Help me design the best attachment for smoothing gravel

[PILOON]

What about a really cheesy contraption like 2 pallets screwed together on a chain. Maybe add some weight if it doesn稚 take enough bite.

LOL, like it. Problem is that would wear out kinda rapidly, but in fact it would work very well.

Also some drag a section of woven frost fencing for fine finishing. Generally they use a steel bar or pipe at the front or leading edge.

We used to maintain a well travelled gravel/dirt road with a simple drag that consisted of 3 blades all at different angles so that they sliced the humps and bumps and filled in the dips.
Two blades at about 30 degrees with the center blade at 45 degrees angled the other way, the idea being the 2 pulled one way and the center third counteracted the other 2's side pull.
Worked great for some 10-12 years until the city took over the maintenance.
Quite honestly with their big Cat grader they don't do a better job, in fact it all depends on the driver assigned.

With my tractor back blade I reverse it and drag in 'float' for a nice finish.

 

[bdog]

If the material is moving that easily, you have the wrong material on the driveway,

Over the last month, I have had 91 trucks, at 80,000 pounds each go up and down my driveway.
The mill run material on my driveway has moved almost zero.

The material I use, locally called pug mill run, was graded into place with a landplane, going forward.
Simply raise the front of the LP until you are getting the grading effect you want.

The mill run material is easy to roll to a tight compaction,,

Obviously, my driveway has sharp turns,, even this turn has no material moving.

The turf tires on the JD 650 compact as well as the concrete filled iron pipe roller.

This is typical of the trucks that have traveled the road,,

The gravel simply needs some fines added to it, to turn it into mill run.
I have never tried that, but, so many have the problem of gravel moving like ball bearings, the fines must be available.

Mill run is very difficult to tailgate spread, but, a good driver can do it.
The last guy that did mine told me his secret,
He gets the guy in the loader to pick up a bucket full, then dump it on the pile, then scoop it up a second time.
I seems that the dumping on the pile will loosen the material enough to get it to tailgate better.

You are probably right it isn’t the right material but it is what it is. I have about a 100’ long driveway leading to this 100x200 lot and it never needs attention. I haven’t graded or smoothed it in over a year and it has had hundreds of loaded semis on it as well. The problem with my lot is all the turning. Think of loaded semis turning around in a 100x200 area, five rubber tracked machines and a bulldozer moving around, twisting and turning. It just gets chewed up. I am sure something could work better than what I have but at this point I don’t want to replace it and have accepted smoothing it out on a regular basis. I am just trying to find the best tool for the job.

 

[bdog]

I like OPs idea, especially if he capped the open ends on the concave side so he could add weight if needed and so it would not collect gravel on turns. I think a 3PH will follow shallow, side to side angled contours more than a loader will so a little slop between the pan and the mounting plate might be nice.

Redland Okies skid plate under a box blade seems resourceful since OP already has one. Maybe instead of bolting it to the BB sides, use some uprights that go into the scarfier slots?

Boxing in the ends sounds like a good idea. My tractor is big (130hp and dual rear wheels) and I won’t be using it for this task. It will be a SSQA device that is ran by a skid steer. It is easier to maneuver around things and we have the skid steer out and running most every day anyway. My tractor only comes out of the barn for plowing and planting type stuff everything else I do with the skid steer. As to the angled contours this area is flat. I used a laser controlled machine to level it and rolled it after that. It looked like a sheet of glass for about a day before we started working on it again.

 

[bdog]

What about a really cheesy contraption like 2 pallets screwed together on a chain. Maybe add some weight if it doesn’t take enough bite.

I have a 8’ wide chain harrow that I attached to a 8’ piece of 6” pipe that I drag around with my UTV. It works, but not as good as backdragging.

 

[Xfaxman]

I pulled this gate out of the scrap pile, suspended it with chains. Worked great for dirt:

If you made something heavier, the chains provide float going forward.
.
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[bdog]

I like that.

Here is a picture of what I am up against. This area was graded smooth a few days ago. These track marks are from unloading some steel from the trailer this morning. The picture doesn稚 really do it justice those humps are probably 8-10 inches high. Now imagine the tracked machine moving around this area all day doing things and it is easy to see how messed up this area gets in a hurry.

 

[Dadnatron]

I think your REAL problem might be the gravel itself. You have no fines to hold the gravel in place. I would dump some high fine, small size gravel on top of what you have and pack it in. In a bit, you will have a good surface. Right now, you are working on rough shaped marbles which will always be an issue unless you put something in the spaces between the gravel to keep it from moving. That gravel just isn't good for the purpose you have it doing.

 

[majorwager]

As Rustyiron stated, this is a great tool.

 

[Redlands Okie]

I think your REAL problem might be the gravel itself. You have no fines to hold the gravel in place. I would dump some high fine, small size gravel on top of what you have and pack it in. In a bit, you will have a good surface. Right now, you are working on rough shaped marbles which will always be an issue unless you put something in the spaces between the gravel to keep it from moving. That gravel just isn't good for the purpose you have it doing.

Yep, needs some fines hauled in and then with use and grading they will mix up and help a lot.

 

[ruffdog]

Agree...need fines in there to mix in. Get your self a large HD wood skid and drag it around. Being that your gravel is loose, you don't want to get aggressive with it and make it worse. You just need something quick and easy to level the surface.