Stone Plow Yanks Rocks Out Of Ground

Stone Plow Yanks Rocks Out Of Ground ROCK PICKERS Rock Pickers 31-5-43 When the frost lifts a new crop of boulders to the surface of roads through his woods, Ken Lake plows them out. All he needs is to get the tip of his stone plow under the edge of a boulder, and the weight of the rock does the rest. "Pulling against the rock drives the plow down and underneath it, and the weight keeps the wheels from spinning," he says. "In the spring when the ground is soft, the boulders just pop right out. I pull out three or four and then move them off the road with my loader. I've pulled out 600 to 800-lb. rocks with it." Lake has been making the stone plows for himself and neighbors for several years. The retired welder fabricates a 3-pt. hitch using 4 by 4-in. angle iron for the cross bar. He boxes the last 6 in. on either end to give it extra strength and then welds on 3-pt. pins to match the buyer's tractor. "It really works well on tractors like a 460 Farmall with down pressure on the 3-pt. arms," says Lake. "It slides right in." The plow itself is made out of the main beams from an old two-bottom plow. He cuts them apart and then matches them up next to each other like a two-tine fork. Lake says he has never bent or straightened a stone plow beam. "I put a 5/8-in. cross plate about one third of the way down the curving beams to stabilize the beams so they won't pull apart," says Lake. "On some, I have welded a 4 to 5-in. tip made from the leaf spring on a trailer house. They really go into the ground easily with that tip." So far he has made and sold nine stone plows. Lake says he'll continue making them for about $200 as long as he can find old plow beam raw material. Lake says the stone plow can be handy for other chores too. When a neighbor clear-cut half an acre covered in alder brush, it grew right back thicker than ever. Lake suggested he cut it again, but this time, use the stone plow on it. "He used the plow to tear out the roots. He cleared them off, disked it and planted it to grass for pasture," says Lake. "It worked great." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kenneth Lake, 1353 Award Blvd., Wright, Minn. 55798 (ph 218 357-2721; welderman34@frontiernet.net).

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