Land Leveler

[gwdixon]

After hijacking a different thread I thought that a new thread on the subject would be prudent.

Attached are photos of what I believe is a home-made land leveler that was purchased for $50 from eBay.

It is operated by attaching to a standard drawbar on the 3PH of a 70 HP tractor. The amount of bite is regulated by lifting or lowering the 3PH.

Someone asked for more detailed photos in case he wanted to build one. It is difficult to see but there is a bolt-on cutting edge on the blade.

[gwdixon]

Part 2:

These are photos of three nearby properties that had been plowed and disced. Then the land leveler was used. The final step was to top the area with a cultipacker style roller (pictured). The clients like a "raked" look.

It makes for easy mowing in the spring.

[Piston]

Thanks for posting the pictures, I was curious as well. Congrats on a good day of hunting as well


Any ideas on the weight? Also, how about dimensions of the unit itself? How wide is it? How long is it? How far from the blade to the roller?

I like how that roller acts not only as a smoother/compactor, but also a large guage wheel. Really nice setup and a heck of a score!

[texasjohn]

excellent!! I've got leveler envy

[PhysAssist]

Thanks for posting the pictures, I was curious as well. Congrats on a good day of hunting as well


Any ideas on the weight? Also, how about dimensions of the unit itself? How wide is it? How long is it? How far from the blade to the roller?

I like how that roller acts not only as a smoother/compactor, but also a large guage wheel. Really nice setup and a heck of a score!

Hey GW,

Thanks for the extra shots, and dittoes on the comments and questions!

Any idea what the trapezoidal tab just in front of the lifting loop was intended for?

Thanks again!

Thomas

[sparc]

Very interesting design. What happens when you're a deep cut and it fills up? Does the excess just get dumped over the top behind the cutting edge? It seems to be limited in capacity like a box blade and the only way to empty would be to raise the blade using the 3ph. Is that correct or am I missing something?

Can you change out the roller for a row of cultipacker wheels and save some time/steps.

[Farmerford]

Thanks for posting. I have considered building one and I was not sure how long it needed to be to work properly. Like Piston, I will appreciate learning the dimensions from you.

[gwdixon]

Here are the dimensions for the land leveler:

Width: 102" (8'6")...end bearings included
Length: 132" (11')...attachment point to end of roller

Roller width: 96" (8')
Roller diameter: 16"
Roller shaft diameter: 1.5"
The roller appears to be a pipe w/ends welded on.

Blade width: 96" (8')
Blade height: 13" (including bolt-on cutting edge)
Blade to roller center: 36" (3')
Blade side boards: 16"

There is a 3" threaded plug on one end of the roller. It appears to be filled with something and is very heavy. My M7040 with forklift on the SSQH and loaded tires will lift it without ballast but the front tires are quite compressed and the rears barely touch the ground.

>>PhysAssist: The polygon tab seems to serve no function. If you can think of one let me know.

>>sparc: Very little soil goes over the top. When the blade fills up it tends to bulldoze the entire pile of dirt...hence the need for a lot of HP. Since the land leveler is attached to a 3PH there is float in the upward direction so it is self-correcting in a minor sort of way. My usual reaction is to very slightly lift the 3PH and the soil will distribute over a long path over time.

The land leveler roller is far heavier than my cultipacker. The roller is solid (or filled) while the cultipacker has its wheels on spokes which considerably reduce weight in comparision. However, a cultipacker would work for a self-build if there is one sitting around unused.

For someone considering a build, make sure the attachment point is extended from the leveler frame enough that a tight turn can be made without "bottoming out" on the frame. The heavy implement does not slide sideways very easily if the drawbar contacts the frame. I welded on some "flying buttresses" on the attachment point. It can be seen in the photo, painted primer gray, and I do not make very tight turns any more.

[bcp]

Any idea what the trapezoidal tab just in front of the lifting loop was intended for?

My guess is that it is an alternate lifting point for when the roller is empty. The roller may have originally used water for weight. From the weight, maybe concrete is in there now

Bruce

[Piston]

GW,
Thank you very much for taking the time to measure and write up that detailed explanation

It will most certainly be helfpul for any of us who are interested in building something like this. I may have to keep my eyes peeled for an old heavy duty box blade, seems you could fairly easily build a "frame" to fit around the box blade and add the roller to the back, then weld up a tounge for towing. That way you'd have some scarifiers as well. I won't even bother looking on Ebay for a $50 land leveler since you've already found that one deal of the decade

Thanks again.