formed stone rubble foundation?

i was thinking of making a small 10x10 or so cabin.  was going to make it on stone pier foundation but in order to speed things up i am tempted to use forms and concrete as well as the stone i have.  some is quite large, think 2-4sqft each and very heavy, but some is football size or smaller.

If i build a 2x2 plywood form and just start dumping rocks in lifts and then slopping in concrete after each set of rocks.  then vibrating it to fill the voids is it going to be strong enough?  i dont really have the time to build a set of actual mortared stone columns.  finding and fitting each rock seems like a royal PIA for what i am doing

thanks!

A couple of questions:

How does your frost depth factor into what you're doing here?

How thick are you making the pad?

In general you will have weaker concrete. Unwashed rocks won't be "mixed". The degree of strength lost is really variable. At worse, you'll essentially have a rubble trench foundation, which you may want to consider going with in the first place.

Yes, with rocks in the size range you describe, a rubble trench foundation starting below your frost depth (what is that in your area?) could be plenty strong and stable for a tiny cabin such as you describe. I would start with carefully laying stones flat side down in the floor of the trench, then fill with varying sized stones including lots of smaller ones to fill in gaps between large ones, ending with the largest ones as the top row. That would make a very solid base for a structure.

You can certainly use a concrete form which includes large stones, Frank Lloyd Wright famously did so when making Taliesin West, which I believe is when the method was first tried, below is a picture of when I visited over 10 years ago now, the time certainly flies! I'd also vote for a rubble trench if possible.

A 10' x 10' cabin will be small enough to support perfectly without a continuous foundation, so rather than digging and filling all around, you can just dig four holes for rubble piers. Topped with the largest stones, that would be totally sufficient. Stones of the size you describe, unless they are very round and smooth, will be stable without perfect laying up.

thanks all.  frost depth for footings here is 24'' but it really never freezes below 12''

i had thought about a rubble trench but there is no way to drain it as there is no downhill from where i want to build, its all pretty flat.  

i am going to be making a log cabin so the weight is not small but i think you are likely right about just filling in my piers holes with rubble and stacking a large rock or two on top is likely sufficient.

If your building site is that flat that you would have difficulty draining a 24" trench, you may want to raise the ground level around your cabin. Digging down 12" and piling dirt up 12" around the finished piers and generally making the area a bit higher may serve you well in all respects, such as keeping the entry path from being muddy. It may be worth digging out nearby where a pond would be useful to get fill material.