Getting Heavy Fossils Up And Down Hills

[32fordboy]

Just out of curiosity, what methods have you all used to get really heavy fossils up and down hills/cut outs?

Nick

[old dead things]

I have used plastic toboggans. They slide well on dirt, but be sure to evenly, as possible, distribute the weight. Have to sets of ropes, one at the front one at the back, as the toboggans tend to want to go faster than you do down hill. They too can be a little tipsy.

Jim

Old Dead Things

[pleecan]

Hey Nick:

If the terrain is relatively smooth with a path with no obstruction such as creek ....

Carden Quarry when it was open had a killer walk from the car park outside the quarry gates..., down a super steep incline into the quarry pit... had to wheel a heavy duty steel garden cart with 4 pneumatic wheels used to carry my 35lb rock saw, gas can, plastic pails with my hammers chisels, pry bars, lots of water, munchies... remember hauling +100lbs rocks up incline took 45min walk before reaching the car.... had to zig zag up the hill ... man that was a killer haul almost passed out in the hot sun... thinking not getting any younger and boy i felt so out of shape... thank goodness for the garden cart / wagon (wish it was motorized).

Also pneumatic wheeled dolly cart works good for hills.

Peter

Edited March 1, 2010 by pleecan

[Phoenixflood]

Don't know if this helps, but it seems somewhat related in my mind so bear with me

If you are hauling a lot of material over a long distance a deer cart works quite well

[Xiphactinus]

Found the hood of a car in the field once...used it for a great sled to move stuff.

[dinodigger]

Helicopter.

[Xiphactinus]

Helicopter.

cheater.

[Mango]

I thought you might have h.p. and torque that does that job for you?

I would love to be in a scenario where my vehicle was the only way to remove a fossil. That would be fun hunting.

[32fordboy]

All are great ideas. Especially the helicopter idea...except most people don't have helicopters Mango, maybe someday I'll have an excuse to use the winch. Gotta get the truck done first, though

Nick

[Tony Eaton]

I remember going out to West Fort Worth and finding 6 or more giant ammonites. All I had was a flimsy luggage cart that got bogged in the mud. So I carried the ammonites small enough for me to handle on my head for the 200 yards or so to the car. After two "big" ones and one smaller one I had quite a headache :wacko: :wacko: It was dark and a scary part of Forth Worth to be with my 7 y/o son so that was it.

Since then I have build several mud capable carts that I have never really used, now that I think about it just wishful thinking that I'd hit the same dilemma and be more prepared.

[siteseer]

Just out of curiosity, what methods have you all used to get really heavy fossils up and down hills/cut outs?

Nick

Nick,

In the early 90's, I was prospecting with a UC Berkeley student and another friend in Felton, California. As I recall, we wound our way across sand through undergrowth and overgrowth, avoiding poison oak, up a minor slope to the base of a cliff where we found numerous Astrodapsis (extinct sea urchin) in the Upper Santa Margarita Sandstone (Latest Miocene). We found some in matrix too including a kitchen-sink sized chunk. It was too heavy for any of us to carry and the tangled trail through the foliage made it too problematic for two people to carry it. Lacking a sled, car hood, or helicopter, one of us did have some rope. We wrapped it around the chunk a few times and tied it off so that we had the two ends free and two of us dragged it back to the truck. It worked great as the chunk slid over the sand rather smoothly. It lost some rock off the bottom by the time it scraped along the gravel and asphalt but that just made it easier to load into the truck. I heard later that UCB put it on display in Danville somewhere.

[ozzyrules244]

Most of the terrain we hunt you can not use sleds,carts,ect the best way I have found only works if you have 2 people (an old army stretcher) you can find them cheep at military surplus stores. Or you can just simply bring Linda and Earnie I swear Earnie digs like a steam shovel and carries material like a pack mule I really don't know how in the world he keeps going lol!!!!

[ashcraft]

I find that packing it in my partner's backpack when he isn't looking really helps to save my back, I do seem to go through alot of partners though.

Brent Ashcraft

Edited March 1, 2010 by ashcraft

[Rødvig]

Last time I had to drag something big out of the pit, I dragged 60 kg of stone the first 100 meters, and then I gave up.

A half hour later there came a bunch of Swedish geology students who wanted to learn about the geology of the area and the fossils we collected.

They ended up paying for the information, as I found something useful to do with Swedish geology students.

BTW, it approx. takes four male students and one teacher to get a 60 kg. stone up a 60 degrees wet clay pit side, and a few nice female students by the finish line to raise the morale of the workers.

The Stone, a Ikait psedo Crystal from Ejerslev, Denmark.

Regards

Mikkel

[MikeD]

I sometimes use a heavy plastic drag sled about 3 ft X 4 ft to which I added some heavy duty metal clips and a heavy rope. One person can pull it, but it works better with two people. I got it when I was trying to figure out how to move some heavy pieces of petrified wood. It works pretty good. A steep ravine will cause some problems. Sometimes have to lighten the load and make more than one trip. It works great behind an ATV if someone happens to come by with one.

Oh-Man got a tri-wheel stroller with pneumatic tires. He says it works pretty good for big ammonites.

I have a friend that sometimes uses a metal garden cart with big fat tires on it.

Personally, I think something with wheels is better, but some terrain will eat tires for lunch.

Brent, I'll have to try that backpack trick on Oh-man.

Edit: This is the only picture I have of it.

I hauled this out with it (and the help of an ATV made the job faster). I will have to say that this monster is probably the limit of what you can put in it.

P.S. The stretcher idea is a great one, too. I looked for one, but couldn't find one cheap. The local surplus store is real proud of its stuff.

Edited March 2, 2010 by MikeD

[Louie]

Mango, maybe someday I'll have an excuse to use the winch.

I can relate to that

[Infidel]

I just wish I could find something big enough to require effort to lug out. I just fill my pockets and my backpack.

[32fordboy]

You're telling me that you didn't require some kind of heavy lifting to get that huge thing in your avatar back to your home? But really, that is a sweet little fossil

[Terry Dactyll]

32FordBoy......Ive used an army stretcher too..... but after a hundred yards or so if you have a decent load on....your arms start to go dead and holding on becomes harder than supporting the weight your carrying..... along the beach we found a length of old rope that had washed in from a trawler... untangled it and made a sling each, just the right length to go over our shoulders with a hoop on either end to go over the stretcher handles..... when your arms needed a rest then you could let your shoulders take some of the strain ....if you judged the rope length just right.....

Respect to the stretcher bearers