Box scraper for driveway maintenance?

[Jaylegger]

Originally Posted by tractorski

It's amazing we all have 1/4 mile driveways! For spreading fine material, i find the most control with a box blade. When the driveway needs "resurfacing" I use my Harley power rake. It "digs" down about 2" and lays it out butter smooth on the back side. I use it for my driveway and several commercial parking lots.

The power rakes seem to be the ideal attachment for chewing up and smoothing. I see you're in Vermont, I've been wondering lately if power rakes would be an appropriate tool for chewing up the upper surface of ice that builds up on roads (gravel) during winter especially after quick rains. I'm thinking their use may be a sanding substitute. Have you ever used your rake on ice?

[tractorski]

I have never tried it on ice. I use a truck mounted snowplow for the driveway for clearing snow. i use a fertilizer spreader to put down sand on the driveway after an ice storm. I would be afraid the harley rake would remove or destroy the thin layer of snow I like to let build up on the driveway. That thin lyer of snow(and alittle bit of ice) makes a nice plowing surface. Also all of our vehicles have awd or 4wd. If you scrape down to the gravel, it is much harder on the plow.

[zzvyb6]

I have a little less than a 1/4 mile driveway. It used to be crushed 21aa limestone, but last year I added 2" of crushed asphalt. Much better. No more dust. No more stone migration onto the lawn. I also routinely used my 5' Yanmar tiller on the driveway, going down an inch or two just to loosen up the material. I just bought a 6' box blade and added a hydraulic top link based on a need to also maintain the county road at my end. But, when all is said and done, once you have a bit of loose material, my 8' landscape rake on gauge wheels and a chain for the top link does the best job of combing the material away from the edges, crowning the surface and presenting a smooth, level, bump-free roadbed. No kidding, the landscape rake does the best job for me. At high angle (45deg) the thing digs in to extract some loose working material, and at 10 - 15 degrees, the rake moves the stone around just perfectly for me. No powered equipment, no hydraulic levers, no scarifiers, just a lot of tines. The key ingredient in this setup is the guage wheels and the chain. Otherwise you will get some waves in it.

[jenkinsph]

With top and tilt hitch on a 4520 I use a 7' rear blade to cut my ditches, then use a landplane to smooth everything out. If I were to need to cut and fill or move alot of material I would use my heavy duty boxblade with hydraulic teeth (1250 lbs and 7' wide).

From the picture on pg 1 it looks to me like ditching is the main issue to address first and then smoothing the surfaces afterwards. Definately want a crown or slope with drainage and make sure there is some where for the run off to go to. If and when I added rock to the top surface it would be a thin layer (maybe one rock high). Too much gravel and the car tires just plow through it and can get stuck.

At the risk of being considered arrogant I will say that most posters here prefer the boxblade for the work you describe above and yes you can do it with one but a landplane will do a better job at finishing the drive without waves. I have both tools, a Frontier BB1284 boxblade (about $4,000 in todays dollars, too much!) and a custom built landplane with 2 96" grader blades that weighs about 950 lbs. Both of these tools have their place as well as the landscape rake which would do a good job of pulling gravel back up on the road without making a mess. Having a wide variety of implements to choose from allows you to really see what works best, and a good motorgrader with a seasoned operator would be my first choice.


Steve

[Charlesaf3]

Originally Posted by Jaylegger

The power rakes seem to be the ideal attachment for chewing up and smoothing. I see you're in Vermont, I've been wondering lately if power rakes would be an appropriate tool for chewing up the upper surface of ice that builds up on roads (gravel) during winter especially after quick rains. I'm thinking their use may be a sanding substitute. Have you ever used your rake on ice?

Believe it or not a rototiller is perfect for that.

I'll have to try the harley rake on the dirt road again. So far I've preferred the landscape rake to the rear blade, haven't tried the box yet.

Bet a road grader/landplane type would be best, but can't really justify that currently.

[MtnViewRanch]

Originally Posted by jenkinsph

With top and tilt hitch on a 4520 I use a 7' rear blade to cut my ditches, then use a landplane to smooth everything out. If I were to need to cut and fill or move alot of material I would use my heavy duty boxblade with hydraulic teeth (1250 lbs and 7' wide).

From the picture on pg 1 it looks to me like ditching is the main issue to address first and then smoothing the surfaces afterwards. Definately want a crown or slope with drainage and make sure there is some where for the run off to go to. If and when I added rock to the top surface it would be a thin layer (maybe one rock high). Too much gravel and the car tires just plow through it and can get stuck.

At the risk of being considered arrogant I will say that most posters here prefer the boxblade for the work you describe above and yes you can do it with one but a landplane will do a better job at finishing the drive without waves. I have both tools, a Frontier BB1284 boxblade (about $4,000 in todays dollars, too much!) and a custom built landplane with 2 96" grader blades that weighs about 950 lbs. Both of these tools have their place as well as the landscape rake which would do a good job of pulling gravel back up on the road without making a mess. Having a wide variety of implements to choose from allows you to really see hat works best, and a good motorgrader with a seasoned operator would be my first choice.


Steve

Steve, it looks like you have a lot of implements as I do. There are times that I have seen a motorgrader leave the surface with a wash board finish. In the conditions that cause that, I would prefer my landplane type grader blade over the motorgrader.

Just my opinion

[LBrown59]

Originally Posted by tractorski

I would be afraid the harley rake would remove or destroy the thin layer of snow I like to let build up on the driveway.
That thin lyer of snow(and a little bit of ice) makes a nice plowing surface .

You can't do that here because it don't get cold enough and stay that cold long enough.

[smfcpacfp]

My tractor is the same size as your and I have the Woods GB60 Box scraper pictured below. I have used it to maintain my gravel driveway and to prepare a couple of sites for building projects. I find it works very well for both tasks:

[Jaylegger]

Originally Posted by tractorski

I have never tried it on ice. I use a truck mounted snowplow for the driveway for clearing snow. i use a fertilizer spreader to put down sand on the driveway after an ice storm. I would be afraid the harley rake would remove or destroy the thin layer of snow I like to let build up on the driveway. That thin lyer of snow(and alittle bit of ice) makes a nice plowing surface. Also all of our vehicles have awd or 4wd. If you scrape down to the gravel, it is much harder on the plow.

Thanks for the reply. With a fairly long drive to keep clear and limited space and inclination to manage dry sand I'm just thinking about what implements may be able to provide a "traction on ice" substitute for sand.

[tractorski]

studded tires, we have them on all of our vehicles.