How would you repair this driveway?

[fried1765]

I wonder how that might compare with this from TS?
CountyLine Grader Blade, 6 ft. at Tractor Supply Co.

The TSC County Line Grader Blade at $399 is just what one might expect for $399.
NOT MUCH!
Absolutely NOT RECOMMENDED !!!

I have a nice (nearly new) King Kutter 7' blade, that I am replacing with the vastly superior ETA blade.
The 7' KK is not nearly as easy to use as the ETA blade will be.

If the OP needs a heavy blade, weight can easily be added to most any blade.
Either steel or lead.

 

[mljenkins]

The TSC County Line Grader Blade at $399 is just what one might expect for $399.
NOT MUCH!
Absolutely NOT RECOMMENDED !!!

I have a nice (nearly new) King Kutter 7' blade, that I am replacing with the vastly superior ETA blade.
The 7' KK is not nearly as easy to use as the ETA blade will be.

If the OP needs a heavy blade, weight can easily be added to most any blade.
Either steel or lead.

I had a 6’ KK blade that worked well on my Long 39hp HST tractor. I broke it twice with my NH WM55. Bought a Woods HD blade for my WM and now have a Kubota L6060 I haven’t used it with yet. You’re exactly right those country line ones he would likely destroy with his tractor if not on the driveway sometime down the road. It cost about $50 to fix my KK the first time and $125 the second time. Unless you have the welding and metal work tools spend the money on the better blade. I looked at the EA box blades at the time and almost bought one. I was trying to establish a rapport with my local dealer since we just moved here. No regrets on the Woods BSM84. Great tool for driveway maintenance and other landscape needs.

My driveway looks almost the same as the OPs where the top steep part is. I don’t recommend the bumps to divert water as hitting them in the winter when you need a run at the driveway sucks. Put 4-6” culverts in from your right drain ditch to the other side if the left side is downhill. We only have one on our driveway mainly because we have a spring that puts out a lot of water in that area. Otherwise the right ditch carries all the water down to the bottom. As others mentioned cut the right ditch a bit deeper if water is flowing out of it. Slope the top to the right as likely your water looks like it’s starting up top.

Matt

 

[Groo]

If the OP needs a heavy blade, weight can easily be added to most any blade.
Either steel or lead.

The cheap blade dad has need to repaired after we added some chimney blocks for weight

 

[fried1765]

The cheap blade dad has need to repaired after we added some chimney blocks for weight

That might be quite true with a "cheap blade" (like TSC junk), but the ETA blades are NOT a cheaply constructed blades.

 

[mljenkins]

That might be quite true with a "cheap blade" (like TSC junk), but the ETA blades are NOT a cheaply constructed blades.

One thing I’ll add if OP needs something ASAP. Cheap blades like at TSC and RK are easy to come by. Even dealers usually have them on lots. The heavier blades are harder to come by. You can call around but my experience is they say they have something heavy but it is not heavy after looking up the exact model they give you (hard to get that out of a lot of dealers) or too small. Hence, to get precisely what you need you’ll likely have to order. My blade took over a month if I recall and I had to keep calling to check on the status.

Fast forward to ETA who I got a grapple from. They gave me an estimated time the grapple would ship, it shipped early, they called me and sent an email with tracking info. On promised time I went to loading dock and picked it up at my leisure after work. It had a couple scratches from shipping but my box blade had them as well from the dealers shipping. Hence, if you have to order something (likely for a tractor >45hp unless you get lucky locally) then I’d suggest ETA for simplicity and speed, unless you have a good relationship with a local dealer.

Matt

 

[Groo]

That might be quite true with a "cheap blade" (like TSC junk), but the ETA blades are NOT a cheaply constructed blades.

just saying "most any blade" can't nesisarily handle extra weight even if it can handle bouncing around behind a tractor for better than a decade.

 

[PILOON]

Once U have the drive suitably graded and crowned one trick to prevent future washouts is to bury flush to the roadbed a length of 'H' beam diagonally across the drive to trap and divert water off to the downhill side ditch.
6 0r 8 inch would be just right as vehicle tires can easily handle that 'bump'.

Perhaps more than just a few could be in order but for sure on steep areas.
You want to prevent any water volume from gaining momentum which in turn is what creates the washouts.

 

[jymbee]

My driveway looks almost the same as the OPs where the top steep part is. I don稚 recommend the bumps to divert water as hitting them in the winter when you need a run at the driveway sucks. Put 4-6 culverts in from your right drain ditch to the other side if the left side is downhill. We only have one on our driveway mainly because we have a spring that puts out a lot of water in that area. Otherwise the right ditch carries all the water down to the bottom. As others mentioned cut the right ditch a bit deeper if water is flowing out of it. Slope the top to the right as likely your water looks like it痴 starting up top.

Matt

That's a good point about the downside of a bump. The driveway is pretty steep at some points. And thinking about it more I realized that's also what my father used to do, create some mini lateral ditches, not bumps as I mentioned earlier.

Out of curiosity I called my contactor and to just grade (they have a full sized road grader) and compact the drive they figured a half day and $1,250. Well ok... that would seem more than enough reason to consider the do-it-yourself route it seems.

Given all the input from folks here with experience on the different options I'm leaning toward the "EA 6 Way Deluxe Scrape Blade for Compact Tractors with 25-50 HP V2.0"

One of the big advantages going this route would be the ability to use it for snow as well. Our "little" JD 748 diesel with plow does a great job and I've used that for years but given it's only a 48" blade with only hydraulic adjustments for left/right, up/down, it does have a downside. One of biggest pain is something that anybody that plows snow has to deal with-- that wet heavy snow on top of wet, thawed out ground. Some of the plow guys around here really tear things up with those kinds of conditions.

My thinking is not only would this kind of blade be faster, but pulling a blade would be less destructive than pushing. Even turning it around 180 degrees and angling it seems like it would work as an option as well. But those are just my guesses not having used one of these things.

 

[Peter 315]

Around here you bury old conveyor belt , leave it sticking up about 4 to 6 inches, Then you can drive over it and not hurt anything

 

[jymbee]

Around here you bury old conveyor belt , leave it sticking up about 4 to 6 inches, Then you can drive over it and not hurt anything

That's interesting because I tried to think of something along those lines-- something that had some flexibility so you could drive over it and at the same time sturdy enough to hold back runoff. Good tip!