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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

A recent story about a stingy grandmother reminded me of one of my first 
jobs in the country. In 1952 or 1953, when I was 16 and 17, I was hired by 
a neighbor farmer to pick stones off his newly plowed fields. In our 
Wisconsin post-glacial area, stones rose like spring weeds, lifted each 
winter by the freezing of the soil, moving ever upward.

I was paid five dollars a day. The work was straightforward: get the stones 
off the field. I was given my choice of a small tractor or a light team to 
pull the stoneboat. The first day I chose the tractor; thereafter I used 
the team. The tractor required climbing on and off whenever I needed to 
move forward. The team responded to vocal commands.

A stoneboat is typically made of two or three oak planks joined by a couple 
cross boards bolted together. The thick planks are shaped upward at the 
front, to avoid digging into the soil as the boat is moved forward. A chain 
is secured at the front, to which the pulling force is attached.

The intelligence of the design is simple: stones are heavy; lifting stones 
is hard on the back; rolling stones is easier than lifting them; a wooden 
sled that rises but two or three inches off the ground makes for easy 
loading of stones by rolling.

Here at Heartwood I have not yet made a proper stoneboat but I will. For 
now I have a sled I made years ago to move supplies down the steep driveway 
when it is iced over. Yesterday I used the sled to move the very heavy 
twelve-inch planer with five horsepower motor about two hundred feet. 
Rolled the planer onto its side on the sled, used the ancient farm truck to 
pull it.

Most of us today know better than to plow. A stoneboat has uses other than 
to clear a field. If you have stones in quantity and wish to use them for 
building, I recommend you build a stoneboat and use it to gather your 
stash. And if you have anything really heavy and want to move it, why, 
slide it onto the stoneboat and save your back. Or, just give the kids a 
winter treat.