one piece, and also not lifting the rear end of the tractor off the ground (I used a tiller for extra weight on the 3pt). I then ran some straps around the bucket to hold the stones in place.

Now I need to spread the sand base, set the stones, fill the cracks between the stones and then dress the cracks with pea gravel. That won't be done today! If the rain is kind to me, it may be done this weekend. The stones will become a walkway that connect up to an existing stone staircase coming down the hill from the house.

 

[fishman]

Oh, you mean a TRUCK, not one of these little half ton pick-me-ups most of us have. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Yea, a I guess I should have specified TRUCK not truck? But I did say I had a few thousand pounds of stone; last time I checked a truck wouldn't carry that load but a TRUCK would haul it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Mark_in_NH]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The stones will become a walkway that connect up to an existing stone staircase coming down the hill from the house. )</font>

Sounds like a challanging and rewarding project

And you WILL be showing us pictures of the finished project. Right ?????? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif