The world I live in is gravel. Stones range from the soil at my home where average stone size is three feet diameter with some ten footers. Elsewhere, rocks might be 2 feet as the largest, ranging all the way down. To smooth out soil whether driveway or other, it is necessary to remove the stones from top layer so the dozer can grade. Any stone left will make the blade will hop up, and make a pile. Stones 8" and larger can be pushed to a pile, and scooped up with a loader. Smaller ones have to be hand picked. Is there a better way? I imagine a dozer rake that will let the smalls pass through, pushing stones ahead. I hate to buy, or build if it won't work. What do you think? Willie
I think the rake idea has merit but would advise as share an angle as possible so the rake doesn't load up and stop fines from passing threw. It would have to be directional so when angled to say the right for example the tines would be facing strait ahead.
an easy way is a 4 in 1 bucket or grizzley
I have a grizzly made from 2x5 channel spaced 4" apart. I've tried scraping the top layer, trucking it to the grizzly, and putting it back down. It helps, but the grizzly bars are too far apart. Moving the grizzly is sort of a big deal. Perhaps I should make a secondary rack to drop over the first to down size the stones that pass through. A power screen is what I want, used they sell for $30,000. That's not going to happen. Yesterday's project was in the aftermath of a water line repair. The driveway was poorly shaped anyway, you climbed a few feet in twenty, leaving the town road, then downhill from there. I cut it to be near level, just enough pitch to shed storm water. I couldn't help thinking how nice it'd be to have a machine to pick the rocks instead of spending half a day with two five gallon buckets picking grapefruit sized rocks. I tried a York Rake once, that wasn't quite the tool. Willie
The technique that I know of is to run across it with the blade angled and about an inch off the surface and the big loose rocks will catch and roll off to the side. Not saying I am very good at it. Is that not working for you?
I have chased rocks in the field after subsoiling, with a skid loader "rock bucket" but mainly for larger round stuff. Really not for digging them out, kind of fragile in that respect. The smaller townships that still have dirt roads, the graders all have the scarifier teeth on the rear.
With bigger rocks it works well. The grapefruit, and smaller ones seem to only scoop dirt, and organic matter along with them. Willie
I find it better to excavate the driveway down at least far enough so any large rocks are below grade, dump the oversize as fill. Then spread some classified gravel or stone and grade that. I have seen ads for attachments for skid steers and loaders that claim to screen out all the oversize but don't have any personal experience with them.
I've seen Harley Rakes work. They are great, but I've only seen them used on processed gravel, and screened topsoil. Either way, it's a $10,000. gamble. I have a friend with an old big Caterpillar loader. The bucket has never been on it, instead, it has a rake. By tipping it back far enough it can carry boulders. The tines are a foot apart. I use a backhoe for boulder removal. It's little rocks plaguing me. Willie
We use these for residential lawn installs, http://rockhound.com/rockhoundlandscaperake Usually Cat or Bobcat rentals have them for rent, they pick up from 3/4" and larger, anything bigger than about 4" and it doesn't like pulling them in. If you have a skid that has aux. hydraulics I'd give one a try.