CLEARING FARM LAND 13 



bulldozer then pushed the other soil into the trench and graded topsoil over a 

 strip 10 to 20 feet wide. The stones generally were covered about three feet 

 deep and topsoil was graded as the last operation so that grass and crops could 

 be grown. In the wet season of 1945 no difference could be noticed in the growth 

 of silage corn, potatoes, and hay on the strips where stone walls had been buried 

 that spring and the previous fall. The cost of this method ranged from 85 cents 

 to Si. 10 per linear yard of ordinary stone walls 3 by 3 feet or 4 by 2 feet in size. 

 Generally two-thirds of the total cost was for the shovel and one-third for the 

 bulldozer. A smaller proportion of time was spent with the shovel, however, 

 because in most cases the charge per hour was higher than for the bulldozer. 



Another method of taking out stone walls, especially where there were stumps 

 along the wall, combined the use of the power shovel, bulldozer, and dump 

 trucks. The shovel was used to load the stones from the wall and any stumps in 

 the fence row on trucks to be hauled to a swamp or other waste land and dumped. 

 The bulldozer was used to pile loose stones for the shovel, to push stumps on 

 the bucket for loading, to push stones and stumps into the swamp after they were 

 dumped, and to fill and grade the trench left by the removal of the wall. Because 

 more equipment was used in this method, costs were higher, ranging from $1.15 

 to $2.25 per linear yard of wall. The more costly job included one stump per 

 rod and the work was done on wet ground so that considerable time was lost by 

 all the equipment. Lender normal operating conditions costs by this method 

 should range from SI. 00 to $1.50 per linear yard. The rates charged for equip- 

 ment in 1945 and 1946 were $6 to $9 per hour for the power shovel, $5 to $8 per 

 hour for the bulldozer, and $3.50 per hour for each truck and driver. 



A method of stone wall removal was reported where a stoneboat about 5 by 

 12 feet in size and made of sheet steel was used to haul the stones. This stone- 

 boat was drawn along the wall, the stones were pushed on by the bulldozer, the 

 load was drawn to the edge of a swamp by the bulldozer, and the stones pushed 

 off into the swamp. When the distance is short and a large load can be hauled, 

 this method may be economical. Such equipment could be used to haul stones a 

 short distance to fill low wet areas or ditches where topsoil had been pushed off. 

 The drained area could be utilized for crops or pasture after topsoil was graded 

 over the stones. 



Removing Field Boulders 



Boulders in the ha>- and crop fields on Massachusetts farms are serious ob- 

 stacles to the use of machinery in planting, growing, and harvesting crops. In 

 some cases larger boulders have been broken by "mudcapping" with dynamite 

 and the fragm.ents removed with a stoneboat. Crawler type farm tractors have 

 been used to pull out sjnall boulders, but this was a slow and laborious procedure. 



The acre cost of removing boulders with the bulldozer varied widely depending 

 upon the number and size of boulders, size of bulldozer, experience of operator, 

 and method used. Records show that a small bulldozer for which the rate charged 

 was $4 to $5 per hour required more than twice as much time to remove the same 

 quantity of boulders as a large machine at $8 to $10 per hour. 



In removing boulders with a bulldozer the most common procedure was to 

 push the soil from two sides of the boulder so that the blade could be placed 

 under the boulder for a lifting and pushing motion to roll it to the surface. Boul- 

 ders were pushed into a swamp or into a row to make a rough stone wail around the 

 field. Boulders that were too large to be pushed out were buried in holes dug 

 by the bulldozer or shovel and where a stone wall was buried some field boulders 

 were pushed in also. In a few cases large boulders were drilled and split with a 

 charge of dynamite so that the bulldozer could push them out. 



