Rock bucket

I knew I had a problem with rocks on site 1 deer food plot. It was late but we wanted to combine the rye off the field first and see if our old early 60's Oliver combine would work. It wasn't real thick but we got 3/4 bag of rye off of it.

My brother Tommy operating.



https://www.facebook.com/video/video.ph ... 3409949147

There were way too many rocks in it to be able to plow, disk or rotill it. So had to use a set of brillion spring tooth harrows on it. I'm surprised I didn't break them. It was bringing my 65 hp Massey tractor to a complicate stop and I was having to lift them move forward a few feet and drop them again.





Since I knew I wasn't going to pick them by hand I bought a 66" wildkat rock bucket with teeth for the skid steer. It has a vertical 3/8 steel plate every three inches so it collects the 3" and bigger rocks and lets the dirt fall out. One part I messed up on is that I should have worked up the ground a few times over a month or two. All the plant stems really plugged it up and wouldn't let the dirt fall out.

Technique wise I am still trying to figure out the best way. I found out real quick filling the bucket and trying to shake the dirt out doesn't work real well. The best way I have found so far it to push forward a foot or so until I have a pile of dirt and rocks at the end of the bucket and roll it back hard. The rocks will fly to the back of the bucket and most of the dirt will fall out. Also trying to get the bucket more than 1/3 full just takes way too much work. The dirt sits on top of the rocks and doesn't fall out very well. With the technique I have so far it definitely works better with a hydrostatic machine. It would be a whole lot more work if I had to clutch and shift. As well as a lot of wear and tear on a clutch.

I am really glad I got the teeth on the bucket. It really helps pry up the rocks. And it penetrates rocky piles better than my Case W14 wheel loader that weights 10000 lbs more that the skid steer.

It also works great for split firewood. When using a regular bucket I always get a bunch of dirt and gravel when I get a scoop of wood. With this most of the dirt and wood chips fall right out. When I first got my grapple bucket I was ask how it worked with firewood so I went out and tried it. And the answer was not very well. Splits were constantly falling out and getting scattered all over the place.




Out of this little area.



I got this pile of rocks. It doesn't look too big but its a good 6' high.



Once I got the bigger area worked up. I found it was a lot faster to use the dump truck so I didn't have to travel as far with my 1/3 bucket load of rocks. All together I spend three long days working up the ground and picking the rocks. I got 7, 1/2 dump truck loads of of rock out of the bigger area and dumped them in the gravel pit. But forgot to take a picture of it. The old blue truck is so tall I couldn't dump the bucket when I got much more than a 1/2 load in the truck.



It was amazing to me the size of the rocks the spring tooth's pulled up.



But finally on the 14th I had all my brassicas in and waiting on rain. The only thing I didn't do was fertilize. I didn't want to try to mix it in and bring up more rocks. Hopefully I can be up just before a good rain so I can spread it and have the rain soak it in. But I think its looking pretty good.



And the reason for all the work?



Billy

Billy, nice job. One of your rocks is shaped like a baseball cap.

zap

Thanks Zap

Good thing I didn't end up wearing it.

Billy

The skidsteer bucket saved the day! Would have been completely miserable without it.

Ha...I thought, "I'll never spot that one rock"......Oh, there it is!

Billy, looks great. Please come to my house, bring all your equipment

I didnt understand half the words in your post but beautiful land you have there, looks like new england soil, loaded with rocks.

Nice work Billy. One thing you'll no doubt find is that picking rocks is usually better in the Spring or early summer. Another thing you'll find is that entire area is full of rocks! Just about the whole eastern UP is almost solid rock. lol

Great Dennis.....NOW you tell him!
Billy, I love that there's always a method to the madness.

Nice place...gotta love all the equipment(toys)... Nice looking 265...I had a 165 but needed something a bit bigger and got a 383.
Keep up the good work there...anybody need a rock fireplace?...

Good job billy, we have rocks here but not that many. Those skid steer attachments sure are handy, but they can get pricey. I am looking at getting a farm tractor to get a brush hog, to get a brush hog type implement for the bobcat might cost me as much as a small tractor. Of course I want to get a bigger tractor, I know you feel my ego with all your toys. About 3 weeks ago I put in a tree stand and another food plot and plant turnips and winter bulbs as I hear they are great for the fall and winter. I put the clover and brassicas in the spring and planted some apple trees. I had to put cages around the trees or the deer destroy them.

Nice work.... Love me some Whitetail.

Are you gonna sell them? Those rocks can fetch a good dollar?

That's a lot of rocks! Looks like you got the plot looking pretty good, that hard work (and wear-and-tear on the equipment) paid off. Imagine how hard it was for the old settlers back in 'da day to do that same job.....BY HAND. The had to rip that old plow through that hard dirt, and dig those stumps and rocks out as they ran into them. Thanks for the great photos, Billy. Look forward to some trail cam pics of that plot when it grows in!

