How to Move a Large Rock

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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Moving a large rock isn't an easy task, especially if you want to save yourself from serious injury. The easiest way, of course involves using machinery such as a skid-steer loader, a backhoe, a tractor and front loader, or a bulldozer. At times budget or terrain can limit your use of machinery. In these cases, follow these steps

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Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

Pry bar
Flat rock
Wood scrap
Shovel
Boards
Wood block
Short iron pipes
Plank
Ratcheting lever hoist
Nylon straps
Heavy chain
Truck trailer hitch
Rock sled
Small hydraulic mount

Step1

Pry out the rock using a four-foot-long metal pry bar and a flat, small rock or a 6-by-6 wood scrap as a fulcrum. Insert your pry bar between the underside of the rock and over the fulcrum and slowly pry it out.

Step2

Use levers to pry out the rock. First, with a shovel, dig around the entire rock. Force an eight foot 2-by-4 inch board underneath the rock. Place a 4-by-4 inch block under the 2-by-4 inch board for your fulcrum.

Step3

Repeat on the opposite side of the rock. Raise the rock by pushing down on one of the 2-by-4 boards and drop a wood block into the hole. Do the same maneuver on the opposite 2-by-4 board. Repeat on each side until you can roll the large rock away using a lever.

Step4

Place three or four short iron pipes on the ground, lying parallel to each other. Then lay a plank across the pipes. Loaded onto the plank, a large rock glides easily, but you must continue to move the pipe farthest from you forward as you roll the rock along.

Step5

Pull out the rock using a come along or a ratcheting lever hoist. Do so by harnessing the cable end to the rock with four-inch nylon straps. Attach the other cable end to a sturdy object, such as a trailer hitch or a tree, and begin to crank.

Step6

Dig a trench around the rock with a shovel and attach a heavy chain around the rock. Then hook both ends of the chain to a truck's trailer hitch and pull the rock out as you drive your truck forward.

Step7

Use an old-fashioned rock sled to move the rock, but first you must roll or lift the rock onto the sled bed. Hoist a loose rock into the bed of a truck using a small hydraulic mount. Slowly lift the rock, being careful not to let it fall off the mount.