Land Graders / Levelers / Driveway

[Cat_Driver]

Has anyone purchased a 3 point land leveler / grader that you are happy with. I'm in the middle of searching and finding prices from around $1000.00 all the way up to $3,000.00 for what seems like the same thing. Granted some may be heavier, or more bells and whistles, but I'm just looking to keep a driveway level.

I ran across this site and his Granddad was the actual inventor and had patents on the original design till the patents ran out.

CA Series DuraGrader

Any input would be appreciated as I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on one soon.

 

[jeff9366]

Weight is your friend in all ground contact work.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Coachella Ca.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

#1 thing, weight.

Length of side runners, most seem to be around 4' now days, some up to 5'. If you look hard you may find some that are 6'. :thumbsup: Longer the better IMO unless you have sharp turns to be made.

Height of sides. This can vary from 12"-24".

The actual 3pt hitch, some are just bolted, some are welded, some are bent plate. The quality of the different hitches can vary immensely IMO.

Some people seem to like all the adjustable stuff, I prefer everything to just be fixed. KISS. After 12 years of use of maintaining well over 2 miles of roads and fence lines, I just have not seen a reason that those adjustments would be needed, (for me anyway). Always been able to do what needed to be done by adjusting the different 3pt hitch adjustments.

When purchasing new, you get what you pay for with these implements.

Good luck with your search and final decision.

 

[Rustyiron]

I'll be #3 ditto on weight. They really do a good job and are miles ahead of a box blade. For just maintenance, fixed blades are fine. I like adjustability when building a road or adding stone. I have 2, both have angled blades, don't really think that matters either.

 

[IRISHBOOMER]

I just purchased a Bush Hog RG72 haven’t been able to use it yet hopefully tomorrow.

RG Series Road Grader

 

[JRobyn]

I very much like my LandPride GS1572, except that for my 10-11 ft wide roads, a GS1560 would be better. In my case, adjustable blade cutting depth (side-to-side) is very important, since in most cases, I need to cut some material from the ditch side, and need to leave the crown mostly as-is. That's also why the implement width is important - IMHO, the skid on the ditch side needs to ride right in the lowest part of the ditch - the opposite skid should be right in the middle of the crown. Adjusting the 3-point tilt can take care of some of this, but the beauty of a grading scraper is to just be able to drop it all the way down on the skids and GO.

 

[MacLawn]

Cat, I bought one from Northeast Mississippi Craigslist couple years ago, homemade by old boy in the woods. $500! Wow, this thing is the ticket. Looks about same as in the link from that place down in Picayune. I am so glad I got this!! Works great on my Georgia red clay/crusher run long driveway! A bit tough for my Deere 2210 coming up the hill, have to use four wheel drive, but the leveler gets her done.

 

[oosik]

I have the Land Pride GS2584( 84" wide & 800#) Land Plane Grading Scraper - purchased new four years ago from Kubota dealer - $2000. My unit has manual scarifiers. Does an excellent job on my mile long gravel driveway. Scarifiers are used on pot holes so that added material will bond with existing.

Learning curve on a LPGS is almost zero. Hook it up and start dragging.

 

[kcflhrc]

If you are just maintaining a driveway take a regular blade and turn it around so the scraper part is trailing, works great.

Using a Subcompact Tractor to Smooth a Gravel Driveway - Part 4 - YouTube