Scarifier

[DennisThornton 4,769]

I have 40 acres of glacial till in the Adirondacks and I can't stick a shovel in the ground anywhere without hitting a rock.   There is some decent soil in between in some areas but every time I challenge the earth I fight rocks.  Some as big as vehicles but even when the big ones are removed I still fight rocks.  ROCKS!

 

Anybody used one of these?   Or anyone want some rocks?

[WHNJ701 4,165]

I will take some rocks,  you deliver to nj!

[71_Bronco 1,072]

Thats a pretty cool impliment, almost like a less-agressive cultivator.

[ebinmaine 67,310]

23 minutes ago, DennisThornton said:

I have 40 acres of glacial till in the Adirondacks and I can't stick a shovel in the ground anywhere without hitting a rock.   There is some decent soil in between in some areas but every time I challenge the earth I fight rocks.  Some as big as vehicles but even when the big ones are removed I still fight rocks.  ROCKS!

 

Anybody used one of these?   Or anyone want some rocks?

We have the same basic issue here in Maine on the side of a mountain. 

 

Our "soil" is about 50% rock that varies from 2 or 3" to the size of a couch. 

 

 

We've thought about making a single tooth scarifier that would be at the back or on a mid hitch.  We MIGHT be able to get away with 2 teeth. 

 

As much as I like the idea of a multiple tooth set-up like that I believe it would be very limited in usefulness to us because of the amount of rocks. 

 

[Handy Don 12,163]

4 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

We've thought about making a single tooth scarifier that would be at the back or on a mid hitch.  We MIGHT be able to get away with 2 teeth. 

As much as I like the idea of a multiple tooth set-up like that I believe it would be very limited in usefulness to us because of the amount of rocks. 

I agree that a single tooth might be all that the tractor can handle in very rocky soils. It would allow the tooth to flex the arm and slip around one of those furniture-sized rocks where a multi-tooth implement might get stuck--might be able to run deeper, too.

At some point, it seems like Brinly offered a ripper tooth as a swap for the plowshare on their moldboard plow arm--not in their current lineup, though (I suspect the AG Supply's 16" bolt on's might work here if you already have the arm). Nice feature of this setup is the adjustable angle of attack but I'd think it might need some weight to get it stay down in rocky soil since most WH sleeve hitches are gravity only for down pressure. Am on the lookout for something like this to make or buy for use on the Tug Hill in upstate NY (west of @DennisThornton's neck of the woods)

[DennisThornton 4,769]

19 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

We have the same basic issue here in Maine on the side of a mountain. 

 

Our "soil" is about 50% rock that varies from 2 or 3" to the size of a couch. 

 

 

We've thought about making a single tooth scarifier that would be at the back or on a mid hitch.  We MIGHT be able to get away with 2 teeth. 

 

As much as I like the idea of a multiple tooth set-up like that I believe it would be very limited in usefulness to us because of the amount of rocks. 

 

You poor soul!  You live in the same crap the ice ages gave both of us!

We should share our miserable experiences and try to to better.

Guess you're not interested in any of my rocks...

[WHNJ701 4,165]

If it makes you feel better, our first house was in the river valley, I dug in a big koi pond all by hand, eventually I found one small rock about the size of a tennis ball.  We and the neighbors had some amazing gardens down there.

Now I am 7 miles away up on the mountain again and I am in the same boat your, rock.

[DennisThornton 4,769]

4 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

I agree that a single tooth might be all that the tractor can handle in very rocky soils. It would allow the tooth to flex the arm and slip around one of those furniture-sized rocks where a multi-tooth implement might get stuck--might be able to run deeper, too.

At some point, it seems like Brinly offered a ripper tooth as a swap for the plowshare on their moldboard plow arm--not in their current lineup, though (I suspect the AG Supply's 16" bolt on's might work here if you already have the arm). Nice feature of this setup is the adjustable angle of attack but I'd think it might need some weight to get it stay down in rocky soil since most WH sleeve hitches are gravity only for down pressure. Am on the lookout for something like this to make or buy for use on the Tug Hill in upstate NY (west of @DennisThornton's neck of the woods)

i've fought rocks here since 1986 and lost every year!  My best approach has been to backhoe an area, pull out the boulders and then run the rest though a screener.  Seldom worth it but I've done it a couple times.  I think a rock grapple is my next best friend.

[DennisThornton 4,769]

1 minute ago, jabelman said:

If it makes you feel better, our first house was in the river valley, I dug in a big koi pond all by hand, eventually I found one small rock about the size of a tennis ball.  We and the neighbors had some amazing gardens down there.

Now I am 7 miles away up on the mountain again and I am in the same boat your, rock.

Funny story.  Up here, long ago, the glaziers delivered huge rocks for nothing!  Folks downstate NY have to pay a lot for such!  We had a visitor from downstate that commented, "Man, you got a lot of big rocks!"! 

Yep!   And still do!

[SylvanLakeWH 25,496]

If this idea doesn’t work, You can always do what the Irish did... haul the sea weed and kelp up from shore and spread it out. (In your case use leaves grass etc.) Repeat for 100 years or so. Then you can plant some potatoes... then move to another continent... Start over...

