Rock Tongs

[Dana]

I am in the process of moving some large boulders from the sides of our fields to the sides of the driveway. They rocks are granite and about 2 to 3' in diam. Have been using the tractor with the 3500 lb. pallet forks but a few parts of the fork frame are becoming stretched,  I don't want to damage it further. Has anyone made tongs that could reach around the rocks and lift them? I am picturing something like log tongs only bigger. They might need a third or fourth tong to help with the uneven surface. I was also thinking of a hydraulic grapple type piece of equiptment but this would take longer to build. Anyone done this or got some ideas? Anyone want to guess the weight of the rocks I have been moving?

[SwampDonkey]

Got an escavator with a bucket and thumb?

[Dana]

Nope.

[sprucebunny]

When they are too big to fit in the bucket of my backhoe, I chain them in.

Have also moved several by tying them up with chain like a Christmas present and dragging them or picking them up.

If you have a couple extra grab hooks on very short chain, it makes the Christmas present trick work better.

[Don P]

I have it on good authority that those things can be like icebergs, capable of tearing the top link out and busting the seat cover, rockshaft and forks :D  :-[.

[beenthere]

If you are carrying the rocks a long way on the forks, then I suspect that is where the damage to the forks happen. Try loading them on something to do the long haul, but lifting them with the pallet forks. Maybe a truss of somekind to hold the forks while loading would help too (chain binders and chain? ).
I find the forks real handy to grub out boulders and move them, compared to the many ways I used to do it.  I live on the terminal moraine of the glacier of 10k years ago, and about every 3 years, have to grub out those 'black'_ heads that keep pushing up from the frost. If too big, I dump a load of dirt on them to raise the height of the lawn so the mower blades don't hit.

[mike_van]

 Anyone want to guess the weight of the rocks I have been moving?

Dana, somewhere I read that Granite weighs 160 lbs. per cubic foot.  You would have to do some rounding off & estimating, but you could get close to the weight that way.

[Reddog]

Put a loop of chain around the bottom. And run a chain over the top hooked to the bottom chain on both sides and pick it up. Similar to what Sprucebunny said. But easier to get unhooked with out the chain under the rock.

[scsmith42]

Solid granite weights 168 lbs per cubic foot, and 4536lbs per cubic yard.  Sounds like you're picking up 3000 - 4000 lbs.

I second what Sprucebunny and Reddog recommended re chaining it in.  Good luck.

Scott

[Dana]

Thanks for the replys. I have used chains in the past, I was hoping for something simpler like this tong idea. Beenthere you are right I am carring them about an 1/8 mile so far. I can really here the metal on the forks creek. Next time I am going to use the dirt scoop on the 3 point hitch. With that I just get the rocks in as far as possible and chain what hangs out.

[Murf]

Sounds like you need something like a logging arch that you can tip up, chain the boulder to, pull the tongue back down and tote the rock away.  :

You can tow a whole bunch more weight with ease than you will ever lift.  ;)

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, if you got an old car hood, you could put a pretty big rock on that to toe, as long as you had a good chance to chain up the load.  ;D

[beenthere]

Tractor tire chains make a good 'sling' to hold rocks for transporting them.

[SwampDonkey]

But, man they are heavy. I'de wear myself out dragging them around the rocks I want slinged. At least the chains we used were quite heavy.  : The only way around it might be to drive over the rock if it could be straddled, or maybe up along-side, but your still going to be tugging on them a bit.