What implement to cultivate land with rocks- plow, tiller or ??

[arcteryx]

I live in Central Texas and has lots of rocks underneath my ground. Taking a shovel will not get you very far.

What implement should I use to clear the rock as well as turnover the dirt? Will I need a tiller, plow, rake or ??? I know I will need to manually clear them once they are up on the surface, but what do I use for the initial breaking of the ground? TIA.

 

[sweettractors]

I live in Central Texas and has lots of rocks underneath my ground. Taking a shovel will not get you very far.

What implement should I use to clear the rock as well as turnover the dirt? Will I need a tiller, plow, rake or ??? I know I will need to manually clear them once they are up on the surface, but what do I use for the initial breaking of the ground? TIA.

I think a trip beam plow and a disc harrow with a drag behind it. Ken Sweet

 

[IslandTractor]

I live in Central Texas and has lots of rocks underneath my ground. Taking a shovel will not get you very far.

What implement should I use to clear the rock as well as turnover the dirt? Will I need a tiller, plow, rake or ??? I know I will need to manually clear them once they are up on the surface, but what do I use for the initial breaking of the ground? TIA.

Ken Sweet posted how to unearth the rocks. If I had a lot of rocks to clear I would invest in a rock rake bucket for the FEL. Stooping to pick up rocks and carrying them even a short distance will get old real fast. A landscape (York) rake can be used to winrow the rocks but you'll still need to lift and separate them from soil. Several companies make rock rake buckets and it would not be hard to fabricate a basic one if you or a friend has metal working/welding skills.

 

[sweettractors]

Ken Sweet posted how to unearth the rocks. If I had a lot of rocks to clear I would invest in a rock rake bucket for the FEL. Stooping to pick up rocks and carrying them even a short distance will get old real fast. A landscape (York) rake can be used to winrow the rocks but you'll still need to lift and separate them from soil. Several companies make rock rake buckets and it would not be hard to fabricate a basic one if you or a friend has metal working/welding skills.

We have this tool to remove the rocks once you get them in loose soil. Ken Sweet
Used Leon Mfg. Rock Picker, 42 Inch with Hydraulic Dump | eBay

 

[arcteryx]

THanks, what is a trip beam plow? I'm a newb

 

[slowzuki]

Commonly called a spring reset or automatic reset plow. The moldboard and the beam it mounts on swing up out of the way when a rock too big to plow up is contacted. Shear bolt style breaks a shear bolt that you have to stop and replace. Non-trip style stops the tractor or breaks the plow.

We're all rocks here too, nothing but spring reset plows. Then you pick rocks, then you harrow or disc. More harrows here just due to history of wet soil. Discs tend to ball up and compact wet soil.

 

[sweettractors]

THanks, what is a trip beam plow? I'm a newb

The more common trip beam plows that are less expensive and very versatile are the kind that have a internal trip built into the shank housing and when a rock is hit, they trip and you simply lower your plow and back up to reset and be ready to go again. These plows are adjustable on how sensitive you may need to make them trip. The Ford 101 Massey 43 are good examples of trip beam plows. Ken Sweet

 

[IslandTractor]

We have this tool to remove the rocks once you get them in loose soil. Ken Sweet
Used Leon Mfg. Rock Picker, 42 Inch with Hydraulic Dump | eBay

Nice but I'd imagine a rock rake FEL bucket would be less than half the price. Shouldn't be too hard to fabricate a simple one for a few hundred bucks either. I'd get one of your thingies if I had multiple fields to do every year though!

 

[sweettractors]

Nice but I'd imagine a rock rake FEL bucket would be about one fifth the price. I'd get one of your thingies if I had multiple fields to do every year though!

A tool like this can usually be paid for in 1 year by doing custom work for neighbors. Ken Sweet

 

[IslandTractor]

If you are looking to clear a relatively small area (less than an acre) of rocks, another option would be to use a ratchet rack. These implements which simply attach to your loader (search on TBN for discussion) are pretty effective at scraping off surface rocks and are less expensive (?$375 or so from TSC) than other store bought alternatives. Again, the type of pull behind implement Ken is describing would be far better for large areas but for occasional or small area use the ratchet rake is very effective.