TimsIHtractors Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 I'm looking into buying a rock picker. There are many "hard potatoes" in my area, and usually it is done with one's back and a skid steer bucket or beaterless manure spreader. No one in this area has one, and I was thinking of not only buying one for myself but doing custom rock picking with it. I think I would make a really decent go at it for the amount of work and time it takes to do it the old fashioned way. I was looking at a Highline because they are hydraulic drive, since I have smaller fields it would be nicer to take corners with. Recommends an optimum 18gpm hydraulic flow, so I'd have to update a pump on a tractor somewhere, at least to the 17. What did the 86 or 88 series of tractors have for hydraulic pump capacities? I know the Magnums have quite a bit, and I don't think you can hardly buy a new tractor without having at least like 30 gpm. To run these machines, what is the best ground condition? Moldboard plowed? Chisel plowed? Left as-is? I'm investing in Fastenal this week because I'm going to be going through coulter shear bolts like they are going out of style when I start moldboarding some ground, the other ones, well, thank God it is a rented chisel plow. I still have to do plenty of picking so I don't have to worry when cultivating or combining. Rough stuff. Just looking for anyone's input, thanks.
ole three bottom Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 Tim ask Wilson about this machine. Neese's borrowed one about like this one before they bought it. Here are some pictures from a year or two ago when they borrowed the other rock picker and a rock rake. At that time they were just windrowing what rocks were on the surface with the rock rake and then picking them up with the rock picker.
wildfire1206 Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 For seeding down we moldboard, go through with our offsets, run drags (spring tooth harrows) to shake up the stones, then use the Degelmen rock rake, and onto the Schulte picker and another pass with the drags where the windrows were to smoothen it out. We have a stone bucket for our Bi-directional so we'll see how that is for picking up the windrows instead of the picker.
oneday Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 see a lot of these in my reigon, never used one though. http://www.tractorhouse.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=5739558
Bermuda_Ken Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 We had a DEGELMAN rock picker (no reel) towed by a Hydro 100 and it was great. Be sure to NOT SPREAD any gravel on the farm (especially here in WI). This acts as "seed" that "grows" into larger rocks before you know it!!!
ole three bottom Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 We had a DEGELMAN rock picker (no reel) towed by a Hydro 100 and it was great. Be sure to NOT SPREAD any gravel on the farm (especially here in WI). This acts as "seed" that "grows" into larger rocks before you know it!!! So that's how they get started,,,
Art From Coleman Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 see a lot of these in my reigon, never used one though. http://www.tractorho...px?OHID=5739558 That is quite the contraption. It looks like it could do double duty as a sugar beet harvester if the beets were pulled and laying on top the ground. There were no rocks in the fields around where I grew up. The gravel pits were along the Boyer River, and the limestone quarries down at Logan had to remove the top soil to get to the rock. Maybe the rocks rolled down off the hills and wound up by the river? The rocks in the fields started up around Oldebolt and north from there. One neighbor did buy a dragline in hopes of starting a gravel pit, but that never panned out.
Loadstar Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 I'm looking into buying a rock picker. There are many "hard potatoes" in my area, and usually it is done with one's back and a skid steer bucket or beaterless manure spreader. No one in this area has one, and I was thinking of not only buying one for myself but doing custom rock picking with it. I think I would make a really decent go at it for the amount of work and time it takes to do it the old fashioned way. I was looking at a Highline because they are hydraulic drive, since I have smaller fields it would be nicer to take corners with. Recommends an optimum 18gpm hydraulic flow, so I'd have to update a pump on a tractor somewhere, at least to the 17. What did the 86 or 88 series of tractors have for hydraulic pump capacities? I know the Magnums have quite a bit, and I don't think you can hardly buy a new tractor without having at least like 30 gpm. To run these machines, what is the best ground condition? Moldboard plowed? Chisel plowed? Left as-is? I'm investing in Fastenal this week because I'm going to be going through coulter shear bolts like they are going out of style when I start moldboarding some ground, the other ones, well, thank God it is a rented chisel plow. I still have to do plenty of picking so I don't have to worry when cultivating or combining. Rough stuff. Just looking for anyone's input, thanks. Theres a reason why Degelman invented the rock picker not 50 miles from me. There are several other makes that will do a job but from what I have seen, Degelman is the best. Definitely hydraulic reel drive is the way to go. Ground drive is fine if you only have a few big rocks but for cleaning up those pebbly little hill tops you need to be able to gear down and still keep the reel turning fast enough. Also nice to be able to reverse the reel when a rock jams or you get a pile of dirt on the grate. Those grate teeth are amazingly tough and I have yet to see one broke or bent. My Crown rotary picker has had bent grate teeth for years. Straightening works (for a while) until I hit the next big buried boulder. Best picking conditions are when the soil is dry, fairly well packed and as little trash as possible. If its wet or loose you are going to pick a lot of dirt even with hyd drive. Heavy trash is also a problem. If your not too fussy how much dirt you pick then I guess its not a problem but I prefer to build my rockpiles free of dirt.
