Built-It-Yourself Rock Picker

Built-It-Yourself Rock Picker ROCK PICKERS Rock Pickers 26-5-19 "It's the fastest and easiest way we've ever found to pick rocks," says Ralph Mueller, Endeavor, Wis., about his home-built rock bucket equipped with a rotating reel that pulls rocks into the bucket. The bucket picks up rocks ranging from 4 in. dia. up to as big as 18 in. Mueller, of Endeavor, Wis., built the rock picker to mount on his Case skid steer loader. The 52-in. wide rock bucket has evenly spaced steel rod teeth across the front lip that are angled into the ground. They scoop up rocks, letting dirt drop out as the rocks slide into the back of the bucket. When needed, a rotating reel mounted above the front edge of the bucket can be activated to help pull rocks out of the field and knock them into the back of the bucket. The reel runs in either direction so if it gets stuck, Mueller just reverses direction. A cage over the bucket made from heavy gauge expanded metal protects the operator from flying rocks. Power is provided by a hydraulic motor that operates off auxilliary hydraulics. "It can haul up to 1,000 lbs. of rocks at a time. The machine's 52-in. width matches the width of the bucket that I use on my skid loader. "It works fast and is the handiest thing I've ever built," says Mueller. "It's amazing how fast it gathers in rocks. Skid steer loaders are so much more maneuverable than a tractor that I can clear a field with this rig in the fraction of the time of any other rock picker I know of. If the rocks are on top of the ground I just scoop them in without stopping. When the bucket is full, I dump the rocks into a dump truck that I converted into a trailer, or pile them up at the edge of the field. I can fill the 5-yard dump truck with head-size rocks in only about an hour. "I already had the hydraulic motor and spent about $400 for steel and other materials. I used 5/16-in. thick steel plate to make the back and sides of the bucket. "The front tines are made out of 6-sided, 1 1/4-in. steel that I already had and are welded to a length of 3 by 4-in. sq. tubing. The rotating tines are made out of 1 1/8in. sq. stock, and after three years of use I've broken only one tine off. The bucket floor is made out of 1-in. sq. tubing. The floor is about 4 in. below the front tines so once rocks are in there they stay put." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ralph Mueller, W5016 Cty O, Endeavor, Wis. 53930 (ph 608 587-2439; E-mail: muellerfarms@maqs.net).

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