Help with landplane choices for land leveling and road/drive maintenance.

[Piston]

I'd like to buy a landplane for some land leveling/driveway making I have coming up. I have a box blade to do initial work, and I'm thinking a Landplane grader blade would compliment that nicely.

I have seen the one Jenkins made and I really like that, although I would like adjustable blades. I have talked with Brian about a 7' model he has and would love to buy that, if it weren't all the way across the country from me.

The things I liked about the one Brian has, is that it is almost as long as it is wide, I believe 7'X7', which seems like the longer it is the better it would 'level'.

I like how Jenkins is very heavy duty from what I've seen. Ideally, I think I want a 7'-8' land plane that weighs somewhere near 1000lbs. Not sure if this is something I would have to build or not, but as much as I like building things, I really don't have time to.
I'll keep my eyes peeled on craigslist but in the meantime, what are some makes and models of land planes I could start researching?

I like heavy duty equipment and not lightweight stuff. I will eventually have about 800' of driveway to maintain for hopefully the rest of my life if all goes according to plan, and I would like to only buy one of these

Is there a rough idea of what price I would be up against for what I'm looking for?

Any other attachments you'd recommend? Seems like the landplane can't be beat for maintaining a gravel drive. I'll also have about 600' or so of road to maintain as well.

 

[sandman2234]

I don't know what mine weighs, but I know my 70 hp tractor doesn't like it! However it pulls it great as long as it is on the ground, even full of dirt.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/175396-dava-grader-process.html

Shame you don't want to build one, cause it really isn't that time consuming (though I didn't build mine, talked a buddy into building it for me). Commercial ones are nowhere near as heavy as mine, cause we used the metal I had collected or had on hand.
They definitely are hands down better than a box blade when it comes to a dirt road, I can attest to that and I would guess even the same for a gravel road. My boxblade hasn't been hooked up since the grader was finished.
For a cheaper way out, consider adding rear wheels to your boxblade, making it a landplane. The further back the better. I looked into putting a set about three feet behind the boxblade to allow it to level the whoop de doo's rather than riding them up and down.
David from jax

 

[the6shooter]

king kutter, howes, landpride and there are others, just not in the 1000lbs. range you are looking for.
david

 

[the6shooter]

also try everthingattachments, they seem to carry everthing. (they also have a video also.
david

 

[hosspuller]

I have a 84 inch "Road Boss" With unfilled tires, I need to be in 4wd to pull it.

Best feature of it is the adjustable blades. As the blades wear, I can advance them further. The skid shoes have spots of hard facing on them... I had to build-up the shoes around the hard facing though.

 

[jenkinsph]

When I was looking into the landplane implement purchase I found most of them to be too light. I also figured out quickly that it was an easy to build implement and that there were substancial savings in cost for DIY. All totalled I have about $1/pound in mine which includes good quality grader blades, plow bolts and new IMatch pins and bushings.

I will be going to the steel yard first week in March and will get the stuff needed to build a new small landplane. I am hoping to find some large boxtubing drops for the side skids. Hoping to find something around 8 to 12"x 2 to 3" dimensions with 12x2" being ideal. Couple pieces of angle that is atleast 4x4xheavy for the blade mounting. Have some 4x4 tubing for the frame already. Doing the shopping this way saves quite a bit of money versus buying all new full length steel, just have to improvise a little.

One thing I learned about using these things is to reduce the places where gravel can collect in crevices as it always seems to fall off in the worst places.

Grader blade quality varies alot, I was able to get good 96" blades from the Deere dealer last time and suspect I will do it again. The ones that he found for me were for a small Cat dozer (new old stock) last time. Not sure what I will be able to find this time. With almost three years use I can't see any wear yet and that is a good thing.

All that said, I buy most implements but recommend building a landplane if you can find the time. You can build a better landplane for about one third the cost of buying a ready made one.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Piston, the land plane grader blade (LPGB) that we had been talking about is now sold to another TBN member dutchhenerybrown. It made a 7' cut was actually 90" wide and 96" long and weighed in at about 1400lbs.