wildfire1206 Posted April 24, 2010 Posted April 24, 2010 Our Schulte is hydraulic drive, has the chain style reel instead of the big bat reel, works alright but the bats may be better. For a rake, if you get one, get a Degelmen...the teeth are replaceable, others arent.
oneday Posted April 24, 2010 Posted April 24, 2010 see a lot of these in my reigon, never used one though. http://www.tractorho...px?OHID=5739558 That is quite the contraption. It looks like it could do double duty as a sugar beet harvester if the beets were pulled and laying on top the ground. There were no rocks in the fields around where I grew up. The gravel pits were along the Boyer River, and the limestone quarries down at Logan had to remove the top soil to get to the rock. Maybe the rocks rolled down off the hills and wound up by the river? The rocks in the fields started up around Oldebolt and north from there. One neighbor did buy a dragline in hopes of starting a gravel pit, but that never panned out. these must work well, i would say 98% of all rock pickers you see in the field around here are Haybuster Rock-eze. i'm in the sugar beet belt and the beet harvesters are WAY bigger than these rock pickers.
TimsIHtractors Posted June 13, 2010 Author Posted June 13, 2010 Thanks all for the replies. I might be looking into a Haybuster, I have liked that the rake is attached to the picker for one pass work. Been a bad year for the rocks around here, I haven't picked this much rock in my whole life. After wrecking my 315 combine head last fall, I'm interested in removing as many rocks as possible... They aren't easy on chopper knives, either. Thanks again!!
baart38 Posted June 13, 2010 Posted June 13, 2010 I have a Degelman prong picker that I picked up cheaply at an auction. Problem is that you really need a hydrostatic or IVT tractor on it which I don't have. It's OK for medium to large size rocks spread out in the field. If you have a lot of them its easier and quicker to get of the tractor and pick em by hand.
Ernest Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 Years ago we my uncle used a haybuster on some land for the local cannery! Man did that thing ever clean the field up! Way better than the other kinds listed. They rake beets dirt lumps up pretty good and the large rock wheel does a nice job of picking up smaller rocks and filtering dirt out. Some around here have cleaned their farms up with the haybuster! Making their fields almost rock free for several years now. Plus takes only about 80 horse to run! They were using a 666 D with a 312 and mostly 7710 fords at the time!
john r Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 If you have lots of small rocks the Haybuster is the one to use.Only works well in neer trash free land though.It will pick more fist size stones in a couple of days than a man would in years by hand.Only good to about 15 in
Rudderford Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 If you can keep trash levels down, then you will be picking mostly rocks. We have found that our picker can work in a wide range of moisture conditions, but you want to see a little dust come off it while you pick. If you run a harrow through it a few times before you pick, then you can drag up any hidden rocks. Windowing the rocks results in a much better picking job, as you get more of the rocks and you can make fairly clean windrows free of soil.
ChrisNY Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 Wow, another 2 year old thread resurrected.
ryan wegman Posted December 19, 2011 Posted December 19, 2011 Wow, another 2 year old thread resurrected. my sentiments exactly...
wildfire1206 Posted December 19, 2011 Posted December 19, 2011 Well guys, it's either this or somebody start a new topic of the same...
newred Posted December 19, 2011 Posted December 19, 2011 Well guys, it's either this or somebody start a new topic of the same... Then everyone says - search it - this was discussed before . might as well bring back the old one. Only so many topics out there.
M Diesel Posted December 19, 2011 Posted December 19, 2011 Well guys, it's either this or somebody start a new topic of the same... Then everyone says - search it - this was discussed before . might as well bring back the old one. Only so many topics out there. At first it seemed like digging up the past, but with good content like this it is better to add on. Nice operation, wow that is a lot of rocks for a field.
Rawleigh99 Posted December 19, 2011 Posted December 19, 2011 Wow, that field looked like Mars! Glad we don't have rocks here!
rsscott Posted December 20, 2011 Posted December 20, 2011 Check out a company called STEC in Anderson, SC. Sells a reverse, high speed tiller that burys the rocks and trash deep. Neet video too. The guys name is David and he is from England and imports the components for these machines from there and does final assembly here.
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