I know WWers are a creative bunch.. many solve non WW issues.. so here
goes..
Any good ideas to seperate a large pile of dirt and rocks? I am
cleaning up several thousand sq ft of rock landscaping. I have a
tractor with bucket and box blade (3 pt hitch). I'm looking for a
creative way to take the combined rock/dirt and seperate out the
rocks, clean them off, and reuse. I was thinking of a 4' x 4'
platform of metal mesh, that could then be agitated, and possibly
dumped back into the bucket.
The rocks are 1" or thereabouts river rock ~ roundish. The solution
can be somewhat manual, but I have the tractor, so may as well us it
if possible.
Needs to be cheap.. under $100.. using scrap parts, etc.
In article <[email protected]>,
<[email protected]> wrote:
> The rocks are 1" or thereabouts river rock ~ roundish. The solution
> can be somewhat manual, but I have the tractor, so may as well us it
> if possible.
Walkway metal mesh flooring, and a cam on the PTO of the tractor?
djb
--
Go read this. Now.
<http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000129.html>
Once you've read that, go read this:
<http://lonestar-mvpa.org/events/2005/05_Katrina.htm>
On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 12:52:19 -0600, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
> I know WWers are a creative bunch.. many solve non WW issues.. so here
> goes..
>
> Any good ideas to seperate a large pile of dirt and rocks?
Water and a screen? Shaking and a screen?
> I am
> cleaning up several thousand sq ft of rock landscaping. I have a
> tractor with bucket and box blade (3 pt hitch). I'm looking for a
> creative way to take the combined rock/dirt and seperate out the
> rocks, clean them off, and reuse. I was thinking of a 4' x 4'
> platform of metal mesh, that could then be agitated, and possibly
> dumped back into the bucket.
Lots of weight on that box (BTDT).
> The rocks are 1" or thereabouts river rock ~ roundish. The solution
> can be somewhat manual, but I have the tractor, so may as well us it
> if possible.
I toyed with this earlier; my rocks were larger so I used chain link
fence as my "filter". Worked well but it's real work.
"Luigi Zanasi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On the other hand, if there's lots of vegetable material (roots, etc)
> in the dirt, the screen will definitely clog. I don't know how a
> vibrating/shaking screen would work then.
>
You're in the Yukon and have never seen a gold rocker?
Friends, the wife and I were going camping and panning one long weekend, and
were in buying supplies. Cal saw the long wire "Afro" combs by the checkout
and thought they might be a good sluice rake. Woman checking us out looked
at the white hand as he gave it too her, then up at the face, and burst out
laughing.
We had to explain why a bald white guy would buy such a thing to avoid
making a scene.
Wed, Sep 14, 2005, 12:52pm (EDT-2) [email protected]
did burble:
I know WWers are a creative bunch.. many solve non WW issues.. so here
goes..
Any good ideas to seperate a large pile of dirt and rocks? <snip>
I dropped by to post, and saw this.
Want something simple, inexpensive, that will work well, eh? Hmm,
tough problem. However, after thinking on your problem, I'd say go with
a platform of metal mesh, that could then be agitated, and possibly
dumped back into the bucket.
JOAT
I don't believe in reincarnation. I used to, but that was in another
life.
"Luigi Zanasi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> You don't need to make it vibrate. Just make a frame for a slanted
> screen (of the right mesh), dump your rock/dirt mix at the top of the
> screen, as it slides down, the dirt drops through the screen and the
> rocks slide down to the bottom of the screen. For a description of a
> manual shovel version, see:
That will work but the OP wants to use his tractor to make work faster and
easier. It's true that without a shaker the screen will still work, but if
there is any significant moisture in the mix, it will soon clog the screen
without a shaker. Look at any commercial screening operation - they all use
a shaker. Sixty degrees seems like a pretty steep screen. You can get a
screen too steep and end up with lots of fines that make it down the screen
with the stone. Better to keep it a little more shallow and give the dirt
time to drift off the stone and through the screen.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
I've seen this method used successfully. The tractor does all
the work, no manual labor needed.
