Road maintainer for trails?

[airbiscuit]

 

[Steppenwolfe]

OK, I'll clarify. Where I live the soil is mostly a slight, sandy loam with a bit of clay mixed in; great soil in reality... under perfect conditions. Too dry, and it's hard as a brick, you can't work it. Too wet, and it gums up any attachment. Also, here in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, I don't have the same soil on the top of the ridges as the lower land. So, I wait for ideal conditions, and then pick the right attachment to maintain the trails. When conditions are perfect the box blade is my go to; it smooths, collects, and fills in the low spots. A little dry or wet, and I use the landscape rake to clean off debris and pull out weeds. I have tried my land plane, but wasn't happy with it on the trails. It just doesn't perform as well as the box blade. I will say on gravel driveway maintenance nothing can beat it, it'll smooth out a gravel drive to perfection.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

These are great machines, for roads... not trails through the woods.

 

[jeff9366]

I had to forgo a 66" tractor for a 60" tractor in order to fit between the trees where my trails lie.

I can't imagine using these long pieces of equipment for trail maintenance.

 

[airbiscuit]

Then, a heavy rear blade with gauge wheels...

 

[kossetx]

Well, I pull a 7' shredder behind my tractor on my trails so I'm guessing length isn't a problem. Is a box blade maybe the best tool for this?

 

[airbiscuit]

What end state do you want for your trails - dirt, or grass covered. Are they rough and uneven now? Would a tandem disc followed by a drag or back blade, or box blade do the trick?

 

[kossetx]

Not grass. No light gets to these trails. A disc won't cut it and a drag has to be heavy duty. I've never had a box blade but I do have a rear blade. It doesn't level well because the terrain is too uneven. That's why I've never bought a box blade. I have some old railroad rail I thought of turning into a drag.

 

[Ivan49]

Here is what I did. I got to cutting edges from the county that is used on there grader blades. I heated them and bent then in the middle so I had about a 30 degree angle. I set the front one so the v part goes toward the tractor and the rear one the v goes away form the tractor. To this one I welded short wings to catch the dirt from the front blade The I welded heavy angle on the top of these in a box to hold them upright then added the hook up for the 3 point. When you use it you set the front so it is deeper than the back. I have cut gravel that was packed rock hard to fill the holes in it. I got this idea from the ones they use to level horse stables. My soil here is a mix of clay loam and sand with rocks mixed in. This only sticks out about 4 foot behind the tractor

 

[airbiscuit]

I'd try to build a drag with that railroad rail. maybe one angled left, one angled right and one straight across. \ / |/ If it is 7-8' long, that should even things out. It would be worth a try. Also, with 4-5 miles to maintain, it is easier to just drag something than working the 3 point all the time.

This is interesting ...