"Bionic blade" - worth the extra cost?

[Alpha Dog]

I've got a little over 1/2 a mile of gravel road of my own, plus about another 3/4 mile of "Private Road" shared with three neighbors to maintain at my new place. I've been using a box-blade to break and a landscape rake to spread and crown, (it also tends to bring bigger rocks out, instead of just spreading "dust or mud" on the top like a straight blade does) but as you can imagine, it's getting a little time-consuming. I've thought about buying what I always called a "bionic blade" to maintain the roads, but I've only seen them, never used one. If you look a the dealer literature and videos, it's like magic, "one pass in each direction" (yeah, right), but even if it's 5 or 6 passes in each direction, it'll beat 5 or 6 passes with EACH attachment that I've been doing to get it "just right." The roads are old oilfield roads, they didn't worry much, they just dumped gravel on the ground and shaped it, and then when it "sunk" the added more gravel, but they had a bigger budget than we do. So, my question is, do those of you who use these things find they reduce the workload enough to justify the cost, when I already have more implements than I can afford to build a shed over?

 

[murphy1244]

Do you have a pic of this Bionic Blade? I would use a Land Plane with T-n-T setup. GS15 Series Grading Scrapers | Land Pride

 

[Alpha Dog]

I think the "official" name of the attachment I'm talking about is a "dual edge grader blade". I've seen them from a lot of different manufacturers, and for a 5 or 6 foot one, they run in the neighborhood of $1000 -$1200 for a new one.

I don't have a picture, but King Kutter and Howze and several other websites have a picture and at least the two I listed call it a dual edge grader. (I posted a question looking for a "generic" name several months ago, but unlike a box blade or other common implements, there apparently isn't an "agreed" name among everyone.)

 

[k0ua]

I think he is talking about a Landplane Murph.. and yes from what I have heard from everyone that owns one, it is the cats meow for dressing a gravel road.

 

[k0ua]

Is this it?

How To - Tractor Land Plane - Gravel Road Maintenance - YouTube

 

[murphy1244]

I think he is talking about a Landplane Murph.. and yes from what I have heard from everyone that owns one, it is the cats meow for dressing a gravel road.

Mine even has rippers on it. Great Tool!

 

[plowindeeper]

Buy one it's worth it. I have a "Grade Master" brand.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Mine even has rippers on it. Great Tool!

I've seen a Woods model that has rippers on it. When (not if) I get one, that will be the one.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

There is nothing, and I do mean Nothing that works as well as a Land Plane Grading Scraper to maintain a natural surface material road-drive. There are better units than others, but they ALL seem to work very well. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: For me, I would estimate that using my LPGS is twice as fast as any of my other implements for general maintenance of our 2 3/8 miles of roads and fence lines.


Just my :2cents:

 

[/pine]

There is nothing, and I do mean Nothing that works as well as a Land Plane Grading Scraper to maintain a natural surface material road-drive...

That's quite a statement...IMO it should be qualified with a size/weight (tractor/plane) disclaimer...as well as what you consider a "natural surface material"...
...in these parts many of the roads are based with indigenous crushed river rock/till...and trying to use a land plane fitted to a smaller tractor (less than 30 hp) would be fruitless and nothing but frustrating as it would mostly just bounce around and leave piles of loose gravel whenever it bounced...