Will a tiller pull rocks up out of soil?

[jenkinsph]

While tilling will bring rocks to the surface (and I pick up what I see) it won't get a high percentage of them. Screening the topsoil as mentioned above will yield much better results. Screening can be time and labor intensive but is the best way to be rock free. You may not have the time to screen all of the material but having the top 6 inches clean will help get it under control. Probably will still have to pick up what rises to the surface each year regardless.

 

[jenkinsph]

This would be the best way to do it if your bringing in the dirt from another location, you tube has several videos of home built screens.

Should add that some rental companies have these screens available too so you don't have to build one for a single project.

 

[pohorsky]

If you are loading the dirt in a bucket, you could get or fabricate a grate that you could attach to the front of the bucket. It also might work to disc first and then rake.
If you are real serious about it, you could get something like this.

 

[powerscol]

If you handy with a welder, build yourself a Grissley and screen the topsoil your placing. You can make one out of rebar and make the openings as big or small as you want.

However if you can get or rent a heavy duty tiller, yes it will bring the rocks to the surface. Then you can run a rock bucket through and screen them out

 

[bigtiller]

A forward rotation tiller will jump over big rocks or/and spit the smaller ones out the back and usually cover them up. A reverse rotation tiller will spit them out the front to be hit again and again until they are removed by hand. And the big stuff will make a heck of a racket until the PTO stops spinning.

This rock story just happened to me friday.

2 weeks ago a 60x60 garden was tilled with a forward rotation tiller and the owner was told that two big rocks were hit but the rest of the garden was fine. But it rained before it was planted and the owner wanted it tilled again and called me. I have a reverse rotation tiller. The owner walked along beside me and picked up everything bigger than a softball. We found the two the previous guy hit and another 50 or so. What a nightmare, I'm glad he was there to help.

 

[Piston]

Could you rent a power rake that would fit your tractor? I think there is a large rental outfit in your area that I know rents out PTO versions. I contacted them a couple hrs ago to rent one but I ended up buying instead.

i would think that would be your best bet, and on top of that, you'd have a perfectly prepped seedbed for grass. Not to mention not having to go around and pick up the rocks, since they all be windowed or piled for you to scoop up with your bucket.

 

[coobie]

I would use a 5 shank ripper/cultivator to get the rocks to the surface then york rake them into a pile.I also live where there are a ton of rocks and it beats the bejesus out of my 6ft tiller.I bought a 7 shank ripper/cultivator for virgin ground and finish with my york rake.

 

[Egon]

Take out the rocks after you dump the bucket. Leave the bucket edge a few inches high as you spread the load. That should collect the larger rocks.

 

[jim_wilson]

This would be the best way to do it if your bringing in the dirt from another location, you tube has several videos of home built screens.

This is part of the reason I'm asking the question. The soil I'm using is all coming off my property. I had done some construction (built a barn and a longer driveway) and when I did that - I scraped all the topsoil and piled it into one corner of the lot. At the time I did this - I picked any larger sized rocks that were easy to grab out of the soil. Now I've finally reached the point where I'm trying to finish off the landscaping - so that whole dirt pile - along with the 18 inches or so off topsoil that were in that corner of the lot - has all been scraped up and moved to another larger pile.

Then I brought in a bunch of subsoil that I had piled in another corner - brought the grade up a foot and a half or so, and now I'm at the point where I'm going to lay the topsoil back down. I know there are rocks in there - and I'd like to get them all out - but I also would like to do it in the most efficient way. I currently already have Virnig rock bucket - so I could sift the soil first using that to get out all of the bigger rocks. That would leave behind stuff that is 3" and below. I've actually looked at the Desite soil sifter products:

But I don't know if it's worth the money to get a sifter for just this one small job. I could probably make something for a lot cheaper - but then I'm going to have a sifter sitting around that I won't need after this one relatively small job. I've thought I could probably rent the thing out afterwards and even make the money back over time, but in the end I've either got to buy or build it - and it's unlikely to be the most cost efficient way to do this.

I figure if the tiller will spit the rocks up to the surface - I can pick the biggest ones out with the rock bucket either when I'm digging the pile - or right after I've moved it - then I can run a tiller thru to hopefully spit as many of the smaller ones to surface as possible.

After that - I can just call it good enough.

 

[jim_wilson]

If you handy with a welder, build yourself a Grissley and screen the topsoil your placing. You can make one out of rebar and make the openings as big or small as you want.

However if you can get or rent a heavy duty tiller, yes it will bring the rocks to the surface. Then you can run a rock bucket through and screen them out

I've actually got a Virnig 54" rock bucket now - but it only really removes the larger sized rocks. Anything that is 3-4" and under still falls thru.

One idea I did have - was to pick up a 54" or 60" skid steer type bucket - because the bottom is wide - and then cut the bottom out and weld in something like a 1" screen. Then I could do what you're suggesting - just run the bucket thru the dirt I've placed and pull out any rocks.

I've seen a number of places selling skid steer type buckets in the 54" to 60" range for not too bad pricing ($600 or so) - and I've got a welder. I've even searched around for suitable screen - but haven't found exactly what I'm looking for (for the screen that is).