Picking Rocks with our Old Spudnik Digger

Cleaning up the rocks in our field with a 1999 Spudnik 5640 Digger.

[@Burago2k]

Holy moly so much rock in level fields like that...literally farming rocks

[@jayparkinson1884]

Right, some people have asked what our soil type is and I will usually tell them silt and sand mixed with gravel. Thanks for watching!

[@devomx3027]

A lot of people would be happy to have potatoes that yielded as good as your rock crop!

[@jayparkinson1884]

Haha that’s for sure!

[@farmerpete0768]

We have a rock farm too, ever since I was little, I always thought a potato digger would work great. We don’t grow potatoes so we never had one around. Thanks for sharing 👏🏽🇺🇸

[@jayparkinson1884]

Thanks Farmer PETE 07! and yes it does work pretty good for picking rocks as long as you can keep it fixed, and it certainly makes a world of difference for growing spuds.

[@johnpeters9961]

Any idea where i could find a machine like that ? I definitely need one , and thanks for your response have a nice day ,

[@frankryder9325]

Now that is a Rock Picker !!

[@jayparkinson1884]

Modified potato diggers make great rock pickers!

[@marv1405]

Found your site while looking for rock picking videos. Yours is by far the mother, father, uncle, brother of all the rock pickers I've seen so far. Where I grew up in western Nebraska there were few if any rocks. Some of the crops included potatoes and sugar beets besides wheat, corn, soybeans. Look forward to seeing you harvest spuds.

[@jayparkinson1884]

Thanks Marv! We have definitely worked on this process over the years. This is my Dad’s brain child. Obviously we can’t get every rock, but harvest is 100% better and the field stays surprisingly clean in years following.

[@marv1405]

@@jayparkinson1884 Thanks for reply Jay. Wondering what you were raising on this ground before and after you removed the rocks. Can't imagine you could raise spuds with all those rocks. Digger would have seem to have difficulty differentiating between rocks and potatoes. Also wondering where this ground is, Idaho, Washington?

[@l337pwnage]

The surprising thing to me is a field with that many rocks in it. That's crazy.

[@jayparkinson1884]

I will admit before we put a digger in the ground, I had no idea that many rocks were going to come up. We had to start getting creative on where to put all of them. That was after we built a two mile farm road two feet high.

[@brandontegan9665]

Dang that is a lot of rocks! Nice video. Love the Massey, we have 5 of them

[@jayparkinson1884]

Thanks for watching Brandon! Yes the Massy’s have some nice perks.

[@brandontegan9665]

@@jayparkinson1884 we farm in the lava rocks, have you tried your machine in those conditions? My brother and I have talked about doing something similar to your conversion but I'm wondering what happens when it hits a solid ledge.

[@jayparkinson1884]

Valid concern! You can see ours jump/lurch when it hits something big, which definitely reveals the weak points of the machine which we’ve maintained and strengthened. We’re trying to go as deep as possible, even though the machine is only meant to go as deep as the potatoes.

[@buildcastles]

unbelievable amount of rock....amazing

[@jayparkinson1884]

Yes it's a lot. I'm sure this was a river bed at some point.

[@kimberlymedina6105]

That’s a lot of rocks!!!!

[@jayparkinson1884]

It sure is! We’ve avoided that field for a long time and finally gave it a try last fall. Rocks are definitely the harvest that keep on giving haha!

[@tadwicks2709]

Wow, I am impressed, that is a bunch of rocks. How in the world would you ever dig spuds with that many rocks? great video thanks

[@jayparkinson1884]

Yes it is a lot. You only have to dig spuds once with this many rocks before realizing you need to pick the rocks beforehand… we’ve been there. Thanks for watching!

[@phalanx3803]

damn thats alot of rocks! using the spud harvester was a good idea doing that with traditional one would have taken ages with how limited there box is. tip rent a rock crusher and turn it in to gravel then you can sell it.

[@jayparkinson1884]

Phalanx380 that is a good tip. That would be a good way to capitalize on the whole process. Thanks for watching!

