Rock is too big

[ChuckinNH]

I found many rocks that I couldn't push, or lift with my BX. Usually though I could get the lip of the bucket under them, throw a chain around them, and back to my bucket hook, and curl the bucket just enough to keep some tension on the chain. Driving backwards, I pulled some pretty fair rocks that way since the bucket acted like a sled. Did less damage to the yard that way too. Here are a few I moved that way. The ones I am talking about are the ones rolled against the stone wall in the background. The shovel in the picture will give you some idea about the size, but they are perhaps 4' across.

 

[Timber]

I am real good at rolling them around

 

[CurlyDave]

Probably goes without saying but a major difference between pushing / carrying and pulling is when pulling you need to be wary of what happens if the combination of the rock's weight and the slope angle you might pull it on create the risk of it rolling into the tractor from behind or pulling the tractor onto a course you didn't intend and won't enjoy! Danger increases with the "roundness" of the rock.

I have move a couple of rocks which started rolling when I let go of them with my grapple. Fortunately they both hit trees and stopped rolling before they had a chance to build up a lot of momentum.

Never again.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evenin Lou,
We have moved some pretty large stuff using a stone boat, no more than a 3 ft by 6 ft by 3/16" thk piece of steel diamond plate with some torch cut holes for chaiin hooks by the 3 pt hitch !

This pic is a 4 ft by 4 ft hunk of concrete that I wanted as a flag pole a couple years ago ! It worked great !

 

[zzvyb6]

Get some old dead logs, a few bags of charcoal and start a big hot fire on top and around it. Use a small fan to blast it if you can get a cord out there. (as in blast furnace)

After it has heated for a day, throw some cold water on it and wait for the rock to split into a lot of small pieces all by itself. May not even need the water. It should take off all by itself.

 

[AndyinIowa]

I think moving rocks is all relative in size.... This one kept pulling the front end up, so the entire move was in reverse...

IowaAndy

 

[arrow]

Ok, back from vaca. It seems I left 2 minutes ago. The stone boat seems the way to go. Its reduction in frictional forces seems to make the difference in moving a rock or not. Many good methods here. I Like the chain and curl metod Chuck uses. Seeing Andy in Iowa who's rock lifted his behomoth tractor didn't make me feel so bad as my rock seems only a bit smaller. I heard about the fire and burn method and wonder of it is also functional on rocks partially sticking out of the ground. probably not a I'm thinking the ground acts like a heat sink. Just trying to avoid digging a hole around such stones. I loved everyone's pictures . Just something about manipulating something that looks impossible to manipulate.

 

[pat32rf]

If your JD will make it wiggle just a little even, then you and it can remove the rock. Might take a bit of time (like waiting for next winters frost to heave/split it) but perserverance can win out. Of course a back-hoe attachment helps as well. Getting rid of said rock can be just as big a challenge as getting it up to ground level where you can roll/push/drag it.
I have had some that I could carry but couldn't lift. Others that could only be rolled. Just remember your high school physics and don't have anything of value downhill from The Rock......

 

[Gravdigr]

Just a FYI, depending on the color granite weight is around 120lb per cubic foot. A 24"x12"x4" piece of grey granite weighs 80 lbs give or take and that is 2/3 of a cubic foot. Though some granite is heavier, black granite and mahogany granite are much denser than the standard grey granite and weigh more, but they are also easier to crack because the harder granite is more brittle.

In addition to a couple cemeteries I also own a monument company. Two weeks ago we set a headstone that was in 3 pieces and it was just over 4k lbs of black granite. The complete headstone sold at a bargain price of $18k.....even to me it seems crazy to spend that much money on a fancy rock, but to each their own. At least it keeps me in business hehe.

 

[Rara Avis]

This is a job at my daughter's house that was going well until I hit this rock which was just a little bitty thing when a tooth scraped into it. I had to dig around the rock to budge it. No matter how I tried, the bucket would not even curl this thing. I am doubting if anyone makes a tractor in the 25-32 hp range that would of picked up his stone. If granite weighs 200# per cu. ft. I estimate this stone at 1400-1600 Ibs. If I didn't roll it , it was going no where.
The last picture shows the completed job that without teeth, wasn't happening.

This will take care of it...

ezebreak - Makers of Micro-Blaster

 

[RedDirt]

I saw that Micro-Blaster article in this month's Pop Mech's. They said the kit is $700 to $1700! Rob's (3RRL) magic powder at $100 looks like a bargin.

 

[RadarTech]

I saw that Micro-Blaster article in this month's Pop Mech's. They said the kit is $700 to $1700! Rob's (3RRL) magic powder at $100 looks like a bargin.

Magic powder?
Where might I buy this cheap stuff?

I have a rock I would love to break!

thanks,
Jim

 

[pitt_md]

As far as moving a big rock like that I think the best way is to have someone else pay you for the rock and come and get it...I ran into a couple a rocks that my MX5000 was no match for (half the size of the tractor). I could drag it a little but that was it. A friend told me that rocks like that were worth a lot of money and people would actually pay for them. A landscaping company bought the rock and many others not quite so big and took them away.

 

[pat32rf]

I must be sitting on a fortune!!! Trouble is, so are all my neighbours within 60 miles. If anyone wants to send a truck I'll trade rock for sand, pound for pound.....or clay, topsoil, crushed seashells.....

 

[rcrcomputing]

A rock to big to pick up with the loader is a sign from God!

Time for a new tractor. Tell the "better half", it would not be wise to ignore that sort of sign!

 

[Rara Avis]

Magic powder?
Where might I buy this cheap stuff?

I have a rock I would love to break!

thanks,
Jim

Fertilizer...diesel fuel...et cetera...et cetera...

 

[3RRL]

Magic powder?
Where might I buy this cheap stuff?

I have a rock I would love to break!

thanks,
Jim

Here are a couple links to something similar that I used.
Bustar
Bristar
And I think this is the stuff that I have...

Brustar by CRAS Demolition



You will have to search to see which one you can get in your area.
The stuff I got was from asking around the local hardware store which lead me to a rental yard that carried this stuff. It's made in Spain but does the same thing as the others.
Did you see the thread about using it? I works!
Bustin' Up Boulders