Make a screen wider than your bucket and secure one edge
to the ground, Raise the other edge so the screen forms about
a 45 to 60 degree angle with the ground. Secure the sides well.
Dump the mix from your bucket onto the top of the screen.
Most of the mix will slide down the screen where you scoop it
up and dump it on top again. Keep this up till you're satisfied
with the cleanliness.
Remove the dirt from the backside as needed.
Art
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I know WWers are a creative bunch.. many solve non WW issues.. so here
> goes..
>
> Any good ideas to seperate a large pile of dirt and rocks? I am
> cleaning up several thousand sq ft of rock landscaping. I have a
> tractor with bucket and box blade (3 pt hitch). I'm looking for a
> creative way to take the combined rock/dirt and seperate out the
> rocks, clean them off, and reuse. I was thinking of a 4' x 4'
> platform of metal mesh, that could then be agitated, and possibly
> dumped back into the bucket.
>
> The rocks are 1" or thereabouts river rock ~ roundish. The solution
> can be somewhat manual, but I have the tractor, so may as well us it
> if possible.
>
> Needs to be cheap.. under $100.. using scrap parts, etc.
>
>
On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 06:59:37 -0400, "George" <George@least> scribbled:
>
>"Luigi Zanasi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> On the other hand, if there's lots of vegetable material (roots, etc)
>> in the dirt, the screen will definitely clog. I don't know how a
>> vibrating/shaking screen would work then.
>
>You're in the Yukon and have never seen a gold rocker?
Yup, and sluices and trommels and grizzlies and wash plants and pans
and cats and loaders and dredges and ... (for the uninitiated, we're
way OT into placer mining for gold here). But I don't think the OP
wants to stand there rocking his rocker and ladling water into it. :-)
>Friends, the wife and I were going camping and panning one long weekend, and
>were in buying supplies. Cal saw the long wire "Afro" combs by the checkout
>and thought they might be a good sluice rake. Woman checking us out looked
>at the white hand as he gave it too her, then up at the face, and burst out
>laughing.
>
>We had to explain why a bald white guy would buy such a thing to avoid
>making a scene.
Hey, whatever works.
Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Woodworking
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I know WWers are a creative bunch.. many solve non WW issues.. so here
> goes..
>
> Any good ideas to seperate a large pile of dirt and rocks? I am
> cleaning up several thousand sq ft of rock landscaping. I have a
> tractor with bucket and box blade (3 pt hitch). I'm looking for a
> creative way to take the combined rock/dirt and seperate out the
> rocks, clean them off, and reuse. I was thinking of a 4' x 4'
> platform of metal mesh, that could then be agitated, and possibly
> dumped back into the bucket.
That's essentially how a screening plant works. The smaller stuff falls
through and the stuff that won't fall through rolls off the edge of the
screen. Obviously, the screens are tipped so that the rocks will roll of
into a pile. You'll need to come up with a pretty aggressive shaker
mechanism and it's going to make some noise, so if you have neighbors
nearby, they may not like it.
>
> The rocks are 1" or thereabouts river rock ~ roundish. The solution
> can be somewhat manual, but I have the tractor, so may as well us it
> if possible.
>
You'll certainly want it to load the screens and then to move the piles
afterwards. You could rig up a motor with a cam attached to the pully and
simply place the cam under the edge of the shaker screen. As the motor
turns, the screen will ride the cam and create a lift/drop sort of movement.
Gear it right and get a good drop out of it so that you really rattle the
rocks around, and it might just work.
> Needs to be cheap.. under $100.. using scrap parts, etc.
>
>
I think it might be doable.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
You need a screed. It is simply hardware cloth with the desired openings
nailed to a frame. I do this all of the time. I shovel the dirt on to the
screen and the dirt falls through and the rocks stay on the screen.
max
> I know WWers are a creative bunch.. many solve non WW issues.. so here
> goes..
