Hallson Gardens

Allright I know this is probably an off the wall idea but I need you all to put your thinking caps on please.
My brother lives in an area that is ravine like, wooded and on top of a hill. Towards the bottom area's of said hill are very unique and rather large stones/bolders. He wants to retreive this stones and place them around his rather large yard. Useing the tractor is impossiable because of all the trees. Im game to help him (his wife won't venture the woody area) but were not sure what would be our best solution in retreiving them.
Here's what we have come up with.
We need to make some sort of device that would look somewhat like a large sling shot. We could wrap the backside of the stone with this material (what material? were not sure of) bring it to the front of the stone and then connect some rope to the ends of the material and then pull it up the hill with the tractor. Not sure if you can picture this or not...But what material could we use that would not tear??????
Or is there something we could purchase that would do the job. Any suggestions?????
Thanks to all in advance. ~Liz~

Just to get a more clear picture... the tractor could be used to pull the rocks up the hill, but not push them up? I'm not understanding the path the tractor is taking... or how large the stones are?

Would it work to leave the stones where they are and make it a "destination" with some landscaping around them?

How large (diameter) are the rocks?
It might be easier if you strapped the rocks to a plywood skid and drug the skid up the hill. The plywood would give you less resistance then the rock digging in the ground.

Remember the pyramids? Do you think they had tractors? Nah...but it can be done!

Wood skids would probably be the best idea. Can the tractor pull from the top of the ravine with the rock on the skid and a chain attached to the skid and the tractor? You'd probably have to have a high enough lip attached to the back of the skid to keep the rock from rolling off the back of the skid.
Good luck! Let us know how it all turns out.

I asked someone who knows about things like this, and it was suggested to make a sling for the rock out of very strong rope, or, as sometimes is used, old lengths of fire-hose-- there not being a likely fabric strong enough for this purpose.

I'm not sure how deep the ravine is, or how steep, but it sounds like you will need a winch to get them up, once you have your sling in place. I'm just trying to picture it, and seeing a problem with the tractor pulling forwards, with the weight coming up the hill below it. I don't know how big your rocks are, and how powerful your tractor. I just know (from a lifetime on the farm) that you do need to be careful not to stand that tractor up and flip it over backwards!
Let us know if you've come up with a solution!
Linda P

I've moved really large rocks by criss-crossing a heavy chain around them and then pulling them with my skid steer loader...

I knew I could count on you all for some Great Ideas! Ahhh.......Great minds in abundance!!
Here is a little bit more info about the area. The ravine in on the back side of the house with tree's everywhere. We can get a tractor down so far but not to the bottom which is where the stones are without cutting a bunch of trees down. (Seems like everything one wants is always at the furthest point) Anyways I know that in time he wants to do something with this property but they just built the house two years ago and we have been working on the upper part of the yard around the house. I know I have pics. of this area somewhere but getting them resized is still a problem for me since my son installed this new program. I just finally get one program figured out and then he New and improves it on me. It's nice that he is close by to do that, but it's hard for this gal to learn new tricks when it comes to computers! Thanks again for your wonderfull Ideas! I'll let ya know if we suceed or not. ~Liz~

Good luck, Liz. I'll be watching this post to see the outcome.

I will be the voice of caution here (not my best role)...this may be something to leave to the professionals. If you don’t know exactly what you are doing in securing the load properly - you could die or be maimed if the cargo straps, chains or cargo net come loose. You have stretched a rubber band and had it snap? Imagine a chain doing the same thing! Hauling something heavy uphill on a tractor is also best left to those who do it all the time...one tiny mistake can cost you your life or limbs. We just had a local lady die yesterday after her small tractor flipped over backwards on her - and that was on a flat lawn. And if you plan to have the tractor on top of the hill pulling the rocks up, the rope, chain or strap you will use will be rubbing on/into the edge of the hill, causing further safety problems.

If you aren’t already sure how to do this, this may not be the project to start learning on. Balance the cost of hiring a pro to do the job (or teach you how) against a visit to the ER (or a funeral).

wanda

Hi,
as to boulder, sometimes I do this way....
6 tons boulder in the middle of future pond...
http://home.tiscali.cz/wbgarden/wbgarde ... mage24.htm
Jan
http://wbgarden.com