[@randywells4674]

Make a hell of a driveway

[@jayparkinson1884]

Yes haha after we did that, we still don't know where to put it.

[@smgwarrelics]

Man that thing works great. What can be done with the stones? Can you sell them?

[@jayparkinson1884]

We did build a two lane farm road 3 feet high and 2 miles long. All the rocks in this video came after that though… we haven’t asked if anyone would be interested. We all kinda have a lot of rock around here. Thanks for watching!

[@johnreimer9224]

Did you have to beef up the harvester for picking rocks

[@jayparkinson1884]

Yes we made some modifications like a straight blade, heavier belted chain, and we took out the roller table on the elevator to simplify repairs. Thanks for watching John!

[@scottrosevold3645]

that' unbelievable, any dirt left?

[@jayparkinson1884]

Haha, well it sure depends on the field. Some pretty good, others… dirt mixed with gravel 😅 thanks for watching Scott!

[@Grimace_Integ420]

Where was this located? Those mountain look very very familiar

[@jayparkinson1884]

Salmon and Challis area of Idaho

[@lovesloudcars]

That rock would be worth a ton of money where I live. Bring in a gravel crusher& sell it all.

[@jayparkinson1884]

We would love to! As you can see there is no shortage of rock here, so not much demand.

[@walterfox3500]

Where are you located , and how often do you do rock removal?

[@jayparkinson1884]

This is in central Idaho. We usually only have to pick once if we do a good job. After that, the rock levels that are left are pretty well maintained by our potato rotation.

[@rickcinway2312]

@@jayparkinson1884does the frost bring up rocks later on? Would the destined field have to be redone after awhile.

[@jayparkinson1884]

@@rickcinway2312 yes the frost does bring up some rocks, but not too many. Because the ground is going into a potato rotation, the rocks are maintained from harvesting the potatoes.

[@DeepakReddyKongari]

Hey Jay. Really nice video I am from India I have built a rock picker we also used belted chain for conveyor web and i would like to ask what kind of rollers you have used in this machine to minimize the wear and maintenance. Really appreciate your suggestions

[@jayparkinson1884]

This is set up just like a potato digger: steel nose rollers and shakers. One difference is that none of the belted chain has rubber on the links, although many of the rollers do.

[@MrPlusses]

That's one way to get your rocks off.

[@jayparkinson1884]

Still a good amount of work, but definitely beats picking them out by hand.

[@jackofall2305]

Is farming rocks profitable? I wish i could get my hands on that stone.

[@jayparkinson1884]

In our case I would say yes when you consider wear and tear on other machinery, even though we don't have a market for rock.

[@donmathias1705]

Like the principal. I would have thought the rocks could have been used as wind breaks across the fields. They have to go somewhere but depositing them where they can protect the field against prevailing wind would aid productivity, soil erosion and conserve water.

[@jayparkinson1884]

Yes, it has worked well for that pupose. If you stack them right, you pretty much have an indestructable fence as well.

[@lepaul26]

So was this field already in use or is this a new one ? So many rocks 😕

[@jayparkinson1884]

Yes, it was previously irritated pasture, then alfalfa. Much better with the rocks cleaned up.

[@lepaul26]

@@jayparkinson1884 Wow, must have been hell for the seeddrill etc

[@warpedbeyondhelp]

How much do you get for a ton of rocks?

[@jayparkinson1884]

So far, no one has offered, but they would pretty much have an unlimited supply!

[@Johnsonfamilyfarmsproduce]

Were you going 12 inches deep or did you drop the elevation of the field 12 inches? 😂

[@jayparkinson1884]

Certainly feels like the latter when you're watching trucks roll out of the field every two minutes 😅

[@bapstalbert439]

from switzerland super video en 2017 nous sommes venu visiter des fermes dans votre région nous avons été choqué a quel altitude 1300-1500 metres pour cultiver des semences de pomme de terre

[@jayparkinson1884]

Thanks Bapst! And yes it’s definitely a shorter growing season as well. The fields are being picked to prepare for seed potatoes so the growing season for those is shorter than commercial potatoes. Thanks for watching!