One of the best units available IMO is a Road Boss, but they are big money. I believe that the RB units have the longest sides of all the units built today. Second would be GradeMaster, and they have 3 different levels. Not as long on the sides, but would probably be my second choice.

I would not go any wider than a 7 footer with your tractor and try to get a unit that is close to 1,000lbs at the minimum.

 

[Tuluky]

Best feature of it is the adjustable blades. As the blades wear, I can advance them further.

 

[Piston]

Oh Boy.....

You guys are gonna talk me into building one of these things and that's the last thing I really have time for right now :laughing:

Shame you don't want to build one, cause it really isn't that time consuming

I really do WANT to build one, I just don't know when I actually will. Then again, as of now the land is still forest, so I don't exactly need it quite yet. I will be clearing the land, putting in a driveway, and leveling off the land for a house lot (minor leveling like filling in stump holes and things, not regrading the earth)
I suppose I do have a lot of time between now and when I'll need it, but that time is already getting filled up!
It almost seems like if I want the options I want, and the weight I want in the size I want, I may actually HAVE to build one?

For a cheaper way out, consider adding rear wheels to your boxblade, making it a landplane. The further back the better.

This is something I plan to do anyways, as I've wanted a hydraulic gauge wheel on my BB for a while now. How do you think the performance of doing something like this would be compared to a landplane?

I have a 84 inch "Road Boss" With unfilled tires, I need to be in 4wd to pull it.

Hosspuller,
If you don't mind me asking, roughly how much was the 84" version? And do you know the weight of it?

I saw somewhere on here that the Road Boss is roughly about $400 per foot of grader, does that sound right? If that is the case, then I don't think I have an option but to build one, if I want a 7' blade that would cost me close to $3,000, and that is too much for me to afford at this time.

When I was looking into the landplane implement purchase I found most of them to be too light. I also figured out quickly that it was an easy to build implement and that there were substancial savings in cost for DIY. All totalled I have about $1/pound in mine which includes good quality grader blades, plow bolts and new IMatch pins and bushings.

Jenkins,
I really like your grader and enjoy looking at the pics you've posted over the last couple years. I always know your grader the minute I see it! If I were to build one, I would like to make the blades adjustable, up/down, and angle. I suppose I should start making a list of things I would want in the grader.

If I could build it for $1 per pound, I would be happy with that. Can you use old snowplow cutting edges for the grader cutting edge? I may have a couple of those already.

I will be going to the steel yard first week in March and will get the stuff needed to build a new small landplane

How come your building another, smaller plane? If you don't mind, could you give me a rough idea of what the steel costs you when you go to the steel yard? I really don't have any idea how much steel costs, I've only built things from steel I've had laying around, and I don't really have anymore laying around at this time.

You can build a better landplane for about one third the cost of buying a ready made one.

You probably have me just about convinced. :laughing: That didn't take much.


Brian,
Do you have any more pics of that 7' grader that you sold? I think I remember you saying that it was made by a company no longer in business, but I like the specs you've posted with the length/width. Also, I will heed your recommendation to not go over 7', another reason is something I didn't think about until I read it on another thread. My driveway will be about 14' wide, and I don't want the landplane to be any more than half the width of the road.

There is a Forestry Expo coming up in NH I believe in May, so maybe I'll see some grader blades there and get more ideas. However, I managed to add all my hydraulics to my tractor with TBN support alone, so I imagine I could manage a grader blade.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

.
Brian,
Do you have any more pics of that 7' grader that you sold? I think I remember you saying that it was made by a company no longer in business, but I like the specs you've posted with the length/width. Also, I will heed your recommendation to not go over 7', another reason is something I didn't think about until I read it on another thread. My driveway will be about 14' wide, and I don't want the landplane to be any more than half the width of the road.

Here ya go. You can see in the one pic from underneath that there are another set of holes to drop the blade down after it wears. Maybe after another 10 years I will need those. :laughing: If I remember right, Road boss has the longest runners as I had mentioned and I think that on a 7 footer, that the sides are 6 foot long. The Road Boss blades are built to weigh at or more than 200lbs per foot width. We are back to weight again, and the heavier the better when it comes to grading.