>
> Any good ideas to seperate a large pile of dirt and rocks? I am
> cleaning up several thousand sq ft of rock landscaping. I have a
> tractor with bucket and box blade (3 pt hitch). I'm looking for a
> creative way to take the combined rock/dirt and seperate out the
> rocks, clean them off, and reuse. I was thinking of a 4' x 4'
> platform of metal mesh, that could then be agitated, and possibly
> dumped back into the bucket.
>
> The rocks are 1" or thereabouts river rock ~ roundish. The solution
> can be somewhat manual, but I have the tractor, so may as well us it
> if possible.
>
> Needs to be cheap.. under $100.. using scrap parts, etc.
>
>
On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 21:07:05 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
<[email protected]> scribbled:
>
>"Luigi Zanasi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>
>> You don't need to make it vibrate. Just make a frame for a slanted
>> screen (of the right mesh), dump your rock/dirt mix at the top of the
>> screen, as it slides down, the dirt drops through the screen and the
>> rocks slide down to the bottom of the screen. For a description of a
>> manual shovel version, see:
>
>That will work but the OP wants to use his tractor to make work faster and
>easier. It's true that without a shaker the screen will still work, but if
>there is any significant moisture in the mix, it will soon clog the screen
>without a shaker. Look at any commercial screening operation - they all use
>a shaker. Sixty degrees seems like a pretty steep screen. You can get a
>screen too steep and end up with lots of fines that make it down the screen
>with the stone. Better to keep it a little more shallow and give the dirt
>time to drift off the stone and through the screen.
No question that it would be more efficient with a shaker and he would
have to run the stuff through only once. The commercial operations
also use conveyors, all in the interest of minimising the handling of
the material. But with a 3/4" mesh hardware cloth, it shouldn't take
more than a couple of passes to get rid of most of the dirt (depending
on the type of dirt & how wet it is), and then the rocks can be washed
on top of the screen placed horizontally.
On the angle, you're quite right about the moisture. IME, I have used
different angles for different types/moisture of soil. Too steep and
not enough dirt gets screened out, too shallow and the rocks might not
slide. Experimentation will quickly establish the most efficient
angle.
On the other hand, if there's lots of vegetable material (roots, etc)
in the dirt, the screen will definitely clog. I don't know how a
vibrating/shaking screen would work then.
Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Woodworking
"Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 12:52:19 -0600, [email protected]
<[email protected]> wrote:
> > I know WWers are a creative bunch.. many solve non WW issues.. so here
> > goes..
> >
> > Any good ideas to seperate a large pile of dirt and rocks?
>
> Water and a screen? Shaking and a screen?
Stay away from the water until after you've screened the stone from the
fines. You'll have a hell of a mess on your hands otherwise. If you need
to wash the stone, then do it seperately, after the stone is sorted out.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
"Mike Marlow" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> I know WWers are a creative bunch.. many solve non WW issues.. so here
>> goes..
>>
>> Any good ideas to seperate a large pile of dirt and rocks? I am
>> cleaning up several thousand sq ft of rock landscaping. I have a
>> tractor with bucket and box blade (3 pt hitch). I'm looking for a
>> creative way to take the combined rock/dirt and seperate out the
>> rocks, clean them off, and reuse. I was thinking of a 4' x 4'
>> platform of metal mesh, that could then be agitated, and possibly
>> dumped back into the bucket.
>
> That's essentially how a screening plant works. The smaller stuff falls
> through and the stuff that won't fall through rolls off the edge of the
> screen. Obviously, the screens are tipped so that the rocks will roll of
> into a pile. You'll need to come up with a pretty aggressive shaker
> mechanism and it's going to make some noise, so if you have neighbors
> nearby, they may not like it.
