what machines do you have around you that you can rent? The john deere would handle them. you need a wheeled or tracked one?

 

A 15-20 ton excavator with a thumb and toothed bucket is the safest method, anything smaller and you are putting your legs and someone's life in peril.

 

A 15-20 ton excavator with a thumb and toothed bucket is the safest method, anything smaller and you are putting your legs and someone's life in peril.

get a deere 332 and you will be fine. your only lifting them 2 feet off the ground

 

yea deere would handle them fine, must rental centers around here have them...

 

get a deere 332 and you will be fine. your only lifting them 2 feet off the ground

go for a bobcat S330 :weightlifter:

 

go for a bobcat S330 :weightlifter:

that would work too. depends on what he can get

 

yea must rental places dont have them.

 

Thanks guys.

A wheeled model is fine. Its a level grassy area. Our local rental companies don't have much to offer, but I have a number of equipment dealerships within 5-15 minutes including New Holland/ASV (same location), JD, and Case too actually. Pallet forks are the only way with a skid too, right?

An excavator would be nice, I'm sure, but a 15-20 ton one sounds pretty big isn't it? What JD model would run in that range??

 

95XT or 465 is what I use or the excavator depending on what the job is. You wont find one these at a rental store, but you may at a dealer.

 

An excavator would be nice, I'm sure, but a 15-20 ton one sounds pretty big isn't it? What JD model would run in that range??

A 135US is a nice 15 ton machine with zero tail swing.

 

What about a telehandler/zoomboom? They can lift alot and shouldn't be to much to rent.

 

If you go the excavator route, a 15 ton would be best, but you could get away with a 12 ton machine. I only set stone with an excavator, so I can't comment too much on using a skid steer/small wheel loader for setting stone. I prefer to use an excavator with thumb, just because I can handle the stone much easier, but you can definately shuffle some heavy boulders around with a skid no problem.

 

If this is a one layer wall then a skid might do it but if you have to do two rows you need a excavator. A 3600lb boulder isn't something you want to really mess with. 160 sized excavator will do it. Using a excavator is easier because you can flip and flop the rock around so it fits right and you get the best face outwards.

 

Go with a skid steer and 11,000 pound forks. Place on a quck spade and place them all day long. I build a ton of wall like this. Pretty much all I do now. The quick spade makes life easy. It's a new product that i picked up last year from paumco products. I can't live with out it. You all need to really really look at this!!

 

Thanks Chad - you have any pics of this set up?

Another question.. maybe this should be in the hardscape section, but since I have your attention.. would you place these rocks on a compacted base as you would with interlock stone, or is it not worth it?

 

I have some pictures and I will ask my wife if she can scan them in for us. I'm not a big computer nerd. I can turn it on, go to the web and shut it off. That's about it. All I do is play in the dirt and I love it.

 

we have built a few rock walls out of large boulders before and never placed any of them on compacted base...since settling isn't too big of a cosmetic issue with a boulder wall (you can't notice it like you can in a stacked wall) i wouldn't waste the time of money preparing a base

 

I have always prepared a base. A rock wall is like everything else. If you don't have a good base. Your wall is only as good as the base. Knock on wood. I have never had a problem with a wall fall down or shifting and I know it's because I build a base. But maybe that's why I'm still busy and others need work.

Stand behind your work and make the customer happy. Can't ask for any better adver...

 

When contractors here build rock walls they don't haul in processed gravel for the base but when the prep work is done you never over dig then refill the low spot. Some of these boulder walls are 20 feet all and do have a slight rake back.

A load of rock (blast) that is fairly even shaped sells for 400 dollars a load (tandem axle dump). I really don't know what the rocks weigh nobody has ever weighed them but dimensionaly they are 3 feet long about 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide. Some rocks are larger but it is hard to describe they are rocks.

Contractors like to use blasted rock because it has squarer corners and flat sections. Round boulders or smooth boulders don't hold very well.

Some walls take 3-4 loads of rock and you get a operator that has built rock walls alot can make a good looking wall. The landscapers don't really like rock walls they call them contractor specials. When your building walls out of rocks the size of concrete lock blocks they kind of stand out.

If you need to bench the property rock walls is the cheapest option. Plus engineers approve of rock walls so it also helps with the costs.

 

I haven't put base under my boulder walls. Usually they are approx. 30" high or less so it isn't in a case where it is structural wall but more decoration. On the outcropping stuff the boulders get buried in the slope, sometimes 2/3 of the rock. Anytime a wall is to be structural I push to use Versa-Lok block.

 

I do a lot of walls every year. I have used both Versa-Lok block as well as key stone and boulder. I leave it up to the customer for what look they want. Over the last two years people are using the boulder look. I always build a base for any boulder wall the is higher then 30 inches. If it is 30 or below. I clean the ground and pack it. I also use tile behind the walls to make sure I remove the water as fast as I can so there is no pressure behind the wall when it rains. The highest boulder wall I have ever build was 37 feet tall. You have to put a large rake on the wall when it's that tall. Otherwise I talk the customer into doing tears of 5 to 6 feet tall at one time. I think this looks a lot in the long run because it breaks up the solid wall look. Plant some trees or other landscaping on each tear.

Unless it is 30 feet tall. I only now use my skid steers with the Quick spade product. I also brought a clamp from Paumco Products that sides right onto my forks to hold the boulders. It has a 2,500 PSI cyclinder on it. It's also sweet when clearing an area, removing brush or anything else you need to hold on your forks.

 

what exactly is this quick spade thing you keep talking about?

 

It's a unit that you can slide right on to your forks or your bucket. Go to paumco.com and check it out. They have pictures and video of it. i think they are the manufactures of it.

The fork one I have is the Quick Spade and I also own a Quick Spade combo. The combo goes on to your forks or bucket. They are very very well built. It must be built to hold up to a loader.