# Subsoiler for Rock Removal?



## Suburban Plowboy (Jul 17, 2017)

The guy who sold me my house left some rocks in the yard. I want to remove them because I don't enjoy running into them with the lawnmower. I have read that subsoilers are good for yanking big rocks, and I wondered if this is a good attachment for the purpose.

Right now I'm working on a rock the size of a suitcase. Frigging thing has one end trapped under a live oak root, so I'm going to have to cut the root to get it out. If I had an attachment which would reach under it, I could yank it out without cutting the root. It would be even better if the attachment would break roots for me.

I have a front end loader, but it has four brush forks on it. These are like pallet forks, but there are four of them, and they mount separately on the bucket. They are a bear to take off, and they're incredibly useful. I am not eager to take them off every time I want to dig up a rock. They're held on by turnbuckles and chains. I've only tried to take them off once, and I couldn't budge the turnbuckles with a breaker bar.

My tractor is 37 HP, with a rear lift of around 2300 pounds.


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## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

Your tractor is a bit under powered for a typical single row three point subsoiler. They usually require at least 50 horses to dig in, then plenty of tractor weight to pull it. 

You could probably "worry" the rock out by making repeated passes with a subsoiler if the soil is soft enough and time was not an issue. You will also end up tearing out a lot of turf where your tractor's wheels spin trying to pull the rocks.

I do not know how many rocks you have, but renting a relatively small track hoe would more than likely save you a great deal of frustration.


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Tannerite! 

I had to fix a 2 foot hole in some families roof and floor when the gravel pit next door let off some dynamite and a rock went airborne. It was their house and luckily no one was killed or maimed.


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## Suburban Plowboy (Jul 17, 2017)

The M6040 is starting to look good to me.


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

you would be laughing if you had a tractor loader backhoe, wouldn't take much to short shift those rocks.


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## Suburban Plowboy (Jul 17, 2017)

Yeah, but $4000.


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## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

While out working I thought about how I remove rocks if it is an occasional deal. It is slow, but works as long as it is only a few. I have a single shank reversible subsoiler. The shank turns around backwards. It will remove rocks as long as you can get a hole started to drop the bit into and back into the rock and lift the three point as you creep backwards in the lowest reverse gear you have. My reversible shank ripper is a John Deere about 50 years old, and I use it with a Challenger compact with a creeper gear.

I have not seen any ripper like my old one in years, so I went searching for something along the same line, and found this: https://www.agrisupply.com/point-subsoiler-x-shank-ripper-tooth/p/73410/ Reasonably priced too.

Trying to pull a large rock with a forward facing ripper is pretty hard to do because of the proximity to the rear wheels, and trying to pull and lift pushes the dirt into the rear wheels, turns the rock into a blade trying to push a lot of dirt, making much more work for the tractor. I can pull two foot diameter rocks moving forward with my 120 horse 4X4 JD, but it is cumbersome and puts the rock under the three point linkage and ripper mounting bracket, and burns fuel like there is no tomorrow. Backing and lifting with the little tractor, as long as there is a hole to get the ripper tooth under the rock allows the tractor to bounce and work a heavy rock out of the ground. SLOW.

I use a post hole auger and drill a hole next to the rock I want to pop out, back in with the little tractor and work it out. I do not think it would break a root, as they are strong like cable.

I suppose at the price being asked it would be worth a try as long as you have patience and take your time.


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