Rock Pulling Tools

Rock Bar

• For stones buried only partly in the ground, a rock bar can use leverage to push the rock out and make it manageable for movers. The rock bar itself is very similar to a normal pry bar, although it is slightly larger and flatter. Position the rock bar underneath the rock while placing a wooden block underneath the rock bar to act as an axis point. Next, push down on the bar to push up the rock and remove it from the ground.

Cable Winch

• For larger rocks, more leverage and mechanical machinery are necessary. Cable winches, also called grip hoists, use steel cables and pulleys to create a large amount of leverage capable of pulling even very large rocks out of the ground. These machines come in either manual varieties that use cranks and gears to pull up on the cables or automatic winches that use electronic motors to pull up the load.

Rock Jaw

• An alternative to the cable winch is the Rock Jaw. The Rock Jaw sits on the end of a loader or digger and acts as a giant caliper set or a giant pair of tongs. This tool requires a good grip on the sides of the rock, but does not require that a cable be run underneath the rock as in the case of the cable winch. This tool is used for industrial rock pulling and movement.

Block and Tackle Rigging

• This tool is actually a system of pulleys and winches designed to pull and carry rocks so large they would snap a single cable winch. The hardware consists of several steel cables, hooks and pulleys rigged on a separate, but conjoined axis.

Ratcheting Lever Hoist

• Ratcheting lever hoists are the same ratcheting cables found on the back of tow trucks. These cables lead out to nylon straps that can be fitted around a rock face. The hoist can then be mechanically tightened, pulling in the steel cable and pulling out the rock from the ground.