[@steveschultz300]

I had engineers tell me that "we are running out of aggregate...". I'm thinking that we aren't running out; we just don't have them in the "correct" places.

[@jayparkinson1884]

Yes, no shortages here!

[@rasszakir8999]

...Отлично , просто смотрю и восхищаюсь . Там наверняка остаются какие-то мелкие камни , и мне интересно , нужно ли второй раз очищать одно и то же место , чтобы получить лучший результат ?

[@jayparkinson1884]

Yes there are some small rocks left. Once we clean the field one time, it usually stays clean for several years after.

[@romeowhiskey1146]

What is the goiing BUSHEL rate for ROCKS?

[@jayparkinson1884]

No joke! but I would say on average we are digging around 400 tons per acre of rocks

[@michaelfoort2592]

How much damage does the spudnic sustain?

[@jayparkinson1884]

It's fairly significant, especially since it's not really built for digging rocks. I would say we get about 100 acres out of it before we need to go through substantial repairs on belted chain, bearings, and wear parts.

[@derrick9635]

It's basically a rock qaury 😅

[@jayparkinson1884]

Yes, this field is practically a dried riverbed.

[@garthstorer4861]

What model of Sputnik is that digger

[@jayparkinson1884]

Hi Garth, this is a 1999 Spudnik 5640. It doesn’t have the original boom. We didn’t want to pay new for one so we just grabbed one off a scrapped double L digger.

[@leocornett3428]

why do they not just have a crusher and sell the gravel?

[@jayparkinson1884]

@@leocornett3428 very true!

[@Pross1993]

What do you do with all the rocks/rock piles?

[@jayparkinson1884]

We mostly look at them, but we did build a 2-lane road 3 feet tall and 2 miles long. Once you pick the rocks the first time you generally don't have to do it again.

[@johnpeters9961]

Wow thats nice how big a rocks can you pick with that machine ?

[@jayparkinson1884]

Hi John. We have fit some pretty big stones through it and haven’t found one too big yet. As long as the blade will pick it up, it’s fits the rest of the way. Thanks for watching.

[@watchthe1369]

Proof of God. A potato digger works to get the rocks out first, once your figger it out.

[@jayparkinson1884]

Yes definitely better than dealing with them during harvest or other field operations.

[@buddah5894]

Why not have a harvester with an airhead?

[@jayparkinson1884]

We actually tried that first on this field, but the rock box on the side filled up every fifty feet which resulted in a bunch of little piles in the field that we had to go pick up anyways with this machine. Decided to just get it out of the way before planting.

[@seljuk11]

Patates toplar gibi topluyor maşallah.

[@jayparkinson1884]

Yes, if only potatoes would yield like this!

[@apollo4fourty]

Check HUSARYA Inovative Stone Pickers. Not as bulky, but probably more efficient

[@joelawrence56]

flagship MF in its natural environment!

[@jayparkinson1884]

Heck ya, that old digger gets it done!

[@staudtj1]

At least growing rocks doesn't require much water . . . .

[@jayparkinson1884]

@@staudtj1 I’ll say… the gift that keeps on giving!

[@randyadams7269]

Get a portable crusher and start selling gravel.

[@jayparkinson1884]

Haha yeah for sure! We could keep something like that busy for a while.

[@ljmajkrzak]

Terrible sound ruins video

[@jayparkinson1884]

Better than standing next to that truck being loaded 😂

[@allinone-bz7tj]

I need to find this equipment in California to remove rock from a 10 acres piece of land,any information?

[@jb-vz4wb]

Hi there is a company called Nortech that makes something similar. Or you can find a used potato picker. There are a few different styles of rock pickers, fork type, reel type, this style like a potato picker. Depending on the size of your rocks you can pull them up with a tine impliment like a chisel plow or something. Then you can rake them together with a rock rake, and pick them up with a picker. Sometimes your local Ag co-op rents implements, or for 10 acres you can get some older small implements cheaply used. Then you can sell them for around what you paid for them!