>
>>
>> The rocks are 1" or thereabouts river rock ~ roundish. The solution
>> can be somewhat manual, but I have the tractor, so may as well us it
>> if possible.
>>
>
> You'll certainly want it to load the screens and then to move the piles
> afterwards. You could rig up a motor with a cam attached to the pully and
> simply place the cam under the edge of the shaker screen. As the motor
> turns, the screen will ride the cam and create a lift/drop sort of
> movement.
> Gear it right and get a good drop out of it so that you really rattle the
> rocks around, and it might just work.
>
>> Needs to be cheap.. under $100.. using scrap parts, etc.
>>
>>
>
> I think it might be doable.
>
For what it is worth.
Actually saw a guy who made one using old car coil springs. Mounted a steel
frame on the coils and used some metal grating. Used the bucket of the
tractor to bump the frame, which surprisingly kept moving after bumping it.
Not a huge operation by any means and it did require some manual raking from
time to time, but it did seem to get the job done for the home owner.
Getting the correct coils I would imagine would be the trick.
--
Chris
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a
soldier. If it is in ebonics, thank your Congressman.
Hi,
I did something like that at my house. I took out 2,000 sq. ft. of
lawn and put in a vegetable garden and big flower bed. I build a box
of 1X4 and put a wire screen on the bottom. The box was set on two
longer rails. I used angle brackets to attach the box to the rails.
the chicken wire isn't even attached. It is trapped between the wood.
I just would load it with the dirt and rock and shake it over a
wheelbarrow. I would take the rocks that were remaining and put them
in a second wheelbarrow. It worked great! I used two handles attached
to the rails to make it easier to shake.
It really got the job done.
Good Luck.
Zug
On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 14:56:54 -0400, Mike Marlow wrote:
> You'll certainly want it to load the screens and then to move the piles
> afterwards. You could rig up a motor with a cam attached to the pully and
> simply place the cam under the edge of the shaker screen. As the motor
> turns, the screen will ride the cam and create a lift/drop sort of movement.
> Gear it right and get a good drop out of it so that you really rattle the
> rocks around, and it might just work.
I did this some years back for a compost shaker. Bolt an electric motor
solidly to the frame. Mount washers off balance ... they needn't weigh a
ton -- just enough to get the shaft out of balance and set up a vibration.
Actually, I set up a sacrificial dummy shaft and mounted the washers on
it to save my motor shaft and bearings. In the end, I think that might
have been slight over-engineering.
It isn't necessary to shake the bejabbers out of the frame ... move it a
quarter inch or so and you're in business. Compost is pretty wet. Lumps
left over at the far end were just fuel for the next pile.
Bill
On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 12:52:19 -0600,
[email protected] scribbled:
>I know WWers are a creative bunch.. many solve non WW issues.. so here
>goes..
>
>Any good ideas to seperate a large pile of dirt and rocks? I am
>cleaning up several thousand sq ft of rock landscaping. I have a
>tractor with bucket and box blade (3 pt hitch). I'm looking for a
>creative way to take the combined rock/dirt and seperate out the
>rocks, clean them off, and reuse. I was thinking of a 4' x 4'
>platform of metal mesh, that could then be agitated, and possibly
>dumped back into the bucket.
>
>The rocks are 1" or thereabouts river rock ~ roundish. The solution
>can be somewhat manual, but I have the tractor, so may as well us it
>if possible.
>
>Needs to be cheap.. under $100.. using scrap parts, etc.
You don't need to make it vibrate. Just make a frame for a slanted
screen (of the right mesh), dump your rock/dirt mix at the top of the
screen, as it slides down, the dirt drops through the screen and the
rocks slide down to the bottom of the screen. For a description of a
manual shovel version, see:
<http://groups.google.com/group/rec.woodworking/msg/60e2a090b74a98c0?dmode=source&hl=en>
You should be able to adapt the idea to use with your tractor & for
dumping more dirt at once (i.e. much beefier and bigger than my manual
version).
Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Woodworking