The Kivi-Pekka Rock Picker range clears rocks, roots and rubble, making quick work of clearing areas
Developed and tested on some of Finland’s rockiest fields and used in more than 50 countries, the Kivi-Pekka rock picker is built to be a durable option.
With 35 years of production history, the units are distributed in Australia through BLG Imports, with a sales network that covers the whole country.
Designed to contend with the granite rocks that litter paddocks around Rantasalmi, where they are built, Kivi-Pekka rock pickers are built to collect up to 1,500kg of rock per minute when operating at their optimum rate.
The Kivi-Pekka range is built with four working widths – 4m, 5m, 6m and 7m – and the three largest of these have a wider lifting drum, allowing them to operate efficiently with a higher volume of collected rocks.
Each unit has a tipping height of 290cm, so material can be tipped into high earthmoving wagons.
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When the unit is lifted a grate cleans rocks and sieves soil
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It does not require a high towing capacity (from 70-80 horsepower [52-60kW]) or hydraulic capacity (20L per minute), meaning it can be run with a small tractor, which helps to save fuel costs.
Kivi-Pekka rock pickers manage this through their strengthened straight drive belts, which transmit power directly to the lifting drum, reducing the power requirement.
The belts serve as an overload protection mechanism, while also absorbing the shock from rocks that come into contact with the machine – preventing them from affecting the tractor through the transmission.
The belts are highly resistant to wear and tear and require little maintenance, while the drivetrain contains no expensive parts that need replacing, which helps keep operating costs low.
Each unit has a three-phase soil sieving system. Rocks enter the machine over a sieve, which is located underneath the lifting drum. When the rocks are dropped into the Hardox steel rock tank, the accompanying soil drops through the bottom grate and back into the field.
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Rocks enter the machine over a sieve and the soil is dropped back into the field
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The rock tank also has a soil container that sits behind a grate in the back wall of the rock tank when the unit is operating in the paddock.
But when the unit is lifted, the rocks pass over the back grate when being tipped out – with the grate sieving the soil and cleaning the rocks, to enable them to be used as material for construction or roads.
Soil collected in the soil container is then dropped back into the field when the machine is returned to its operating position.
The standard mesh size of the grates is 40mm, though other mesh sizes are available as an option. The units also come with 12 45mm tines as standard, which Kivi-Pekka says is ideal for use with the normal lifting drum.
The tines run the entire length between the sieve bars, keeping the sieve clean and preventing jamming of rocks.
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The Kivi-Pekka rock picker can be towed by a small tractor
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The lifting action is achieved with a hydraulic cylinder, which raises both rotors simultaneously.
The rotors are locked into the top position with mechanical locks and can be set to the working or transport position from the tractor cab.
Kivi-Pekka’s lifting drum transmission is mounted on its own frame, which allows the frame and entire lifting drum to rise up together, making it possible to pick up rocks with a 50cm diameter.
A hydraulic pressure accumulator in the Flex Drum helps in raising the lifting drum when it comes upon large rocks, while the drum can also be raised into its up position manually using hydraulics.
Another benefit of the Flex Drum’s suspension is that it dampens shocks to the sieve and tines, extending their service life.
Thanks to the Flex Drum, there is no need to reverse rotation – the drum is simply raised to pick up large stones without having to stop.
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Rocks up to 50cm can be picked up
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