Great before and after pics . . . I think my favorite though was seeing that old combine in action.

No doubt about it Luke

I picked a lot that were laying on top by hand. But the more I worked the ground the more I had until it was out of control.

Fox

I wish I could. I'm sure I would have a great time as well as getting some work done. I was only 10 or 11 the only time I went to Arkansas. With my Grandma and Grandpa. The things I remember most is Grandpa making us get out of the old motorhome and walk across a rickity wooden bridge that it barly fit on. And sneaking under the fence and teasing a long horn bull in a pasture. And the homemade icecream.

Weatherguy

We sure have the rocks where I am at. The east side of the property has 6 to 10 feet of ground. But as I head west I loose my dirt and its solid limeston bed rock. With a few limestone ledges.



Dennis

I am sure that would help to work the rocks to the top. But for the rock bucket to work well the ground has to be dry and loose so it can sift through tines in the bucket.

Dave

I got a plan! It doesn't always work but I got one.

S&F

I have fun with them. I gotta re ring the 265 its smoking bad. It only has 2006 hrs on it. But when I changed the water pump last year I found no one ever changed the water pump and air pipe was packed with dirt after the cleaner.

G&WN

I got the bucket for $675 plus shipping new. I thought that was a good price. I want a bush hog for it too. But what they want for them is crazy. I'm planing on taking my 3pt hog and making it skidsteer mount. I can get a 540 hyd motor from surplus center for around $300.

What are winter bulbs? I put in rape turnips and mangles. I wanted to put in some forge radishes but I couldn't find any locally.

Dexter

These are limestone and not worth much. I'm going to use them to make a road through a swampy area.

Scotty

I can just barely imagine how hard the old-timers worked everyday. Most people have no clue. Its no wonder so many people are obese the just don't do anything.

Jake

I can't believe how smooth it runs. But wow what a lot of adjustments you have to make to make it work right for what you are trying to harvest. We didn't get it set right but it worked well enough for what we were doing.

Billy

I always know that when I click on a post from you, Billy, that it will leave me green with jealousy over your cool toys. I don't hide that I'm a die hard JD fan, but I know a cool piece of ag history when I see it and I'd love to have something like that Oliver in my possession.

Aside from the toys, I also know that you'll be posting evidence of some impossible task completed because you guys work so danged hard.

Good work, Billy.

P.S. Do people actually call you "Cowboy Billy."?? I've known some "Cowboy ______" in my day and they always were amazing men that got stuff done. Very close friend of the family, Cowboy Bob, comes to mind. He died about 10 years ago and was still using an outhouse and only hand pumped water in the house up to a couple years before his death (in his 80s if I remember correctly).

Jags

It is a lot of work but worth it in the end. Its hard for me to go back and remember how limited the view was just two years ago. I can sit on the porch and watch animals enter and exit the field all day.

Danno

I just love playing with my toys! I do want to get a newer combine not really any bigger. But one that is easier to adjust and does a better job cleaning the grain. I will keep the Oliver and use it for grass seed as it does a good job on that.

I think of myself as Cowboy Billy. But I am not known by that much any more. It was mainly people at work and girls at the bars and restaurants that called me that. Now I don't go out very much and hanging out with friends that knew me from before I owned my own horse.

Billy

Jags

Two years ago I saw big snowblower on UP craigslist and that is what is looked like someone did.

Billy

You sure do have some great toys. It sure is tough working in rock. I have been plowing a small plot for a local community garden this summer with my IH Cub Cadet 149. The land seems to be where the builder dumped all the rock when a development was built. While it is tough going, it amazes me how much rock I can pull up with a 900 lb, 14 hp machine.
Click the image for a video.

Good luck with your plot and with the whitetails - those are some dense taters your picking! We have sandstone talus slopes on my land - I feel your pain.

Here is what I planted Billy, never used it before Sugar Beets and winter bulbs, I got it at Gandar Mountain:
http://www.gandermountain.com/modpe...er-Bulbs-Sugar-Beets-Food-Plot-Blend&i=420938

Steve

It can be tough plowing hard ground with a big tractor but it looks like you are moving right along. There is a good cub cadet form on farmallcub.com

OB

Ya gave me a great idea. My uncle has a old horse drawn potato digger at his place. Next year I can use that to pick up the smaller rocks.

G&WN

I figured it out what they are calling winter bulbs are just turnips. You can save some money and just go to the feed mill and buy rape and turnip seed and mix them together you self thats what I do. I don't know why they put sugar beets in with it. They take a long time to develop. I planted mine memorial day and found out I was 3 weeks late planting.

Billy