Photo by Sevgi Baran

Below is a chart to help figure out how much rock you will be needing for your wall.  Please note that most regulations require a building permit for rock walls over 3 feet in height.  Also be advised that terminology used to describe the sizes (# man) is not how many men it will take to place a particular rock.  Plan on using a machine if you are using 2 man or up or don't enjoy vigorous physical exercise with 1 man.

The screen plant below produces our 1/2 woman, 1/2 man-1man mix, and nuggets.  Optimal use is during the dry summer months, so 1/2m-1m may be limited or dirty during the winter.

1/2 Woman

"1/2 Woman", a term coined by Chuck, does not have a wide variety of uses.  It is too expensive for landfill, and not big enough for rockery walls.  Some people have used it in the past to fill gabion baskets.  Others have used it for rip-rap for drainage swales.  Wilkeson Sandstone has excellent freeze-thaw properties, so the stone holds up well in both applications.  Typical runs fist sized to 6 inches.

1/2 Man - 1 Man

The 1/2 man -1 man bin is the second most sought after size for rockery.  The rocks are big enough to stack into walls, and small enough to stack by hand.  If you want to come out and load into your pickup truck, be ready for some work.  Show up with a rented dump truck and we can load with a front end wheel loader, or we can deliver with our dump truck and get you up to 15 tons at a time.

2 or 3 Man

This is by far the most sought after size of rockery rock available here at the quarry, hence quantity always seems to be limited.  If you are looking for a big rock wall, you will need an excavator or some way to mechanically set the rocks, and you will need at least 2 man or bigger.  Wilkeson Sandstone stacks up relatively easy because of the surface abrasion qualities of the sandstone. The rocks seem to "grab" onto each other better than a granite or basalt wall which have more of a "slippery" feel to them.  Once again, Wilkeson Sandstone holds up extremely well to the freeze-thaw cycle, you will not find a pile of chips under your rock wall after a couple of years like other types of rock walls.

4 Man and up

From here, you must really know what you are doing.  A light 4 Man rock will indvidually weigh 2000 pounds, with a heavy one coming in at 2 tons per rock.  People desiring large rock walls with a good deal of vertical development usually start with 4 Man rocks along the bottom, then taper it up.

Larger 5, 6, and 7 man rocks are available, but those are usually sold on an individual basis and on a seperate price scale.

Natural Flats

    A natural flat is any rock with two parallel sides to it.  Quite often a rock is quarried with two parrallel fractures or seams.  Large natural flats, like those depicted below, are selected by landscapers to provide natural ledges, steps, and rock formations to their design.  Sometimes we will consider a piece that has been sawn sometime during the last century and recently uncovered.  2 man natural flats are popular for natural looking steps throughout a garden or hillside.