May 17, 20215 yr We cleared and scraped much more ground that we thought we would and have ended up with quite a lot of bare soil. The quality of it is fine but I have noticed that we have a lot of stones, ranging from 5cm pebbles right up to 20cm+ rocks. Does anyone know of a small machine that could be hired to remove the stones? I don't fancy doing the 1,500 sqm by hand and the farmer's stone picker needs a tractor so is too big.
May 17, 20215 yr You can buy or hire powered rotating sieves: https://www.screwfix.com/p/scheppach-rs350-automatic-rotary-soil-sieve/3213k I hemmed and hawed about this (we have sandy soil with lots of pebbles) and curse the day I ultimately decided it was too much effort. Just last week I was pulling dandelions out of the lawn, and two thirds of the time I had to contend with stones in the way. Edited to add: just saw 1500m2 - that's a LOT of area to process. Any reason not to get the farmer's tractor involved?
May 17, 20215 yr Author 7 minutes ago, jack said: You can buy or hire powered rotating sieves: https://www.screwfix.com/p/scheppach-rs350-automatic-rotary-soil-sieve/3213k I hemmed and hawed about this (we have sandy soil with lots of pebbles) and curse the day I ultimately decided it was too much effort. Just last week I was pulling dandelions out of the lawn, and two thirds of the time I had to contend with stones in the way. Edited to add: just saw 1500m2 - that's a LOT of area to process. Any reason not to get the farmer's tractor involved? The farmer could probably do some of it but we also have quite a bit already landscaped as in the picture with terraces and bunds as we have a flood issues with surface water coming off fields. I think a tractor with one of those big stone scanners would trash it. I was hoping there was something more like a rotavator size but can't find anything.
May 17, 20215 yr If you don't want to have a full sized tractor on there, find a landscaping company with a Stoneburier and a compact tractor. Blecavator make a range of sizes and are the well known brand. They create a fine tilth and push the stones down, and give a nice flat finish. It would only be a couple of hours work. Edited to add: Looks like they can be hired too https://www.fthhiregroup.co.uk/hire-products/landscaping-and-groundscare/groundcare-equipment/blecavator-stoneburier-attachment as an example. Edited May 17, 20215 yr by IanR
May 17, 20215 yr Do what our neighbour did and hire what I assume was cheap immigrant labour to do it by hand!
May 17, 20215 yr Author That tractor and stoneburier is exactly what I'm looking for but that is an expensive hire. We have a lot of fruit and veg pickers around here, might well be worth finding out if they want some extra cash.
May 17, 20215 yr Author 32 minutes ago, dpmiller said: minidigger with stone rake? Did not know that was even a thing, could well work.
May 17, 20215 yr Gosh I wish I knew about that stone burier , could use my own furgy on site. I have spent way too many hours bent double picking up stones from my plot ?
May 17, 20215 yr 22 minutes ago, joe90 said: I have spent way too many hours bent double picking up stones from my plot ? Likewise - I actually filled a small skip with such stones prior to our turf going down, across 600 sq metres of earth. Back breaking work - probably not want you want to hear @Ralph ?
May 18, 20215 yr Author 9 hours ago, Redoctober said: Likewise - I actually filled a small skip with such stones prior to our turf going down, across 600 sq metres of earth. Back breaking work - probably not want you want to hear @Ralph ? I can still remember the backache from picking tatties in the holidays as a child and I don't want to do that again!
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