Rock sifting bucket

jenkinsph · Oct 13, 2009

I am interested in buying a new rock bucket to sift small rocks after running a tiller. I presently have a heavy duty Worksite Pro with 3" tine spacings to handle the big rocks but am looking at another bucket with close spacings. I have found this one and was wondering if anyone has some input? Considering the 6' ss to use on my 110tlb. This one has 3/4" spacings.

Rock Sifting Horse Arena Bucket at Equipmentland.com

Will be used in sandy, rocky soil in the southwest with little or no clay to clog it up.

Steve

pat32rf · Oct 14, 2009

Holy Cow! The bucket I made has 6 one inch tines with 8" gaps. hope to make another with 4" gaps when I can find the 1" round stock.
I find mine is good for removing small trees as well as any rocks over 9-10"

jenkinsph · Oct 14, 2009

I am looking to remove alot of 1" to 3" rocks from the surface of lawn seedbeds. Most areas I can get by without this but not all. It is either a fine rock bucket or build/buy a rock screen shaker setup.

Steve

GreatWhitehunter · Oct 14, 2009

Steve, you need a harley rake if you want to get that fine. The rock buckets are good for sifting pile but not real great as digging through soild.

Matt

jinman · Oct 14, 2009

If you want to see how well it will work, I think you can put some welded wire or even chicken wire on the inside of your current basket. Drop back about 6" from the ends of the tines so the wire is not part of your your digging edge. Use this to gage just how well a small matrix will work. I think you will need something that shakes a lot more than your bucket to get the dirt to sift through. My guess is that you will beat your loader up pretty badly while trying to get 3/4" openings to shed dirt. I have a S-Houle BB-60 that has 20 1-1/8" tines. That's under 2" between tines and I have to shake dirt pretty hard to get it to sift out even when it is sandy. Of course, any grass or clay makes it virtually impossible. I just don't think you'll be happy with the results unless you are working with really dry and fluffy sandy soil. I think your best bet is to try and convert your current bucket to a temporary prototype to see how it will work.

Scotty370 · Oct 14, 2009

What you really need is a BobCat with a RockHound attachment, for screening out such fine stones. Maybe rental is an option!?!?? ~Scotty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JHENAH1v6I

jenkinsph · Oct 14, 2009

Thanks for the comments so far, thought about a Harley rake and also the skidsteer collection type. Guess I was hoping to get by cheap. I thought about adding a vibratory shaker to the bucket itself since I have the auxillary set of hydraulics on the fel.

About the size matrix, that was a good point, sitting here I was thinking to grab a large funnel and see how well it will sift the dirt and rock thru the hole. Should be able to try it with different neck diameters to see what works.

Jim, I read through several years of rock bucket posts last night and did read all of yours. thanks

Steve

Pops15 · Oct 15, 2009

pat32rf said:
Holy Cow! The bucket I made has 6 one inch tines with 8" gaps. hope to make another with 4" gaps when I can find the 1" round stock.
I find mine is good for removing small trees as well as any rocks over 9-10"

A good place to get 1" round stock is from a commercial garage door installer. Most OH commercial doors use 1" bar stock for the torsion springs. You should be able to buy a used bar from a take off for scrap price.