LPGS setup

[UncleBuck1]

As I posted in a recent thread I started, I have a little over a miles of gravel road I need to maintain and I'm just making matters worse with my box blade.

About half of the road follows a property line rather than the natural contours of the land and is fairly hilly. After a couple of recent heavy rains water is starting to run down the middle of the road and carry gravel with it and I want to address this ASAP before things get worse and I have to add gravel.

A friend has a Grade Master LPGS that I can borrow before commiting to a purchase, and I need some advice on setup. Specifically, do I need to tilt the LPGS? If I just run it flat will the angled blades move enough gravel to the center to restore the crown?

EDIT: One detail that may (or may not) make a difference: the 3-point lift links of on my tractor have a "float" setting

Brian

 

[jenkinsph]

In your locale I know you will need ditching to carry the heavy rains away from the road. If you have them already then crowning the road will help. Make sure that other areas are diverted away from the road and into the ditches. The problem really is that the road base course needs to be crowned first then the gravel should be spread on top of that. The base with fines will divert the water away while the gravel on top will allow water to pass through it.

A rear blade will do a much better job crowning your road and dressing up the ditches. I can get a slight crown by tilting my land plane, not great results but will do in a pinch.

 

[oosik]

Brian - my mile long gravel drive is fairly flat except for one valley it crosses. I've found that my LPGS will not move much material either right or left with the blades. The LPGS does a great job of leveling(filling holes) and smoothing. I have a Roll over box blade that I use to move any large amount of dirt. I go thru the mud holes with the scarifiers down on the LPGS first and then come back with the scarifiers up and drag material into the mud hole & fill it. I use my ATV to pack the fresh gravel I drug into the mud hole. Wish I had some type of rolling vibratory compactor but I make do with the ATV.

You know - I don't worry too much about the crown in the driveway. We get such little rain that only once or twice will any material wash in the driveway and that's only in the valley. I go in with whatever I have on the 3-point - LPGS or ROBB and drag and spread
what little has washed down back up the "in & out" sides of the valley.

I think I would use my ROBB if I were to put a real crown on the driveway. In my case, it would be moving quite a bit of material from the sides to the center and from what I've seen of my LPGS - it just doesn't move that much - side to side. The material that the LPGS scrapes up, drags along and will eventually go over the blades - it more or less stays in the same place on the driveway.

What has helped me, the most, with the use of the ROBB is my hydraulic top link. I drop the ROBB on the ground, start moving forward very slowly and then start lengthening the top link. It works extremely well - you can see exactly how much its cutting and can adjust for greater or less cut on the go. Before the hydraulic top link - I'd make 3 or 4 adjustments - meaning I would stop the tractor, get down, adjust the top link, get back up, go a little ways to see how it was cutting - man, after 3-4 of these I'd say, to Hel* with it and just GO. Now within a very short distance the ROBB is doing the job it is supposed to be doing and I'm happy.

BTW - my tractor has the float control and I have never used it except with my single bottom moldboard plow. I obviously do not know how to adjust it because it didn't do a thing for the plow. But then plowing is a totally different story.

 

[Gordon Gould]

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A rear blade will do a much better job crowning your road and dressing up the ditches. I can get a slight crown by tilting my land plane, not great results but will do in a pinch.

I agree with Steve. I use a rear blade to set or change the road contour/pitch/crown for drainage. The rear blade is great for moving material across the road when setting the road contours.



Once the drainage contours are set with the rear blade the LPGS can be used for final leveling and then to maintain the road for a long time before the rear blade needs be used again.

 

[blucoondawg]

I am a little confused here, when you refer to a 3 point float option are you talking about draft control? I just don't see how a 3 point can float, it doesn't have any down pressure anyways so essentially isn't it always floating?

 

[Rustyiron]

I am a little confused here, when you refer to a 3 point float option are you talking about draft control? I just don't see how a 3 point can float, it doesn't have any down pressure anyways so essentially isn't it always floating?

Basically, yes. But you can limit downward motion. I think the op might be referring to a pin setting on the lower arms that allow the lower arms to move ( maybe 6") independent of each other.

 

[UncleBuck1]

The problem really is that the road base course needs to be crowned first then the gravel should be spread on top of that. The base with fines will divert the water away while the gravel on top will allow water to pass through it.

A rear blade will do a much better job crowning your road and dressing up the ditches. I can get a slight crown by tilting my land plane, not great results but will do in a pinch.

The road base is already crowned and I was specifically asking about set-up for grading a crowned road.

Having said all that, the fact that water is starting to run down the middle instead of shedding off the sides tells me I need to clean up the crown with my box blade first.

Once the drainage contours are set with the rear blade the LPGS can be used for final leveling and then to maintain the road for a long time before the rear blade needs be used again.

This is where I've messed up! My road is only about 2 years old and I really haven't done any maintenance.

I am a little confused here, when you refer to a 3 point float option are you talking about draft control? I just don't see how a 3 point can float, it doesn't have any down pressure anyways so essentially isn't it always floating?

Sorry if I was confusing, but Rustyiron is correct- the lift links on my tractor (old JD 4020) have a pin-and-collar arrangement that normally locks the links into a fixed length but when removed allow the lower arms to float freely and independently of each other.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

From the sounds of it, with the road that you have and the length, curves, hills etc, you really need a rear blade as well as a LPGS. Our main traveled -shared road is about a mile in length. I use my LPGS most of the time, but when other than light maintenance is required, the rear blade gets used. Waaaaay faster than trying to do anything major with the LPGS.

Any chance that you would have any pictures of what you have to work with. Pictures can really help with any assessment that would actually help you out.

Just my :2cents:, good luck.

 

[UncleBuck1]

I don't have any current pictures of my problem areas where the gravel is starting to wash, but here is a picture of the road taken last year that gives you an idea of the terrain and layout of the road

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Based on the picture and what you currently have available to you, I would borrow your neighbors LPGS, hook up, set level and go to it and see what happens. It's not like you are going to ruin anything.

I personally have a 7' roll over box blade @ 980lbs, a 9' hydraulic rear blade, @ 1140lbs, a 7' LPGS @ 1400lbs and am reworking my 8' landscape rake that should end up at about 800lbs. All of these implements could be used on your road at one time or another for specific chores. My point being that it is very handy to not rely on a single or even 2 implements when you have as much and varying of road as what you have.

Also remember that most of the time when grading, weight is your friend and the heavier the better-easier it is to do the work.