Sift out dirt?

[hks003]

Hey guys, it's been a while! We just finished up building our shop house, and now I'm out to get the yard in order. I borrowed a landscape rake to rake up all the small stuff left over from digging stumps and the dozer pushing everything up, and it works great! But, it also grabs a lot of dirt, especially if the weeds and grass have started growing up. I raked some this weekend, and I have a pile of small sticks, roots, grass, and dirt. This pile won't burn because of the dirt obviously. Any tips on sifting out all the dirt somehow? Should I just pull the pile down a little at a time and pull out the woody stuff by hand then disc in the grass and dirt (please say no...)? I have a box blade, and I have access to a landscape rake and disc. Dad has a rototiller, but he's not fond of using it where there's still so many roots and all. Picture of the pile of junk is attached.

 

[sea2summit]

Pressure washer is my tool of choice for that nasty sticky sand/dirt on stumps and roots.

 

[hks003]

Ooh, good idea! I like it!

 

[TractorGuy]

My solution was to build a soil screener. If I said it was a perfect solution I'd be lying but it does work to some degree. I have recovered a pretty good bit of soil for fill in other areas.

Soil Screener

I'm about to embark on building a soil screener. I've looked at several designs on You Tube and decided I am going with a stationery design with a fairly steep angle. Most of the models I've seen work but a couple stood out as the simplest and those worked as good as the vibratory models. I...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[TmbrWlkr]

Pressure washer is my tool of choice for that nasty sticky sand/dirt on stumps and roots.View attachment 709981

sea2summit - SAVE that PIC - it is a Classic! - Your son will get a kick out of it when he is your age!!!

 

[Thomas]

Roll the pile 3 or 4 time and leave in the sun.

 

[4570Man]

With more skillful raking you could eliminate most of the dirt to begin with but at this point without a screening device I don’t see much to do besides separate by hand.

 

[4570Man]

Pressure washer is my tool of choice for that nasty sticky sand/dirt on stumps and roots.View attachment 709981

On stumps that size I’ve found picking them up and dropping them on a stump that’s still in the ground to be extremely effective at knocking the dirt out.

 

[Diggin It]

Picture of the pile of junk is attached.

How much of a hurry are you in? Do you need it cleared NOW, or can it wait? You're in a wet area. Rain will work wonders, but it will take time. Break it up, spread it out a bit and let Nature do the work.