Moving Blocks and Rocks

By Leslie McGuire, managing editor

It?EUR??,,????'???s important to find attachments that are universal and designed to fit most of the modern skid steers manufactured today. That way you will not be bound to any manufacturer. If or when you decide to change brands, you will not suffer from costly trade issues. Photo courtesy of K2 Summit

 

If you?EUR??,,????'???re strong, have a sturdy back, and don?EUR??,,????'???t need to move blocks or rocks often, then it is possible to do it by hand. However, there are some excellent tools and attachments that will shorten jobs while saving you and your staff from injury as well.

Before there were things like skid steers, loaders with grapple attachments, dump trucks with hydraulic lifts, tractors and backhoes, there were mules, rock sleds ?EUR??,,????'??+ try dragging it?EUR??,,????'??+or pry bars. These rods of heavy metal are flattened on one end, with a flattened hook on the other. This allows you to wedge the bar between the rock and whatever it?EUR??,,????'???s leaning or sitting on. The longer the pry bar, the more leverage you?EUR??,,????'???ll have with the rocks.

Overfilling the bucket may cause a tipping condition in the case of a loader or skid-steer loader. Using this bucket for heavy loads, and overloading the machine, may also lead to shorter machine life.

To use a pry bar, have a small block of wood handy to use as a fulcrum, or a point of leverage. Place the tip of the pry bar under the rock and rest the middle to lower part of the bar on the block.

For example, with wheel loaders and skid steers, tipping capacity is rated by measuring the load in the center of the bucket when it is fully rolled back to its carry position. Moving the load center away from the machine will affect its tipping capacity.

With wheel loaders and skid steers, tipping capacity is rated by measuring the load in the center of the bucket when it is fully rolled back to its carry position. Moving the load center away from the machine will affect its tipping capacity.

Sometimes an operator thinks that if a machine?EUR??,,????'???s tipping capacity is 5,000 lbs., he ought to be able to pick up a 5,000-lb. object with a set of forks. But the center of gravity of the object may be several feet further forward than the measuring point on a bucket, and thus will overload the machine.?EUR??,,????'??

It?EUR??,,????'???s also important to respect the attachment?EUR??,,????'???s intended purpose. An example is a light material bucket being used to load wet sand, where the operator still wants to fill the bucket. Overfilling the bucket may cause a tipping condition in the case of a loader or skid-steer loader. Using this bucket for heavy loads, and overloading the machine, may also lead to shorter machine life.

Invented in 2004, the EZ-SET is a good way to accurately place large pieces of stone, blocks and boulders, on landscaping and construction job sites without using straps, shovels, crowbars or two-by-fours for placement. Photo courtesy of K2 Summit

When it comes to excavators and backhoe-loaders, manufacturers have made it easier to maintain stability by providing load charts with the machines. These are only helpful if you know how to use them, and adhere to specified capacity limits.

It?EUR??,,????'???s also important to find attachments that are universal and designed to fit most of the modern skid steers manufactured today. That way you will not be bound to any one skid steer manufacturer. If or when you decide to change brands, you will not suffer from costly trade issues.

The EZ-SET was invented in 2004 by a successful Landscaping Contractor who thought there had to be a ?EUR??,,????'??better way?EUR??,,????'??? to accurately place large pieces of stone, blocks and boulders, on landscaping and construction job sites without using straps, shovels, crowbars or two-by-fours for placement.

Owned by K2 Summit Enterprises Group, the EZ-SET is available in 1,000 lb. and 3,000 lb. capacity models. This is an innovative way to place large stones, modular blocks, boulders, pipe, timbers, outcroppings, ledge stones, monuments, stone curbing, cement roof tiles and more on landscaping and construction job sites.

Building Blocks

4 to 6: Inches, the depth landscape professionals burying the bottom of large rocks to make placement appear more natural. Source: S & S Designed Landscaping<

700: Pounds, the approximate weight of a 24-inch (diameter) rock. Twelve-inch rocks weigh about 100 pounds, and 18-inch rocks weigh about 300 pounds. As a result, skid steers should be used when working with these boulders. Source: Kalamazoo Landscape Supplies