 

[Handy Don 12,163]

15 minutes ago, jabelman said:

If it makes you feel better, our first house was in the river valley, I dug in a big koi pond all by hand, eventually I found one small rock about the size of a tennis ball. 

My wife and I enjoyed having a place down the Shore (New Jersey) for many years. Essentially a house on stilts on a sandbar. Finding a rock while digging there was an event -- you'd call the neighbors to discuss it!

[DennisThornton 4,769]

1 hour ago, jabelman said:

I will take some rocks,  you deliver to nj!

Just like eBay!  "Shipping Included!"  Local Pickup Only!

[DennisThornton 4,769]

9 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

If this idea doesn’t work, You can always do what the Irish did... haul the sea weed and kelp up from shore and spread it out. (In your case use leaves grass etc.) Repeat for 100 years or so. Then you can plant some potatoes... then move to another continent... Start over...

 

Looks like that was done already!  Otherwise I can't explain the rich soil between the boulders!

[DennisThornton 4,769]

6 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

My wife and I enjoyed having a place down the Shore (New Jersey) for many years. Essentially a house on stilts on a sandbar. Finding a rock while digging there was an event -- you'd call the neighbors to discuss it!

Just down the road my neighbor has nothing but sand and NO stones!  I'd trade him an acre!

[oliver2-44 9,708]

My house sits on top of 1 rock. A 60 mile red granite dome. But this dome isn’t smooth.  It is exposed a block from me, but I have about 6-8 feet of granite gravel sand in my yard which was old river bed. But this river had a lot of clay silt in it. With just the right moisture I can bury a shovel head.  But being sand it dries out fast which makes gardening a challenge. Then bone dry it’s just like granite under it. 
The reddish pink granite that the Texas State Capital was built with is quarried 4 miles from me. Their still quarrying in the same area today and shipping it around the world. There are actually 5 queries in a 20 mile are with colors from very pinkish red to very dark redish black

[oliver2-44 9,708]

1 hour ago, DennisThornton said:

 

What if you turned the points around with the slope forward  Maybe it would take some tractor down pressure to keep it in the good soil, but would ride up over the rocks 

 

Because of our hard clay soils when dry I saw a local farm pond builder with some homemade pivoting rippers on the back of his dozer blade. Going forward they pivoted horizontal, then when backing up he just barely drug his blade and the rippers rode against the back of the blade and dug in. No lost motion. 

[DennisThornton 4,769]

3 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said:

What if you turned the points around with the slope forward  Maybe it would take some tractor down pressure to keep it in the good soil, but would ride up over the rocks 

 

Because of our hard clay soils when dry I saw a local farm pond builder with some homemade pivoting rippers on the back of his dozer blade. Going forward they pivoted horizontal, then when backing up he just barely drug his blade and the rippers rode against the back of the blade and dug in. No lost motion. 

Perhaps similar to my spring harrows!  Engage and move it or just spring over and exclude it ?.  I don't know but it is a struggle that I lose most of the time! 

[rjg854 11,351]

Not sure what kind of rocks your dealing with, maybe something like this

 

[ecsi635j 34]

Not to take away from your topic, but is that a Bolens Tube frame I see there! Both gear drive and Hydro's are very stout and capable tractors.

[DennisThornton 4,769]

12 hours ago, rjg854 said:

Not sure what kind of rocks your dealing with, maybe something like this

 

Got two!  Both are great for what they do but they are no match for big rocks.  This is similar to spring tooth

[Goldnboy 910]

I can use some rocks, here in the Missouri River Valley  you have to get out the shovel and go down pretty far to find some "pond skimming  stones".

[ebinmaine 67,310]

You boys what ain't got enough rocks c'mon up. I'll even help load 'em. 

[ebinmaine 67,310]

2 hours ago, DennisThornton said:

no match for big rocks

We could use one o these to skim the driveway. 

 

When speaking of the scarifier teeth I'm imagining that we're wanting to loosen up the top 2 to 4 inches so as to scrape with a mid mount grader blade or dozer. 

Maybe to reshape the land area or remove the soil. 

The idea I'd had this past summer was to use the mechanism of the mid mount grader and put ((4 or 5 ??)) 3/8" or 1/2"  teeth about 10" apart. 

Judging by past experiences moving our soil that may actually be too many teeth. 

Another thought was to use a rear mounted carriage of some sort with 2 or 3 teeth say... 6 inches apart??

 

To go any more quantity here we would just plain need a MUCH bigger machine. 

 

 

[JoeM 7,871]

When we dig here it can be real exciting. From time to time we run across these large sandstone boulders. When I first moved here, at the crest of the hill, there was a small sandstone out crop. Maybe a foot in diameter. I decided to dig it up cause i did not want to cut around it. One day later, I had a chain wrapped around a 3x2x3 pulling with the truck, should have just left it be. 

This place is full of rocks and makes baby rocks too. Had a garden, i tilled year in and year out. made rocks every time I tilled. 

Denis you are worse off then me but I just decided to leave them alone!

 

[ebinmaine 67,310]

Up here we have the beautiful stone walls all over the place. 

You know it was a long term working farm if the wall is very wiiiide. Average wall is maybe 2 or 3 feet width. 

Long term farms there's walls as much as 8' wide or more.