What kind of grader is this?

[TORQUIN]

Sorry, I do not have a pic. I saw this grader being used to smooth a sled pulling track over the weekend, but did not think to ask anyone there about it. I will describe it and maybe someone can point me to a pic of it, or a name I can search for.
It was a V in the front, pointed towards the front, and a "wrap-around" V that pointed toward the back, but wrapped around the front V about 8-10" on the sides. The dirt that got pushed to the sides by the front V would be captured by those sides and channeled to the rear V and pushed toward the middle of the rear V. The blades were only about 5-6" high, or so it looked from my vantage point, and the extra dirt would just flow over the rear V when it was full.
Attached is an approximate layout of the blades, which make it look sort of like a wide diamond.
Once I figure out what it is called, maybe I can find people who own one, so I can ask about how they compare to a regular grader box.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[bcp]

Like these?

 

[TORQUIN]

Yep, that looks like it. What is that type of grader called, so I can ask an intelligent question to those that might own one?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[satcomm]

It's an Agritec DS-96. I've had one for about 10 years. Like you, I saw it being used at a local tractor pull and thought it would be the ticket for driveways. Our driveway is about 900' long and I was happy with the job it did, a couple of passes and it was like new. Of course a year after buying it my wife insisted on having the driveway paved so her car wouldn't get so dirty. I still use it on a large parking lot at work and to do neighbors drives.

Here's a couple of links.
Agritek Industries | Michigan Manufacturing - DS Driveway Scrapers
2011 AGRITEK DS96 Other Equipment - Blades/Box Scrapers For Auction At TractorHouse.com

 

[TORQUIN]

I only have about a 400' driveway, but it still needs grooming. I have a 6' grader box, a 7' blade, a 6' landscape/rock rake, and a 6' pulverizer. I use the grader box most of the time on the driveway, but I was wondering it this type of grader would do a better job.
My biggest complaint about the tools I normally use, either the box or the landscape rake, is that they build up a pile of gravel in them and start losing it out the sides. I end up with a little row of gravel down each side of the driveway, in the grass and it must be pulled back into the driveway by hand rake so as no to damage the grass.
The look of this scraper has me thinking it might be the ticket because it appears to gather the dirt/gravel on the side and channel it back to the middle, which could make the edges of my grading more precise.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[satcomm]

I've got a box, rear blade and rake also. I was never able to do a good job on the driveway with any of them. I guess I'm the only guy around that thinks the box blade is the worst implement investment I've made.

The Agritec has worked very well for me.

 

[jenkinsph]

Torquin,
Seems like all of these attachments can leave a slight trail of gravel somewhere. A landplane grade will too, but you can run it in the right direction on the last pass to alleviate the problem of rocks in the grass. Finishing off with a hand rake still seems to provide the best results though.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Torquin
If I have a little pile along the edge like you describe I take my rear blade, turn it around backwards, angle it to pull material towards the center, and just go along the with the pile well inside the end of the blade. It's almost impossible not to lose a little over the edge but most will just blend into the road and the backwards blade wont hurt the grass.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Torquin
If I have a little pile along the edge like you describe I take my rear blade, turn it around backwards, angle it to pull material towards the center, and just go along the with the pile well inside the end of the blade. It's almost impossible not to lose a little over the edge but most will just blend into the road and the backwards blade wont hurt the grass.

I don't have any grass to contend with, but I use the rear blade also to bring the side left overs back onto the road. I'm lazy and just run in reverse instead of turning the blade around though.

 

[TORQUIN]

satcomm, the grader box works pretty good for me, and in fact, I find that to be the most useful attachment in my arsenal. The other implements just supplement what I can do overall with my tractor. The grader box isn't as effective if you aren't pulling a lot of material around in it, from my experience. the problem is that when I pull a lot of material it fills up and spills out the front on the sides, which is what annoys me when I do the driveway.

As far as reversing the blade goes. I sometimes do use the blade on the driveway, but my driveway is sunk down, by design, and the edges are higher, so when I get to the edges I am in an angle and if I have it set to not damage the edges I am digging into the middle of the driveway and pulling up more material from the middle than I want. Once I get the edges cleaned up, I have to go back and fix the middle again, and it starts a vicious cycle, so I usually use the grader box only.
I have tried it by just angling the blade, but that usually ends up with a mound off the edge of the blade on one side of the drive or the other that I have to cut down.

If I spend enough time on it I can make it nice, but I'm thinking the name of the game is time and fuel. How quickly can I get it done, and quick means less fuel used, in most cases, so that's why I am considering this.

The reason the driveway is "sunken" is for drainage, and to keep the gravel in, somewhat, since I have no real boarder on the driveway. Before I owned a tractor I had a backhoe in there doing some work and I had him scrape out about 3" for the length of the driveway so I could dump new gravel in there.

The house side of the drive has a small crest which keeps the yard water and driveway water separate, so nobody washes out the other, and it works nicely. You'd think that the crest would keep the gravel from getting out of the drive on that side, but every time I grade it there is gravel that sneaks out the side of whatever implement I use.

I have often dreamed about an implement that would scrape along the edges but not allow material to build up there, so it could not overflow the edge, and was thinking this scraper would fit that purpose.

Thanks,
Chris