Do I really need scarfires on a Grading Scraper?

[Gale Hawkins]

I think we have 6 on our 8' Bush Hog box blade. I set them to max depth on the acre of ground we cleared over the last year+ and used them as a root rake. In low gear I could pull out very large roots. I took them all to one end and dumped and made another round and repeated. It was slow because I did not want to catch something solid and tear up the box blade but it worked out well for me. I would spin if I hit something solid and when I would raise the lift some it would help the big root pop out. There was a steel like plow pan at 9" so now the water goes down better.

Before this I had ripped it both ways up to 2' deep with a single subsoiler behind the 10K pound 60 HP 265 MF on about 4' centers. It brought up a lot of roots hence the need for a heavy duty root rake to finish the removal so roots did not mess up when grading down the 4-6" pit gravel base. Driving it with the very heavy bush hog type mower on the MF really is packing it well after a rain.

I have never saw a new box blade sold without the scarifiers.

It was the first time I ever used them on that bladed. On other box blades have set them to about 1-2" on old parking lots to bring up some limestone rock to level and give the appearance of a newly graveled parking lot.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

The OP was talking about a grading scraper, not a box blade.

 

[ovrszd]

I use a box blade with rippers but haven't needed them on my driveway in the last 10 years. My lpgs work fine with out them for most road work. Depends a lot on the local conditions and weather you have.


As far as ripping up a drive way deep all the time I don't see the point in it. Means you start over each time you rework it. I think a roller to pack the road base is important an isn't mentioned enough in these threads, this helps reduce the chance of potholes in your drive which are really soft spots. Once you pack the driveway down why loosen it up again?

On this forum, the problem with a roller is when it's heavy enough to do any good, the tractor in use can't pull it. A roller is only beneficial when it's hard to pull.

 

[ovrszd]

The OP was talking about a grading scraper, not a box blade.

Yep. Most grading planes do not have scarifiers.

 

[jeff9366]

I borrow my friend's grader couple times a year. Notched blade at the front, smooth blade at the rear, no scarifiers. It works great. I'd have no use for scarifiers that had to be manually raised/lowered. Hydraulic,,,, okay,,, I'm in.

What brand LPGS has the notched blade at the front?

 

[MtnViewRanch]

What brand LPGS has the notched blade at the front?

I believe that there are several, but the Road Boss is one, and the GradeMaster for another.

 

[GrumpyJoe]

Well, after a lot of thought and some talking with my neighbor about it. I decided to keep the Grading Scraper without the Scarfires. The dealer I was working with wasn't really to happy I wanted to return it and was trying to talk me out of the Rippers. I wasn't very happy either because this dealer that I was dealing with is over an hour drive time away. So I thought to myself I'll make this work. Plus if it doesn't work I'll find a good welder and go from there. But I was surprised. It worked really really well. Up and back 3 times and it looks great. Going to go again some tomorrow and see what else I can do. My wife went out and when she came back she was like "OMG!" Driveway looks great! She wasn't too thrilled I even bought the scraper but now she is very happy. I'm pretty happy now also. Thanks guys.

 

[farm boy00]

Well, after a lot of thought and some talking with my neighbor about it. I decided to keep the Grading Scraper without the Scarfires. The dealer I was working with wasn't really to happy I wanted to return it and was trying to talk me out of the Rippers. I wasn't very happy either because this dealer that I was dealing with is over an hour drive time away. So I thought to myself I'll make this work. Plus if it doesn't work I'll find a good welder and go from there. But I was surprised. It worked really really well. Up and back 3 times and it looks great. Going to go again some tomorrow and see what else I can do. My wife went out and when she came back she was like "OMG!" Driveway looks great! She wasn't too thrilled I even bought the scraper but now she is very happy. I'm pretty happy now also. Thanks guys.

When she's happy everyone is

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Thanks for the success story.

 

[troutsqueezer]

My wife was also convinced that the tractor was the best thing we ever bought after she saw what it did to the road. Suddenly it was more than just a toy.