Land Pride grading scraper

[mlevendo]

I have an old late 60's/early 70's Massey Ferguson 180 diesel. I went with a 48" grading scraper because my future goal is to get a CUT in the 30-40hp rage with HST and loader. I want my implements to fit that.
I live in mid-Minnesota. My implements include a 7 foot rear blade, 4 foot Land Pride grading scaper, and a Meteor 68" snow blower.
As for ripping out turf... the scarifiers would work great for tearing it up. I don't have a box blade so I can't say how well it would work. My guess is fairly well with the scarifiers and the box to collect it and move it away. I removed turf for my driveway by putting my blade at an extreme angle so it functioned pretty much like a single bottom plow turning the sod up. Once the turf was removed I used the blade at a 45 degree angle to create the ditches and push that material up to elevate the driveway. It worked very well. I don't think any other tractor implement would have worked better.
For driveway maintenance (rut and pothole removal) I would take the grading scraper over the box blade any day. The grading scraper requires little to no 3 point adjusting as you go. Just drop it down and go. The material flows over the first blade and mixes the gravel and fines between the first and second blade. The second blade smoothes the mix out nice. It does perform better when it is drier which is plus, you don't have to wait until after a rain to maintain the drive. When I used the rear blade and it was dry the gravel seemed to seperate from the fines instead of a nice mix. With a box blade I would think you would collect material as you go and end up with excess. Plus I would think that you would be having to adjust the 3 point up and down some to compensate, that's how it was when I used the rear blade. The grading scraper scrapes it, mixes it, and lays it back down. All without having to adjust the 3 point.

 

[mlevendo]

Here is pictures of before and after I removed the center weeds that grew up in the summer.

 

[mlevendo]

Per Tom H's question:
Top 'n Tilt would not be needed for a grader scraper. This implement is ment to be dropped flat on the ground and dragged. My blades are adjustable from 1/8 an inch to 1.5 inches below the skids depending on how aggressive a bite you want to take. I have mine set to about 1/4". Due to the length (my 48" wide unit is 54" long) it does not follow the the pot holes and does a very good job of filling them and leveling it out. I set the top link once so the unit is flat on the ground when dropped down and that is it. Just drop it down and drive down the driveway to maintain it. Simple and very effective.

 

[Tom_H]

mlevendo,

Thanks for the helpful feedback. I appreciate it.

Tom

 

[Tom_H]

Does anybody have experience with either of these?:

DURA-GRADER

http://www.abipropertyowner.com/products/tr3_rake.html

http://www.abipropertyowner.com/products/gravel_rascal.html

DR® Power Grader - DR Powergrader, A Driveway Grader pulled behind your lawn mower, utility tractor or as a ATV, UTV attachment.

Here's the Road Boss site: http://www.roadboss.org/

Here's the GradeMaster site: http://grademastersales.com/

Here's a related thread in the archives:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/120705-road-maintenance-tuffline-v-grademaster.html

 

[rpraymond]

mlevendo,
Thanks very much for the info. That's exactly what I wanted to know.

 

[mlevendo]

If anyone has any more questions just post them and I will reply. I'll post more photos when I go over the driveway again. It's still pretty damp and a bit soft from the spring thaw.
In reply to Tom H's posted web links:
The Duragrader is basicaly same as the Land Pride grading scraper I have minus the scarifier teeth (like a box blade has) and the adjustable blade depth. It looks like the Duragrader may have a bit more angle on the blades to move the material from right to left to rebuild the crown.
The Dr. Power Grader looks more like an implement for a garden tractor or ATV. If you've got a CUT I'd stick with the big boy implements like the Duragrader or similar like my Land Pride.
The TR3 Rake looks like you would almost require a hydraulic top link. Having to adjust a manual top link would be a pain.
With the grading scrapers you set the toplink so the grader is flat on the ground. Set it and forget it. Just drop it in the ground and drive. It's so fool proof I'd even let my wife drive it up and down the driveway. There's no way I'd let her do that with the rear blade or a box blade.

 

[Jklatham]

I have a 60" adjustable dura-grader. We have a 1.2 mile driveway with multiple hills. I'm extremely new to tractors but I tried a box blade once and made more of a mess than anything. One two hour day with the dura-grader fixed my mess and put the road back in good shape. Regretably I don't have pics but it's been raining so much here the roads back in less than good shape so I can get some almost before and after shots. I got the adjustable model because with the blades angled it pulls the material in for a crown or I can straighten them out and grade dirt much like a box blade. My wife is hard to please regarding the condition of our driveway (she belongs on a paved road) but she was really impressed with what the dura-grader was able to do. Rick Seal was easy to deal with and at the time there was free shipping and I paid $1188 delivered. I'm sure there are several attachments that would do just as well, even for a novice like me, but I am 100% happy with the dura-grader. Hope this helps.

 

[Stradbash]

The Dr. Power Grader looks more like an implement for a garden tractor or ATV. If you've got a CUT I'd stick with the big boy implements like the Duragrader or similar like my Land Pride.

I bought a DR grader when I only had a Simplicity 2WD tractor. It is indeed on the light side but it does work well and stores easily. One important thing that it has that I think the Duragrader is missing (but not the LP grading scraper) is scarifying teeth. Having these teeth can make a huge difference with a surface that packs hard, such as the limestone lane I maintain. It is nice to be able to easily change the depth the teeth are cutting at on the move. You cannot however create a crown with the DR. I think I'll be using my plow for that...

 

[mlevendo]

I took a more in-depth look at that TR3 Rake that Tom H had a link to in a post above. Looks pretty interesting with multiple uses. The hydraulic top-link may not be as important as I first throught. At first glance I only saw the rake teeth in the back. I did not see the leveling blade and the scarifier teeth which are hidden by the tires. Multi purpose implements are worth a bit of extra money. The less time I spend changing implements the better. I think my next purchase will be a quick hitch system to speed up the times I do change implements.