Carrying rocks

I want to move rocks around for trail building. I was considering some kind of yoke across my shoulders with a polypropylene bag on each side. The terrain will be too rough for a wheel barrow.

If I had another person we could carry a bag between us, but if not I’d need something. Does such a setup exist already? Is there a traditional technique I can use?

Note that I don’t plan to damage anything, the trail is strewn with large loose rocks already, I just want to move some to fill in a short boggy section.

Use a barrow with a rope attached to the front. Neither pusher or puller will feel like they are doing anything. We use this technique all the time at work to shift building materials over rough ground, it makes it super easy.

Also, you can get all terrain wheelbarrows.

I don’t really want to buy a new wheelbarrow for this. I used to have a normal one but I got rid when we finished the garden.  I am thinking of solo techniques.

How far you moving them?

You are under-thinking this, trebuchet.

Barrow…far easier than a yoke with bags.
Sounds like you’ll need to buy something so just buy the barrow.

Solo is hard work cos physics. We rarely lift heavy stuff alone, yes it’s doable but the price is a strained back and worse, ripping your chalfonts.

You can roll stuff with a pinch bar, slow but you won’t hurt yourself. 

Drag on a tarp with some sort of harness?
Old pram from the dump? probably find one of them fat bikes from yesteryear and fit the tyres to the pram.
Could you not make some north shore raised woodwork instead , or would it still need rock to stabilise it?

You’d be surprised how willingly you’ll be gifted a wheelbarrow on the likes of freecycle

Thought this was a thread to say you really like carrying. Carrying rocks! It’s one of my few specialist skills. Anyway, er, carry on…

Carrying rocks with no sunMoley fought the law and the law won

Yes, wheelbarrow. A long wrecking / prybar can help manoeuvre them and sideways roll of the wheelbarrow to get them up and moving. Also, depending on the rock type, but breaking them up with a sledgehammer? 

Levitation 🪄

If i’s trailbuilding I assume that you will need to get there somehow so therefore preferred not to take a wheelbarrow.

How about some sort of bike trailer that you could get there attached to your bike and then remove to use to shift the rocks.

Have been pondering this as well. We are in a disused mine area and there often interesting rocks around that need relocating. It’s when we are out on a walk so don’t want to with loads of equipment. Have considered a beefed up folding luggage trolley. Another option is a courier bag like my old paper round bag. Not ideal on the back but better than nothing. No idea where you might get one though.

Depends on weight and finish of the rock…if it is a big un and smooth then a bag could work…like the bags you get a ton of stone chips in…but they are bulky things to carry.
Barrow and if it means you need a trip to stash it so it is available then it really will help make a difference.

The problem with yokes etc is they are a right faff.

You have to take it off and load it carefully (for balance) then lift it it and carry all the weight then tip them out. That kind of workflow is knackering compared to hoying them in the barrow and pushing and dumping. And the barrow will require less trips.

And rocks are hard and sometimes jaggy. Over rough terrain they are going to sway and be really annoying.

There are tools for doing this properly, you don’t have to use rocks. 

sorry Kayak, I’ve reported your post – that’s made me feel quite sick

Just what kinda rocks are we talking about?

Molly the Mule… “trail building” he says….

How far? Up or down?

How big? Could you throw and/or roll them?

Helped repair some inaccessible terraces two or three weeks back. I had to move a pile of stones from the pick-up, most baby sized around 15kg, some up to 25-30kg,  by hand up onto the terrace above. Had to. kick down some old fallen terrace from above, then throw, roll or carry the stones upto 12m away.

Throwing or kicking them into piles was easier than carrying.

Although a wheelbarrow might help you carry in some tools.

Thinking about it, I moved a sh*tload of paving stone and stacked two euro pallets 1.2m high in an afternoon alone with a wheelbarrow. It was flat, but despite that a hell of a lot easier.

Anything with wheels is out. It’s rocky technical singletrack and fairly steep in places, hard enough on an MTB. I’d rather carry them individually in my arms than struggle with a barrow.

I don’t want to bring anything in because it’s a wild trail and I need to use material from the local context. Plus, it’s several kms into the woods.

I plan to find the larger rocks which are generally between bag of flour and loaf of bread, there might be some smaller grapefruit sized ones I can make use of. I will need dozens. I plan to collect them from the whole length of the trail, which is about 800m, and use them to bridge the boggy bit which is about 15m or so.

They are smooth, the local soil is glacial till.

Try putting the problem to an AI image generator and see what it suggests….. 😄

Wheelbarrow with an inflatable wheel…aware you keep posting it isn’t a choice, but it really is…unless you can get a small machine in to assist you – like how they built that 40km trail in New Zealand (which I can’t find the link to!).

I am familiar with both wheelbarrows and this trail. I really don’t want to even try a wheelbarrow. I would rather use a poly pro bag on each shoulder. Which tbh is looking the best option atm.

a rucksack?

lots of journeys back & forth though by the sounds of it. Would be a good workout.

My job is essentially shifting stones around and balancing them on top of one another.

Small stones like that I stick in a tub/trug/whateveryouwanttocallit and carry them. You can use the handles, lift it underneath, get in on a shoulder, drag it along the ground etc.

Your yoke idea sounds like it would be pretty uncomfortable.

Although if you’re really going to carry them 800 metres I’d get an old rucksack and do them a few at a time.

(But yeah, barrow.)

Old fashioned external metal framed rucksack. Remove the bag bit. Ratchet strap one of those heavy duty 40 or 60 litre blue plastic drums to the frame.

Clearly I’m needing to get back to work, but having think over dinner about this – will there be damage or change by dragging a bag of rock along the trail?

Genuine question rather than me posting another comment about a barrow, honest.

lots of journeys back & forth though by the sounds of it. Would be a good workout.

That’s part of the reason I want to do it. I miss digging my garden, and trail building in the woods is a lot nicer than going to a gym 🙂 If I had enough land I swear I’d dig holes just to fill other holes back in.

@blokeuptheroad has it- or big plastic builders buckets. We’ve tried barrows and they very rarely work.

will there be damage or change by dragging a bag of rock along the trail?

Probably not. It’s mostly bedrock and loose rocks.

I’m now thinking something like this, and put some thick webbing straps through the handles that I can put my arms through and hoist it onto my back Sherpa style. Except using my shoulders not my head.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/ndc-polipak-polypropylene-mini-skip-bag-50-kg/575pf

Or, I could use this and hoist it onto my back holding the grab handle with one hand, like bin-men used to do before wheelie bins:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/ndc-polythenes-rubble-mate-1150mm-x-700mm/8914k

Two buckets with a strop to go over your shoulders to help limit how far your arms try to elongate on each trip?  Instead of a yoke across your shoulders you might be able to use one at waist height between the strops to stop the buckets banging on your legs, Y piece or slot at both ends to trap it between the strop ends.

Probably better than trying to balance a yoke with unevenly weighted rocks either side.

Big blue IKEA bag, short handle for hand carrying and long ones for shouldering. They are are quite robust Ive carried dirt and stones in them with 5 or 6 shovel fulls no problem and easy to carry to the build spot.

That reminds me, I use supermarket bag for life bags (the woven type) to move logs around, they don’t tend to bash your legs as they are slim

For a gym replacement I think just using your arms and being patient

The easiest way to carry loads of around 20kg is to hoof it up onto your shoulder.
Once it’s up and in balance very little effort is required to keep it there.
See bags of cement or sand being carried up ladders .
Or a hod . Gather up say eight lumps of rock in a
4 plus 4 pattern then get the hod up on your shoulder and off you go .
Be tough on your knees mind .but if wheels are out and your jetpack is in for a service…